As homelessness in Santa Clara County continues to rise, the 2025 “point-in-time” count revealed that 58% of those surveyed were homeless for the first time — and that a majority of them became unhoused due to job loss, family issues, health problems and evictions or rent increases.
In June, the county released the preliminary results of the biennial count, which found a 8.2% increase in people experiencing homelessness from 2023. The number of homeless individuals, according to the June results, jumped from 9,903 to 10,711 — a record total. But a new, more detailed 60-page report exploring the findings has been released and shows more people are becoming homeless rather than leaving their dire situation behind.
“Even though we are helping more people annually move from homelessness into permanent housing every year, we’re still seeing more people entering homelessness than exiting on an annual basis,” said KJ Kaminski, the director of the county’s office of supportive housing, in an interview. “I think the point-in-time count reflects that reality that the lack of affordable housing and wage gaps are contributing to housing insecurity for thousands of our neighbors and pushing them into homelessness every day.”
The federally mandated “point-in-time” census aims to count every homeless individual in the county over the course of two days in January. While it’s used to quantify homelessness and determine funding, it represents only a snapshot in time and is not a full picture of homelessness throughout the year.
For the 2025 census, the county changed some of its methodology in an effort to ensure a more accurate count. Kaminski said the county tried “to maximize the number of people that we are able to speak with during the count.”
County officials and volunteers ultimately surveyed 1,534 individuals. Among the findings: 83% lived in Santa Clara County before becoming homeless — 70% of that group had lived in the county for a decade or longer — 73% had a disabling condition, 53% relied on Medi-Cal or Medicare and 47% relied on food assistance programs.
While the change in methodology makes its harder to compare the data to years past and glean any meaningful trends, the report notes that 46% of those experiencing homelessness were found sleeping in their vehicles — an increase from 32% in 2023. Among the unsheltered homeless population, 62% were living in the vehicles and 38% were living outdoors among the elements. 71% of those living in their vehicles were in RVs, which the county said has become more prevalent in the northern part of Santa Clara County, with the biggest increases seen in Mountain View, Santa Clara and Palo Alto.
In a news release, Mountain View attributed the surge of RV dwellers in the city to several factors, including a 2022 settlement that required the city to designate three miles of streets where oversized vehicles can park. The agreement was the result of a lawsuit sparked by the city’s attempts to institute an RV ban.
City officials also pointed to an “observed increase in vehicles from outside of Mountain View used for living, including commuters who have homes elsewhere and utilize oversized vehicles to live in while working in Mountain View temporarily.”
While RV-dwelling has long been an issue in Mountain View, city officials said recent policy shifts may be making it worse.
“The recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling in City of Grants Pass v. Johnson cleared the way for cities and states to enforce ordinances and laws prohibiting camping in public outdoor spaces,” the city said. “Some cities in the region are banning encampments and/or oversized vehicle parking on their streets.”
Cupertino last week became the latest Bay Area city to ban RVs from parking on city streets. Last year, Fremont passed an RV parking ban that requires oversized vehicles to move 1,000 feet every 72 hours. San Jose also has been cracking down on RV encampments, installing tow-away signs in areas where oversized vehicles have congregated.
Anat Leonard-Wookey, vice president of programs and services for the homeless services group LifeMoves, said in an interview that the trend mirrors what their homeless outreach workers have seen.
“We’re seeing that as folks lose their housing, they’re often able to retain their vehicle in that process and being in their car or van or RV is a safer option for them than being unsheltered at that time,” she said. “I think it is a sign of the confluence of increasing cost of living, but flat wages especially for more entry level jobs.”
Three of the four cities with an uptick of RVs parking on their streets in recent years also saw the biggest increases in homelessness, according to the county’s comparison of sheltered and unsheltered homelessness from 2023 to 2025. Cupertino saw a 110% increase — all in its unsheltered population — Palo Alto saw a 103% increase, Santa Clara saw a 72% increase and Mountain View saw a 56% increase.
Palo Alto spokesperson Meghan Horrigan-Taylor said that the city is pursuing a phased approach to address the impacts of oversized vehicles while coordinating regionally and providing ongoing services to unhoused residents.
“Palo Alto has strengthened renter protections, enabled safe parking programs, partnered with LifeMoves on the Homekey Palo Alto interim housing project, and supported affordable housing developments,” she said.
A spokesperson for Santa Clara said city officials were preparing for an upcoming study session on RV safe parking and working on its citywide plan to reduce homelessness and its impacts.
Roughly 85% of the county’s homeless population was found in four cities: San Jose (6,503), Gilroy (959), Mountain View (879) and Santa Clara (794).
For Kaminski, some of the survey data that reveals why individuals are becoming homeless points to the need for the county to continue investing in prevention efforts.
In the last fiscal year, the county spent approximately $446 million on its response to the growing homelessness crisis, with funding going toward prevention programs, interim housing, behavioral health services and permanent supportive housing. As part of the county’s Community Plan to End Homelessness, 35,833 people have received homelessness prevention assistance, 25,085 people were placed into temporary housing or shelter and 19,194 people obtained stable housing between January 2020 and June 2025.
Of those surveyed, job loss (27%) was the leading cause of homelessness followed by the breakup of a household or a family (17%), health issues (13%) and eviction or rent increase (12%).
Only 18% of those surveyed were employed and a majority were either looking for work (33%) or unable to work (25%).
“Both our permanent housing efforts and our homelessness prevention efforts are showing a tremendous amount of success getting people housed or keeping people in their housing so they don’t experience homelessness in the first place,” Kaminski said. “I think this point-in-time count reflects the need to continue to invest in those strategies that are working.”
