San José Reduces Unsheltered Homelessness by Double Digits in Latest PIT Count, Leads County and Statewide Average in Sheltered Rates
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 14, 2025
Media Contact:
Tasha Dean, Chief Communications Officer, Office of Mayor Matt Mahan
SAN JOSÉ, CA - The latest Point-In-Time (PIT) Count shows a clear and encouraging trend: San José’s sustained investments in interim housing and other forms of managed shelter are paying off. Since 2019, the number of unsheltered residents in San José has dropped by nearly 23%, going from over 5,100 people living outdoors to fewer than 4,000 in 2025. This stands in contrast with statewide and countywide trends, where unsheltered homelessness has continued to rise or remain flat.
“San José has proven that investing in shelter and interim housing works — now it’s time for every city and county to step up and do their fair share,” said San José Mayor Matt Mahan. “Leaving people to suffer in unsafe, unsheltered conditions isn’t compassionate or progressive; it’s neglect. The right thing to do — morally, fiscally, and environmentally — is to bring people indoors immediately, connect them to services, and end the era of encampments once and for all.”
“The City’s Administration has made significant progress in the City Council Focus Area of Reducing Unsheltered Homelessness,” said City Manager Jennifer Maguire. “This year, we expect to open additional sites that include Emergency Interim Housing and hotel leases. Providing a diverse set of sites ensures we have dignified options for our unhoused community to come off the streets and into a safe location.”
In the last five years, San José has more than doubled its sheltered population — a staggering 160% increase from 980 people in 2019 to 2,544 today. As a result, the city’s sheltered rate has climbed from just 16% of the total homeless population in 2019 to nearly 40% in 2025, meaning almost four in ten unhoused residents are now living indoors and connected to services. This marks the highest sheltered rate San José has achieved in decades, exceeding Santa Clara County’s overall sheltered rate of 30% and California’s statewide rate of 34%. These numbers do not include the additional 1,000-plus beds that San José will bring online by the end of this calendar year.
In contrast, Santa Clara County excluding San José has experienced an increase of over 700 people living unsheltered compared to 2019, and its sheltered rate has fallen from 22% in 2019 to 16.5% today, which is less than half of San José’s current sheltered rate.
These results demonstrate that when a city focuses investments on shelter — from quick-build interim housing to safe parking sites — it can save lives and improve the quality of life for everyone. While more work remains to bring every resident indoors permanently, San José is proving that a focus on interim strategies can reduce street homelessness and get people on a path to recovery and self-sufficiency. It also proves that in order to truly make a difference statewide, every city and county will need to do its part. It’s simply not enough for big cities to lean in – it must be the responsibility of every community if we are going to end homelessness.
Reducing chronic homelessness, in particular, requires bringing people indoors as quickly as possible and connecting them to robust mental health and addiction treatment services. The longer individuals remain unsheltered, the more their physical and mental health deteriorate, making it even harder to help them stabilize and regain independence. Early intervention is critical — getting people off the streets now is the most effective way to break the cycle of chronic homelessness for good.
That’s why Mayor Mahan is working with Senator Catherine Blakespear and Senator Josh Becker on new statewide legislation that would require California counties to fund wraparound services at city-run sites and help other jurisdictions develop concrete plans to reach functional zero, modeled after San José’s approach. These bills, however, have faced pushback at every turn, with many state leaders refusing to acknowledge the role that shelter plays on the pathway out of homelessness.
Mayor Mahan and the City of San José acknowledge that the PIT count is an estimate and use it as simply one data point to guide efforts to reduce unsheltered homelessness. In addition to releasing the city’s plan to reach functional zero, the Housing Department led by Erik Soliván has been conducting its own counts using multiple data sources collected more frequently. Those numbers will be released early next year.
Although these figures are imperfect snapshots, Mayor Mahan believes they provide clear evidence that it is possible to end street encampments in California by prioritizing interim housing. He urges all jurisdictions to adopt these proven, data-driven strategies to bring more unhoused neighbors indoors and end unsheltered homelessness across the region and state.
About the City of San José
With nearly one million residents, San José is the largest city in the Bay Area and one of the nation's most diverse and creative. San José’s transformation into a global innovation center in the heart of Silicon Valley has resulted in the world's greatest concentration of technology talent and development.