Veteran Homelessness in Maricopa County: What the Numbers Say
Every January, communities around the country count the people experiencing homelessness on a single night. That count, the Point-in-Time Count, gives us the clearest annual picture of veteran homelessness in Maricopa County. Here is what the latest numbers say, and what they mean for our mission.
The 2026 count in Maricopa County
The Maricopa Regional Continuum of Care's 2026 Point-in-Time Count recorded 429 veterans experiencing homelessness, down 9% from the prior year. It is the second straight year the region has reported a meaningful drop: the 2024 count showed veteran homelessness down 13% from 2023, with decreases among both sheltered and unsheltered veterans.
Progress this real deserves celebration and a but. 429 is down from 500-plus, and it is still 429 people who served this country waking up on a January night without a home to be in. In the same count, thousands more people across Maricopa County experienced homelessness. The direction is right. The work is not finished.
The statewide and national picture
Arizona is home to roughly 460,000 veterans, and about one in four has a service-connected disability. On a national level, HUD's January 2024 Annual Homelessness Assessment Report found 32,882 veterans experiencing homelessness, a 7.6% decline from 2023. The country is moving the number down. No number counts as "done" until it is zero and stays zero.
Why the count matters to a home builder
Counting is not housing. The drop in the Maricopa numbers came from real programs with real housing: more vouchers used, more case management, more units. But the affordable housing stock underneath all of it is still the tightest constraint. Vouchers and case workers can move a veteran toward a home. Only a builder can put the home at the end of that path.
That is our lane. Every home we complete adds one more address where a voucher can land, one more deed a VA loan can buy, one more veteran that the next January count does not have to count.
Sources: 2026 PIT Count Report, Maricopa CoC · 2024 PIT Count Report, AZMAG · HUD 2024 AHAR via NCHV · Supporting Veterans in Arizona, HAC