Fact Brief: Are more people becoming homeless than are exiting homelessness in Santa Clara County?

For every household in Santa Clara County connected to housing in 2024, nearly two became homeless.

According to the county’s 2024 year-end analysis of its 2020-2025 Community Plan to End Homelessness, 2,234 households were connected to housing, while 4,098 new households became homeless for the first time.

While there was a 4.7% decrease in the number of households that became homeless in 2024 compared to the year prior, the number of households connected to housing declined by 11%.

Santa Clara County has a homeless population of 10,711, up 8.2% from two years ago. That’s according to the 2025 point in time count, a two-day federally mandated initiative to obtain a snapshot of the amount of local sheltered and unsheltered homeless people.