That is a complicated question to answer. With regard to my daily existence, I do not encounter many homeless people at all, unless you count marginally housed students who are often couch surfing and living out of their cars. The latter was shocking when I got out here. Every evening when I would walk to my car in the parking garage, I would see at least a dozen students settling into sleep for the night.
There are occasionally a couple of tents in the park near my house, and I occasionally see a homeless person on the bus or in the neighborhoods near my office, but that does not happen everyday. Of course, if I go downtown or to Venice Beach, then I will see a higher density of homeless people. San Francisco is different, because it's essentially just a downtown plus beaches/tourist areas, therefore the density of homeless people is much more visible. L.A. is 10x the size of San Francisco, so the density is different. And I agree that it is all sad.
I have been pleased with how much progress that the VA where I worked for years has made in getting veterans housed over the years.