Tucson homeless population up slightly, but more people in shelters

Pima County’s homeless population increased slightly from last year, leaving just over 2,000 people living outside, in shelters, or transitional housing, according to a point-in-time count conducted in January. But the number without any shelter has dropped by nearly 25 percent.

Conducted on the night of January 29 and released Monday, the yearly canvass presents a complicated picture of homelessness in Pima County. 

The “snapshot” found more people were homeless this year, but overall figures remain flat “holding the line even as other regions endured steep increases,” officials said. 

The count also found more people were in some kind of shelter— increasing more than two-thirds — in a sign that the county and regional nonprofits were able to scale resources to “meet demand and provide safer alternatives to the street,” said the Tucson Pima Collaboration to End Homelessness.

More than 400 volunteers — along with staff from government agencies and area nonprofits — went out into the community in teams to survey the most populated areas of the county and briefly interview people who are living without a roof over their heads, as well as people those in shelters or transitional housing. 

This year, the count expanded to include the communities of Ajo and Catalina.

Since 2007, cities and counties that provide care for homeless people
are required to conduct point-in-time surveys in January, and send that
information to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to
help guide federal dollars for shelters, housing and support services.

The count found 2,218 people in 1,857 households were living in shelters, transitional housing, or living without shelter in Pima County, according to a report published Monday by TPCH.

The survey found 1,276 people were left without shelter entirely, and 942 people were at shelters that January morning.

“Having anyone living on the streets is devastating. The high demand for
homeless shelter and services pose a community-wide challenge. TPCH and
its partners are focused on alleviating this crisis through coordinated
efforts to bring respite to our unsheltered neighbors and creating
solutions to provide stable housing,” said Shannon Fowler, chairperson
of the TPCH Board.

Over the last several years, Pima County’s homeless population rapidly expanded, driven largely by a spike during the COVID-19
pandemic. In 2018, data showed around 1,380 people lived without shelter, but by 2022 that jumped to 2,227.

TPCH did not conduct a count in 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Our community is still recovering from the economic consequences of
COVID, including rising housing and living costs, job loss, and the end
of the eviction moratorium, which have all led directly to the rise of
homelessness,” said TPCH.

TPCH noted that since 2022, the number of people counted remained relatively flat compared to national figures. 

In January, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development released its own annual assessment of homelessness and said the number of unsheltered people rose 18 percent in the country since 2023. In Arizona it increased 3.5 percent.

Nearly all segments of people experiencing homelessness reached record levels in 2024: people in families with children, single people, people with chronic patterns of homelessness, people staying in unsheltered locations such as in cars or outside, people staying in shelters, and unaccompanied youth all reached the highest levels ever reported in 2024, according to HUD. 

Officials attributed this to several factors: a worsening nationwide affordable housing crisis, inflation, stagnating wages and the effects of systemic racism have “stretched homelessness services to their limits” the report said, while public health crises, natural disasters that displaced many from their homes, rising amounts of migrants entering the U.S., and the end of pandemic-era homelessness prevention programs such as eviction moratoriums have amplified the problem.

Veterans were the only population of unhoused people that saw a decrease nationwide, with eight percent fewer homeless veterans last year than in 2023, and 55 percent fewer than when the agency started tracking them in 2009.

The number of people living in Pima County without shelter has dropped by nearly
one-quarter, or 23 percent. Officials also said homelessness among
people 18-24 years old decreased by 32 percent. 

On the other
hand, the count shows the number of people on the street because of
serious mental illness and substance abuse rose compared to a year
earlier.

The local data also shows around 842 people are chronically homeless compared to 798 last year. 

TPCH
said  they will work to mitigate homelessness through a variety of
strategies, including “coordinated street outreach,” an effort to
increase the number of emergency shelter beds, expanding transitional
and permanent housing programs, and working to improve coordination
between justice, behavioral health, social service, and mainstream
housing resources.

“Even though the PIT Count only gives a
snapshot of homelessness for one night in our community, the annual
count is an important tool used to inform priorities for federal, state,
and local funding,” said TPCH. “It also helps identify trends and craft
solutions for the needs of vulnerable individuals and families.”

Officials in Pima County said “while the total number of people experiencing homelessness remains high, there are several encouraging signs that our local strategies are working.”

However, the county’s efforts face a massive shortfall as the Trump administration has slashed federal programs through the Department of Government Efficiency, or “DOGE” — so-dubbed by the
Trump White House and ostensibly managed by Elon Musk in a reference to a joke cryptocurrency
featuring a cartoon dog.

Further, the so-called “One Big Beautiful Bill,” which will cut spending for dozens of federal programs while granting tax cuts to the highest earners and expanding immigration enforcement and military spending. According to the National Alliance to End Homelessness, the Trump administration’s original budget would “broadly slash funding for critical programs that local homelessness response systems rely on to prevent and end homelessness. If enacted, this budget would undoubtedly result in further increases in homelessness across the nation.”

The group estimated the changes could put nearly 9 million people could be homeless after losing federal assistance.

Earlier this month, the Tucson City Council voted 5-1 to make it a
misdemeanor to camp in city washes—an effort intended to mitigate the
consequences of Prop. 312—a law approved by voters last November
allowing Arizonans to get a refund on their property taxes if they can
prove local governments neglected to address the negative effects of
homelessness nearby.

City Attorney Mike Rankin proposed the
ordinance banning camping in washes — along with one that criminalized
standing on the medians of roads, which passed 5-1 in March — as a way
to protect the city from liability under Prop. 312 by proving it has
taken steps to manage the effects of public homelessness, Tucson
Sentinel reported.

The
measure passed despite serious opposition from advocates, who said the
measure would perpetuate cycles of poverty and homelessness by imposing
fines on people with no way to pay them.