Homelessness increases in Arizona; affordable housing remains out of reach for many
PHOENIX (AZFamily) — The U.S. saw an 18.1% increase in homelessness this year, a dramatic rise driven mostly by a lack of affordable housing as well as devastating natural disasters and a surge of migrants in several parts of the country, federal officials said Friday.
According to the report, there are nearly 15,000 people experiencing homelessness in Arizona, a 3.5% increase from 2023, and it’s more or less an even split between sheltered and unsheltered people.
The state has more than 11,000 individuals experiencing homelessness. More than 3,000 people are part of families with children, up 15% over last year.
According to the report, a few factors drive the increase in family homelessness: an expanded point-in-time count in rural parts of Arizona, an increase in shelter capacity in one major city, which helped programs reach more families and an undersupply of emergency shelter capacity, which left more families unsheltered.
On Friday, Arizona’s Family asked the Arizona Public Health Association executive director, Will Humble, whether these numbers match what he’s seeing on the ground.
“We have a Landlord-Tenant Act that was written in 1973. That’s really tilted toward the landlords, making it really easy to evict people—including people with families,” said Humble, who suggests housing laws are playing a significant role in the homeless crisis.
Earlier this year, a report found renters must work 76 hours a week, making the minimum wage, to pay for a one-bedroom apartment in Arizona
The nonprofit housing report found that a one-bedroom in Arizona costs, on average, $1,417 a month, while a two-bedroom costs about $1,700.
Arizona is also among the states that have seen the most significant increase in unaccompanied youth experiencing homelessness since 2017. In 2024, we had 243 more unaccompanied homeless youth than we did in 2017, a 42% increase.
And while the national numbers showed veterans were the only population to report declines in homelessness since last year, Arizona counted 62 more homeless veterans in 2024 than in 2023.
Humble says people with severe mental illnesses make up roughly 50% of the homeless population in Arizona. He said if the state got serious about “supported housing” for that population, the state would see a visible reduction in the number of homeless people and the problems associated with homelessness.
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