Monterey County ranks seventh in California for students experiencing homelessness, at 13,010
New UCLA data localized by Monterey County Weekly put four of the state's 10 highest-rate districts in Monterey County, led by Salinas City Elementary at 42.6 percent of its students. The statewide count hit a new peak of 298,254 in 2024-25.
Monterey County reported 13,010 students experiencing homelessness in the 2024-25 school year, the seventh-highest county total among California's 58 counties, according to Monterey County Weekly's reporting on new data from the UCLA Center for the Transformation of Schools. The county's count stood at 9,079 in 2018-19.
Statewide, the UCLA center's report, "State of Crisis 2026," found that student homelessness in California rose 10 percent since 2018-19 to a new peak of 298,254 students in 2024-25, based on California Department of Education data. The report called student homelessness an "educational equity crisis," and UCLA noted that California has allocated $116 million in one-time funding to support students experiencing homelessness.
The district-level rates are sharpest in Salinas. Four of the 10 districts with the highest rates in California are in Monterey County, the Weekly reported. Salinas City Elementary ranked first, with 3,681 students, or 42.6 percent of its student body, experiencing homelessness in 2024-25, and Santa Rita Union ranked tenth, with 800 students, or 24.5 percent. North Monterey County Unified ranked sixth, with 1,271 students, or 28 percent, and Greenfield Union Elementary ranked eighth. UCLA's own summary adds that Central Coast elementary districts account for half of the 10 highest district rates statewide.
County Superintendent of Schools Deneen Guss told the Weekly that better identification by districts is one reason the count has grown, alongside the economic pressures local families face. "I suspect that there are many, many more children in our county that are not even in our numbers that are experiencing housing insecurity," Guss said.
Most affected students in Salinas City Elementary live in overcrowded homes, with several families sharing one house, the district's homeless liaison, Cheryl Camany, told the Weekly, describing cases that included a family of seven living in a single 10-by-10-foot room. Many of the families are farmworkers whose income drops after the harvest season, the Weekly reported. Donna Smith of the Monterey County Office of Education put the squeeze plainly. "Housing costs so much, when they make so little," Smith said.
Districts and the county office work to identify students and connect families with support, the Weekly reported, encouraging families to self-identify and providing help that includes motel vouchers, rental assistance, laundry access and optometry appointments, with each district tailoring its program to local needs. UCLA found that students experiencing homelessness continue to lag behind housed peers on measures including chronic absenteeism, suspension, academic proficiency and graduation, with most gaps persistent or widening.
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