Santa Clara County’s total homeless population rose by 8.2 percent to a record high of 10,711 people, according to early results from the county’s latest point-in-time count.

The count used data taken in one night in January 2025, and it serves as the main data source to determine federal funding and homelessness estimates within the county.

The total number of people experiencing homelessness rose from 9,903 in 2023 to more than 10,000 now, consistent with expert observations that “more people are entering homelessness than exiting homelessness in the region,” the report states.

Among the homeless population, the number of sheltered individuals increased by 30 percent, which the county attributes to better use of available shelter beds and more shelter capacity overall.

“Even as we face extraordinary challenges and threats to critical federal and state funding for safety-net services, the County continues to make significant investments in both shelter capacity and permanent housing to combat homelessness in our community,” County Executive James R. Williams stated in a statement.

The investments include approximately $446 million in funding to address homelessness in the 2024–2025 fiscal year. With this funding, the county was able to move more than 8,000 homeless individuals into housing from 2023 to 2025.

The county stated that increasing temporary housing beds is a priority in its strategy. A progress report of its efforts to reduce homelessness from 2020 to 2024 found that 23,228 people were placed in temporary housing and shelter over that time.

However, nonprofit organization CalMatters reported that temporary housing is not without its issues. Fewer than one in four people statewide who leave temporary housing programs end up in permanent housing, according to a CalMatters investigation.

The investigation also found that only about 10 percent of the total number of people who enter temporary housing programs end up in permanent housing. Even within temporary housing, individuals receiving care may be faced with unsafe conditions, including reported substance abuse and violence, CalMatters stated.

CalMatters reported that the number of deaths in California homeless shelters was nearly double that in state jails between 2018 and mid-2024.

Currently, the Bay Area faces one of the worst homeless crises in the nation, according to the Bay Area Council Economic Institute.

San Jose passed a proposal earlier this month to allow authorities to arrest homeless individuals who refuse three offers of shelter. This came shortly after Gov. Gavin Newsom directed local officials in May to clear homeless encampments and transition residents to shelters, an initiative that came alongside increased funding to address the state’s ongoing homelessness crisis.