Baltimore County counted 881 homeless people in its annual one-day survey, while acknowledging that the actual number is higher.

“These 881 are not the entire population,” Sue Bull, the county’s coordinator of homeless services, told The Baltimore Sun. “In one day, we could never find everyone. This is a much bigger issue.”

The count, conducted on Jan. 20 by volunteers, found 10 fewer people without a permanent shelter than in 2010, when the total jumped 25 percent. Of those counted this year, about one-third were found at the West Side and East Side CAN (Community Assistance Network) Shelters and another 23 percent at the county’s Department of Social Services.

There were 87 homeless located in Dundalk, 37 in Towson, 33 in Essex, 21 in Catonsville, 5 in Cockeysville/Timonium and 2 in Randallstown.

About 25 percent of those surveyed were children living with their families. Nearly 60 percent were men, including 59 military veterans.

Baltimore City has not yet released its biennial count of the homeless. Its last survey, conducted in 2009, counted 2,265 in local shelters, 649 unsheltered and 505 “uncertain” for a total of 3,419.