315 Homeless Portlanders Died in 2022, Multnomah County Says

That’s a 63% increase from the 193 people that died while homeless in 2021.

SIDEWALK STORIES: A dog sits outside a tent in downtown Portland on May 9, 2022. (Blake Benard)
By Sophie Peel

In a staggering report released this morning, Mulrnomah County says 315 people died while homeless on Portland streets in 2022. That’s a 63% increase from 2021, when the county reported that 193 people died while homeless, itself a record.

The annual report, called Domicile Unknown, shows the increasingly devastating effects of drugs like meth and fentanyl on Portland streets.

According to the county’s report, 123 people died from fatal overdoses of drugs. Ninety-one of the overdoses involved fentanyl; 100 of the overdoses involved meth. The overdoses that involved fentanyl—91—mark a sharp increase from 36 overdoses involving fentanyl in 2021.

Twenty-five unhoused people died by homicide in 2022. Another 17 took their own lives.

The highest concentration of deaths occurred in downtown Portland. Other geographic clusters include portions of inner Southeast Portland and east of Interstate 205.

Unlike prior years, the county mined two databases to identify homeless Portlanders who died. For the first time ever, the county used death certificate records to identify additional deaths. It’s unclear how much of 2022′s increase in deaths is due to the county relying on two databases this year, rather than just medical examiner records.

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