Denver homeless population hits record high in 2024 count

DENVER ( KDVR ) — The number of people experiencing homelessness across the Denver metro area increased by 10% to a record 9,977 people , according to the annual Point-in-Time count released by the Metro Denver Homelessness Initiative Wednesday.

The number of families experiencing homelessness also increased by over 1,000 — from 2,101 in 2023 to 3,136 in 2024.

The Point-in-Time count is a one-day count of all people experiencing homelessness, regardless of whether they are sheltered or unsheltered. This count, which is required by the Department of Housing and Urban Development , has to be done in the last 10 days of January.

The purpose is to capture the number of people experiencing homelessness on a single night.

This year, the count was done from sundown on Jan. 22 to sundown on Jan. 23. It includes data from Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Broomfield, Denver, Douglas and Jefferson counties.

2024 Point-in-Time count

There were 9,977 sheltered and unsheltered people counted across the area in 2024, higher than the 9,065 counted in 2023. MDHI said this was “driven primarily” by a 12% increase in shelter usage across the region.

In total, 2,919 people, around 29.2%, were unsheltered, while the remaining 70.7% of people counted were in emergency shelters, Safe Havens or transitional housing.

This was a slight improvement from 2023, when 30.4% of the homeless population were unsheltered . However, due to the increase in the number of people in the count overall, there were more unsheltered people included in the 2024 count than in any year prior.

The majority of people experiencing homelessness were located in the City and County of Denver, with 6,539 people included in the count — around 65%.

The city said it specifically saw large decreases in unsheltered homelessness, with an 83% reduction in unsheltered family homelessness and an 11% decrease overall.

According to the city, this was the largest year-over-year drop in unsheltered homelessness since it began tracking it in 2017.

MDHI said around 4,300 migrants were also staying in temporary Denver city shelters on the night of the count. However, they were not included in the Point-in-Time count. MDHI said this was done to ensure the most accurate information about homelessness in the area.

A further breakdown of the data can be found on MDHI’s website .

Why this may not be the full story

MDHI said that while the Point-in-Time count was 9,977 this year, the number of people who experience homelessness in the region throughout the year is likely closer to 30,000.

The organization said this count comes from the Homelessness Management Information System, which is used by over 100 local nonprofit and government agencies.

Instead of just one night in the year, the data is entered throughout the year .

MDHI also said the Point-in-Time data can fluctuate year-over-year with methodological changes and varying conditions. However, the organization said it remains a valuable tool when used with other data.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX31 Denver.