More Santa Clara County residents report first-time homelessness

More Santa Clara County residents are falling into homelessness for the first time as the cost of living rises.

There are a record 10,711 homeless people living in the county this year, according to a count conducted in January. The county surveyed 1,534 homeless people during that time and 58% reported being newly homeless, according to recently released data. That’s almost double the 34% of people who reported being homeless for the first time during the previous count in 2023.

The loss of a job or income is the primary reason people report becoming homeless, at 27%. Divorce or breakups are also contributors at 17%, and 12% of people report becoming homeless due to an eviction or rent increase.

“The lack of rent control in Santa Clara County has a big thing to do with it,” Todd Langton, founder of nonprofit Agape Silicon Valley, told San José Spotlight. “Combine that with greed — the landlord can charge as much as they want and get away with it — especially when there’s a shortage of (housing).”

Only three cities in the county — San Jose, Los Gatos and Mountain View — have rent control policies, with limitations. San Jose caps rent increases at 5% annually, but only covers homes built and occupied before 1979, which is approximately 38,000 apartments. Los Gatos caps it to 5% or 70% of the Consumer Price Index, whichever is higher, and Mountain View caps it to 100% of the CPI. Duplexes are exempt from rent control in all three cities.

County data shows more people are staying homeless for longer. In 2017, 2,097 individuals had been chronically homelessness, compared to 4,650 people in 2025. Someone who has been homeless for at least a year is considered to be chronically homeless. People who have been homeless at least four times within the last three years also fall into the federal definition of chronic homelessness. The number of chronically homeless people living in shelters has increased 56% since 2023, according to the county.

Homelessness has gone up in a majority of cities across the county compared to the 2023 count, with Cupertino showing the highest rate of increase from 48 people to 101. San Jose, the largest city in the county, has 6,503 homeless residents, up 237 people. Santa Clara’s homeless population has jumped from 461 people to 794. Mountain View’s homeless population has increased from 562 people to 879.

Five cities experienced a decline in homelessness: Gilroy, Sunnyvale, Los Gatos, Milpitas and Morgan Hill. Los Gatos dropped from 81 people to 27, Sunnyvale decreased from 471 people to 421 and Gilroy dropped from 1,048 people to 959.

Kathryn Kaminski, director of the Santa Clara County Office of Supportive Housing, said the results of the homeless count are consistent with what is happening across the region — more people are becoming homeless than are being housed.

“The county is pursuing a number of strategies, along with its partners, to prevent people from falling into homelessness,” Kaminski told San José Spotlight. “The systemic factors that have increased the inflow of people into homelessness — lack of affordable housing, local economic conditions and the high cost of living — are also preventing people from exiting homelessness.”

The county’s Homelessness Prevention System provides families on the verge of eviction with rental assistance. From 2020 to mid-2025, nearly 36,000 people received assistance, according to county data. Families received an average assistance of about $7,400 in 2023.

The county has budgeted roughly $27 million for the prevention system, about $3 million less than last fiscal year. It’s funded through a mix of private and public partners, including San Jose. The city is providing $5.5 million for homelessness prevention this fiscal year, down from $7.5 million last year. San Jose Housing Director Erik Soliván previously said they won’t know until next month if the city will be able to provide more funds to the prevention system.

San Jose’s approach to solving homelessness has been focused on building tiny homes, safe sleeping and parking sites and converting hotels into homeless shelters. As a result of the mayor’s aggressive approach on temporary housing, the city’s unsheltered homeless population has dropped to about 60%, or 3,959 people, as of January.

“The longer someone stays on the streets, the less likely they are to ever escape them,” Tasha Dean, spokesperson for Mayor Matt Mahan, told San José Spotlight. “That’s why Mayor Mahan has focused City Hall on standing up safe, dignified solutions that cost a fraction of the status quo approach, and can be stood up in much less time.”
Since January, more temporary housing sites have come online, including the Via Del Oro and Branham Lane tiny home villages. Five motels have been converted into homeless housing, bringing hundreds of new beds.

“Because of this approach, we are nearing an incredible milestone — 50% of our homeless population will be brought indoors by the end of this year,” Dean said. “Our investments in shelter, in addition to our contributions to the county’s (homelessness) prevention system, are key levers in our push to end unsheltered homelessness.”

But Sandy Perry, South Bay Community Land Trust board vice president, said temporary shelter options without enough permanent affordable housing won’t end homelessness — it’ll perpetuate people staying in shelters.

“(Mahan’s) approach to ending homelessness is cosmetic,” Perry told San José Spotlight. “If it looks like there’s less homelessness, then that accomplishes his goals. Because his goals, as a lot of people have pointed out, is to make San Jose look better during the Super Bowl in February.”

Story updated Wednesday, Sept. 24 at 1:07 p.m. Original story published Sept. 24 at 12 p.m.

Contact Joyce Chu at [email protected] or @joyce_speaks on X.