ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The number of Alexandria residents experiencing homelessness rose 14 percent from 2025 to 2026, according to the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments’ annual Point-in-Time count released this week, with a sharp increase in children driving the local change.
The 2026 count identified 189 people experiencing homelessness in Alexandria on the night of Feb. 4, up from 166 in 2025 and a 1 percent increase from 187 in 2024. Looking further back, the city’s 2026 count was 9 people, or 5 percent, below its 2019 pre-pandemic level — making Alexandria one of only two jurisdictions in the eight-jurisdiction region to record a decline from 2019, alongside the District of Columbia.
The annual enumeration is the 26th consecutive year that COG has published a regional report on the scope and circumstances of homelessness. This year’s count was originally scheduled for Jan. 28 but was postponed to Feb. 4 due to severe winter weather, including snow, sleet and freezing rain…