Source page: McKinsey & Company
Commentary
A complex crisis
Public Sector | Public Health
April 24, 2023 – The number of people experiencing homelessness in Los Angeles, at approximately 69,000, surpassed that of New York City and has increased by roughly 56 percent from 2015 to 2022. Senior partners Ashwin Adarkar, Tim Ward, Jonathan Woetzel, and coauthors note that on average, for every 207 people who exit homelessness daily, 227 more enter. Potential solutions to the crisis include increasing the stock of affordable housing and improving collaboration among public and private agencies.
To read the report, see “Homelessness in Los Angeles: A unique crisis demanding new solutions,” March 24, 2023.
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Visual form
Sankey flow diagram.
Layout / body structure
The page is organized into three vertical stages labeled Entering, Experiencing, and Exiting, and the reader follows the width of the flows from left to right through the homelessness cycle.
What is being compared
It compares the movement of people into homelessness, through different experiencing categories, and then out through different exit paths in Los Angeles during 2022.
Measurement system
The measure is illustrative number of people, represented by the width of the bands rather than an explicit axis.
Visible structure inside the graphic
Wide gray and blue streams branch and reconnect across the three stages, with the thickest bands carrying the largest populations and thinner strands showing smaller routes through the system.
Main takeaway from the visual
The diagram makes the homelessness system look cyclical rather than linear, with a substantial in-flow, a large stock already experiencing homelessness, and multiple exit paths that still feed a recurring loop instead of fully clearing the pipeline.
Key standout values or extremes
The page headline anchors the scale with an estimated daily increase of 20 people, and the widest visible flows sit in the central experiencing stage and the largest exit stream on the right, emphasizing how much volume remains in motion through the system.
Controls / sequence, when applicable
This is a static chart image with no in-chart controls to operate.
Companion media, when applicable
There is no separate companion audio or video; the chart image is the full visual on this page.