Fact Brief: Are more people becoming homeless than are exiting homelessness in Santa Clara County?

Yes.

For every household in Santa Clara County connected to housing in 2024, nearly two became homeless.

According to the county’s 2024 year-end analysis of its 2020-2025 Community Plan to End Homelessness, 2,234 households were connected to housing, while 4,098 new households became homeless for the first time.

While there was a 4.7% decrease in the number of households that became homeless in 2024 compared to the year prior, the number of households connected to housing declined by 11%.

Santa Clara County has a homeless population of 10,711, up 8.2% from two years ago. That’s according to the 2025 point in time count, a two-day federally mandated initiative to obtain a snapshot of the amount of local sheltered and unsheltered homeless people.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

San José Spotlight partners with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. Read our methodology to learn how we check claims.

Sources

Santa Clara County Office of Supportive Housing The 2020-2025 Community Plan to End Homelessness: 2024 Year-End Progress Report
Santa Clara County Office of Supportive Housing The 2020-2025 Community Plan to End Homelessness: 2023 Year-End Progress Report
Santa Clara County Office of Supportive Housing 2025 Point-in-Time Count Community Report

Comments (3)

Kent Dec 11, 2025 at 12:24AM

Yes……….Sadly no matter what is done and even when the Vagrant Parasites and Bums are housed by our tax dollars they are still Homeless individuals still in need of rehabilitation, jobs, supporting themselves and their pets, and becoming fruitful citizens on their own.

Instead of perpetuating this roller coaster of failure upon failure our inept Leaders need to realize feeding and housing the pigeons, strays, and ferals will only make them do nothing to fend for themselves. Without the programs to rehabilitate, fight addiction, and mental illness. The circle can never be broken.

So let’s paint murals where these programs are needed instead.

So let’s allow people to own 30 broken down RV’s and rent them out to the homeless so they can cover the streets.

So let’s have fireworks shows that catch Cunningham Park on fire.

So let’s remodel our Historic St. James Park and completely forget about common sense.

So let’s keep letting the criminals turn our once safe place to live into a shooting gallery and felony party with crime documented by the minute on Ring Neighborhood feeds throughout the County

So lets keep doing the same things over and making the same mistakes over and over that go nowhere.

It is no wonder that people and corporations are leaving in droves because of a Failed City Government, High Taxes Wasted, and getting worse.

As we watch the Homeless grow like wildfire.

Jeffrey Blattman Dec 12, 2025 at 5:23AM

Our money doesn’t go to reducing homeless, it goes to homeless benefits.

Homeless is now and industry, funded by tax dollars. Nobody in a position to do anything about is motivated to reduce homelessness. Their preogative is to grow their industry.

Joe Smith Dec 13, 2025 at 12:10PM

We could cancel everything we’ve tried and funded so far and instead fund treatment centers for the mentally ill and drug addicted and see how that turns out. Think of all the doctors and nurses who could get highly paid jobs instead of tossing money down the toilet on tents, parking spaces, and sheds to store homeless people without providing the treatment they need.

Fact Brief: Are more people becoming homeless than are exiting homelessness in Santa Clara County?

Yes.

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