PHOENIX — The number of people living on the streets across the Valley dropped by 17 percent compared to last year, according to new data released by the Maricopa Association of Governments.
In January 2024, a total of 9,435 people were counted throughout Maricopa County as experiencing some degree of homelessness. About 43 percent of those individuals were on the streets, which is referred to as "unsheltered," and the other 57 percent were living in a shelter or transitional housing.
The survey results show that there were 832 fewer people found sleeping on the streets in the Valley compared to the survey conducted one year earlier, but there were 625 more people found living in shelters.
Over 1,300 of the people counted during Maricopa County's 2024 survey were children under the age of 18.
Phoenix, Mesa, Tempe, Surprise, El Mirage, Peoria and Buckeye are some of the Valley cities that reported fewer unsheltered people during the 2024 survey.
“This result is a win for our community. We are seeing that the investments we made in shelter are paying off,” Rachel Milne, co-chair of the Maricopa Regional Continuum of Care Board, said in a statement.
The data results came from the annual Point-in-Time survey conducted throughout the U.S.
The total number of people in the City of Phoenix experiencing homelessness decreased by 1 percent between 2023 and 2024. However the number of people in Phoenix who were living without any type of shelter decreased by 19 percent.
Though the total number of unsheltered individuals in the Valley dropped in 2024, the figure is still higher than the amount recorded in Maricopa County's 2020 survey.
Information about services available in Phoenix for individuals experiencing homelessness can be found here.
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