There's a lot of misinformation floating around out there about homelessness in California.

CalMatters explores some common myths using data.

Myth: most unhoused people come here from somewhere else.

Fact: 90% of homeless Californians lived in the state when they became homeless, and 75% lived in the same county where they were last housed.

That's according to a recent survey conducted by the UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative.

Myth: most people living on the streets are veterans.

Fact: veterans are disproportionately represented in California's homeless population.

Thanks to a major effort by the federal government to end veteran homelessness over the past decade, the number of homeless vets in California fell from nearly 16,800 in 2011 to almost 10,400 in 2022.

In recent years, that number has plateaued.

State-funded homes for unhoused vets are underused.

Myth: people who are homeless don't work and don't want to work.

Fact: some people who don't have a home still do hold down one or more jobs, while others are trying to find work.

Among the homeless Californians surveyed by UCSF, 18% reported earning income from a job in the past month.

When the researchers eliminated people who were older than 62 or had mental or physical disabilities from the data, the percentage was higher.

25% reported working in the past month, and 40% reported earning income from recycling or odd jobs.

Even if people are working, they aren't making enough to afford rent.

Fast food workers, for example, make a median wage of $17.32 an hour in California, but they'd need to make more than twice that to rent a one-bedroom home.

Many people surveyed reported barriers to working or finding work, including their age, disability, lack of transportation, criminal record, and the amount of time they spent finding food, water, and shelter.

For CalMatters, I'm Marisa Kendall.