Santa Clara County homelessness hits new high

Homelessness has increased in one of the most expensive regions in the nation, a tell-tale sign of what could come.

Santa Clara County has 10,711 homeless residents, up 8.2% from two years ago, according to preliminary results from this year’s point in time count conducted in January 2025. This has happened despite significant investments in temporary and permanent housing, where more than 1,300 affordable apartments have been constructed over the past two years, funded through Measure A, a $950 million affordable housing bond approved by voters in 2016. As the cost of living continues to increase and federal cuts undermine social safety nets, more people will be pushed off the edge.

The county has not yet released data breaking down the increase by municipality, but homelessness is expected to have increased in San Jose — one of the most expensive cities to rent or buy a home. In 2022, the city had the fourth highest homeless population per capita in the nation.

The county has helped move more than 8,000 people from homelessness to housing between 2023 and 2025, officials said in a statement. They cite the lack of affordable housing, wage gaps and structural inequities as factors in the rise in housing insecurity and homelessness.

County Executive James Williams said the county will continue making investments into homelessness solutions, even as it faces threats to federal and state funding.

“Effectively addressing poverty, inequality, and homelessness requires a systemic, comprehensive approach — one that necessitates deep collaboration and responsiveness at all levels of government,” he said in a statement. “Our community must address the root cause of homelessness: a lack of affordable housing supply at all levels.”

Every two years, Santa Clara County participates in a two-day, federally mandated point in time count to gather information on the number of homeless people on streets and in shelters. The count helps the county, state and federal government assess demographics and how to allocate money to help alleviate homelessness. Point in time counts are considered an underestimate of homeless people.

This year, the county switched methods on how it counted homeless people and also chose a different vendor, Simtech Solutions, Inc. Due to the switch in methodologies, the county won’t be able to compare this year’s data to results from previous counts, limiting the ability to infer trends.

Santa Clara County had 9,903 homeless residents in 2023, slightly less than the year prior. Since then, the county has added 235 new shelter beds, bringing the total number of available temporary housing beds to 3,697. The number of sheltered homeless residents has risen 30% since 2023.

The numbers come as San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan is focusing on creating more temporary housing options for homeless residents, including hotel conversions into transitional housing. The San Jose City Council recently reallocated Measure E affordable housing funds for short-term housing from nearly $40 million that was originally intended for permanent affordable housing.

“This latest count demonstrates that we have a lot of work ahead of us,” Mahan told San José Spotlight. “The good news is that the 30% increase in sheltered individuals shows that when we invest in safe alternatives to the streets, we can move people indoors. We look forward to seeing San Jose’s numbers as part of the full report — and to scaling what’s working.”

Homelessness in the county previously peaked in 2022 during pandemic, at 10,028 homeless people. The county saw its lowest number over the past 15 years in 2015, at 6,556 homeless people.

During and after the pandemic, the county focused on homelessness prevention. Between 2020 and 2024, 33,193 people received homelessness prevention assistance and more than 23,000 people were supported in temporary housing and shelter, according to the latest Community Plan to End Homelessness. The plan, which adopts a multi-pronged approach to homelessness, also found 17,485 people gained stable housing.

Over the past decade, there have been 5,135 new affordable homes built through Measure A, with a majority dedicated to homeless people and extremely low-income households. But for every one person housed, nearly two become homeless. Santa Clara County will continue to grapple with an ever-increasing number of homeless residents as federal cuts will ripple down.
Next year, nearly 1,000 vulnerable households will lose their emergency housing vouchers that subsidize rent — similar to Section-8 vouchers. People with these vouchers only pay 30% of their income for rent and the federal government subsidizes the rest.

In addition to the sunsetting of the housing voucher program,  the Santa Clara County Housing Authority is bracing for a potential 10% cut to its other housing voucher programs next fiscal year, which could result in a loss of 2,000 additional vouchers. Officials said they won’t know how much will be cut until the start of the federal government’s fiscal year in October.

Sandy Perry, board vice president of South Bay Community Land Trust, said the problem lies in unaffordable rent, and criticized Mahan’s handling of the crisis because numbers have increased under the mayor’s leadership. He said San Jose and the county need both temporary and permanent affordable housing, not one or the other.

Perry said the state and federal cuts, along with the depletion of Measure A funds and local policies, have all led to a “perfect storm.”

“We’re headed for just an incredible collision of crises,” Perry told San José Spotlight. “I think it’s important to understand that a city by itself is not going to solve this as a problem.”

The final point in time count results will be released late summer or early fall.

Story updated June 20 at 4:59 p.m. Original story published June 20 at 3:50 p.m.

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