West Valley homeless count numbers drop

The Maricopa County Association of Governments on Monday released the results of the 2026 Point-in-Time Homelessness Count, which were nearly unchanged year over year across the region, though local communities saw larger shifts.

“Flat numbers in a growing region are themselves a meaningful sign,” a MAG release stated. “As the Maricopa region’s population continues to climb, holding the overall count steady and reducing the unsheltered population demonstrates important progress.”

The changes from 2025 to 2026 showed the total regional PIT count was down less than 1%. The drop was far more pronounced locally with unsheltered homelessness decreasing in the West Valley by 36%.

Several West Valley cities drove that regional decline. Avondale’s unsheltered count dropped from 62 unhoused people in 2025 to 38 people in 2026, while Buckeye saw a similar downward trend, dropping from 89 unsheltered people in 2025 to 58 in 2026.

Litchfield Park held completely steady, with the PIT report counting no unsheltered people in the city for either year. Meanwhile, Goodyear experienced a slight uptick, increasing from five unhoused people in 2025 to nine in 2026.

Countywide, the unsheltered count dipped 12% overall, while the sheltered count rose 14%.

"The most encouraging part of this year's count is that more people are sheltered," said Tim Burch, co-chair of the Maricopa Regional Continuum of Care and Tempe’s director of community health and human services. "When someone is in shelter, they're connected to services and case management, and that's how people move out of homelessness. That's the direction we want to keep moving."

The PIT is an annual street and shelter count that determines the number of people experiencing homelessness in Maricopa County at a given point in time. The count is part of a national effort to identify the extent of homelessness throughout the country.

Visit maricopacoc.org for more information.

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