New data show 135 people living without a fixed address died in Washoe County last year

Homeless deaths in Washoe County reached another record high for the eighth consecutive year. County data show that 135 people living without a fixed address—or classified as indigent—died in 2023. 

The leading cause of death was accidents, while 19 died of natural causes, nine were homicides, and four died by suicide. Of the accidental deaths, drug intoxication was the cause of death for 66 people, followed by vehicle and train accidents. Five people died from exposure or hypothermia. The complete data are listed below.

The 2023 numbers could increase. Justin Norton with the Medical Examiner’s office said there are pending investigations, which could take as many as three months to complete, on as many as three more cases.

County spokesperson Bethany Drysdale said more needs to be done.

“What we see is an increase in drug intoxication and effects of drug use driving up the number of deaths, and that is not just a number, those are real lives,” she said. “Now we have to look at what we can do to change that. We need more acute mental health care. We need greater distribution of Narcan and other life-saving tools.”

Homeless deaths nearly doubled in the Reno area from 2021 to 2022. The new figures show a 40% increase in 2023 from 2022.

The new data come in the wake of a national public relations blitz claiming Reno has reduced homelessness by 50%. The county data show otherwise. In May of 2022, the county shows there were 2,246 “individuals actively experiencing homelessness in our community.” There were 1,935 in December, a decrease of 311. Many of them are in a shelter.

Data prior to 2022 are no longer presented on the county’s dashboard. This Is Reno has requested the county produce that missing information. 

The county previously reported that, in December 2020, there were 1,600 experiencing homelessness in the region. Those numbers have fluctuated since then. To date, however, if the county’s 2020 numbers were accurate—along with other service agencies collecting their own numbers—the region’s homeless population shows an overall increase in recent years.

The county started tracking homeless deaths in 2016, first reported by This Is Reno, and documented 16 deaths that year. The growing numbers have drawn vigils downtown and calls to action for more effective services, especially for those who will not or cannot stay at local shelters.

The data also come as shelters are full while night temperatures dip below freezing. County officials said, however, that nobody would be turned away at the Nevada Cares Campus, the region’s massive homeless shelter that opened in 2021.

“People can stay in the Resource Center until a bed opens up,” County spokesperson Bethany Drysdale told This Is Reno last month. The availability of open beds changes daily. 

Check the current shelter capacity here: https://www.washoecounty.gov/homeless/files/Dashboards/Shelter-Census-Dashboard.html

"Washoe County takes those challenges seriously, as is evidenced by the expansion of regional services at the Nevada Cares Campus, our work with the Continuum of Care, and our upcoming endeavor to revamp and reopen the West Hills Hospital," Drysdale added.

UPDATE: This story was updated to include statements from Washoe County, which were received after initial publication. Spokesperson Drysdale also also homicides are not the same as murders, as we initiallly reported, and so that term was changed, also after publication.

2023 County Data

Sex

• Male: 102
• Female: 33

Age

• 19 and under: 2
• 20-29: 17
• 30-39: 28
• 40-49: 26
• 50-59: 27
• 60-69: 25
• 70-79: 8
• 80 and over: 2 

Manner of Death

• Accident: 85
• Natural: 19
• Homicide: 9
• Undetermined: 8
• Suicide: 4
• Pending: 10

2023 Accident Death Breakdown

• Drug intoxication: 66
• Motor vehicle/train accident: 11
• Exposure/Hypothermia: 2
• Exposure/Hypothermia with drug intoxication: 3
• Fall: 2
• Drowning: 1