October 9, 2025
Authors: Jamie Podratz, Madeleine Lovett, Nathan Smith, Brittnie Stanton
As the U.S. population ages, new challenges face communities. Among the most heartbreaking is the growing incidence of homelessness among seniors, but many of the interventions to address homelessness today are ill-suited to them. This piece explores the unique challenges facing older adults as well as the organizations working to get them off the streets, while quantifying the need and what it will take to solve senior homelessness in Arizona.
The Scale of the Problem
This year’s Point in Time (PIT) Count, a nationwide single day tally of everyone experiencing homelessness (sheltered or unsheltered) found 15,259 individuals experiencing homelessness across Arizona. Of those 15,259 people, 9,734 (63.8%) of them were in Maricopa County, a 3.1% increase since 2024. Pima County saw a 5.5% increase in homelessness from year to year, counting 2,218 (14.5%) people experiencing homelessness in 2025. For the Balance of State (all other counties in Arizona), 3,307 (21.7%) were counted, a 5.4% increase since 2024.
The Conversation Around Homelessness in Arizona
One of the primary reasons for the uptick in homelessness in Maricopa County, Pima County, and the Balance of State is the expiration of increased federal investments in homeless response post-COVID. The American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) as well as other COVID-relief related funding streams have expired en masse over the last several months, leading to a reduction in services available to meet communities’ needs. In addition, while housing cost increases have slowed in recent months, sharp increases in housing costs over the last several years have not kept up with wage growth or fixed income adjustments, leaving many struggling to make ends meet. This can lead to housing instability and, at worst, homelessness.
Homelessness is increasing across the country… and closer to home in Arizona. There’s a growing public awareness around homelessness, too, but are the conversations informed? Here’s what we’re actually seeing in Arizona. The PIT Count tallies everyone experiencing homelessness who can be found on a single night — whether they’re in temporary shelter or living on the streets, abandoned office or industrial areas, vehicles, or other places not meant for permanent human habitation. We know it’s not a full count of those experiencing homelessness, because it’s certain that we’ve missed a few. There are some who work hard not to be found, and the state of Arizona is large, urban, and wild. While volunteers work hard to capture everyone in the PIT Count, it’s impossible. The statewide Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) tallied around 50,000 individuals who “touched the system” last year. Based on the PIT and HMIS numbers, it’s safe to assume that on any given night in Arizona, there are between 15,000 and 60,000 people experiencing homelessness. Aside from a large one-time state investment from the state legislature in 2023, these staggering numbers have not resulted in increased or sustained investment at the state level.
A Statewide, Generalized Shortage of Resources
Every instance of homelessness is tragic. But with only around 1 in 4 individuals qualifying for federal housing assistance receiving any, there’s a glaring gap between the availability of programs that can help and the number of people who need them. The tragedy of homelessness is a reality for far too many Arizonans. And with a housing affordability crisis across the state, it can be impossible to move people through the system swiftly. Our homeless response system is overextended and jammed up. That has special consequences in a state like Arizona, and devastating consequences for an older adult, one with a limited fixed income and few places to turn to for help.
A Closer Look at The Valley
The number of seniors experiencing homelessness in Maricopa County has exploded in recent years, tripling from 2020 to 2024. In June of 2024, 1,268 seniors aged 55+ experienced homelessness in Maricopa County alone. Statewide in 2024, the number of Arizonans 55+ experiencing homelessness neared 3,300.
The 1,268 Maricopa County seniors experiencing homelessness in the summer of 2024 faced unrelenting high temperatures during the hottest summer in Phoenix’s recorded history. 2024 saw 608 heat-related deaths in Maricopa County alone, a modest drop after a steady rise in heat-related deaths over the last several years (2023 saw more than 630 heat-related deaths). Around half (49%, Maricopa County) of those who passed were unhoused. 60% of those who died were aged 50 and older. Our chronically under-resourced system claims hundreds of Arizona’s seniors’ lives each year.
The Big Question: Why are Seniors Falling into Homelessness?
- The Scarcity of Housing: Arizona has experienced a population boom in recent years, with approximately 800,000 residents from the 2010 to 2020 U.S. Census. A bipartisan Housing Supply Committee issued a report in late 2022 estimating a 270,000 unit shortage of affordable housing statewide. More recent estimates from Common Sense Institute (CSI) describe the shortage as smaller, but still significant.
- Rising Rents; Rates of Inflation: Fewer units with greater competition for occupancy makes for high rental rates. According to the latest ARCHES report, from 2010 to 2014, the typical home value in Arizona nearly doubled; that’s a 91% increase after adjusting for inflation. In March 2024, the typical home price in Arizona reached $427,272 while the median rent was $1,600 per month.
- Fixed Incomes: Kiplinger reports that the median social security benefit payment to Arizonans was $1,976 per month in 2024. Combined with other retirement savings — or not, given that AARP’s 2024 survey of 50-year-olds nationwide found that 1 in 5 had no retirement savings at all — a senior may be working with far less than $2,000 per month in total income. If a senior is to pay just one third of their monthly income on housing, that’s a rent or mortgage amount of just $593 per month. How many among us in Arizona have seen housing costs like that anywhere in the last five years?
Our Aging Veterans
Another disturbing trend is that the aging population is growing among unhoused veterans. As statewide coordinators of the Arizona Veterans StandDown Alliance, we have an inside look into what veteran homelessness and housing instability looks like across the state. At last year’s Maricopa County StandDown, nearly 1,500 veterans experiencing homelessness and other hardship gathered at the Arizona State Fairgrounds to get connected to shelter, the courts system, medical assistance, employment support, legal services, veterinary care for pets, and so much more. During this event, 51% of the veterans served were aged 55 and older.
There’s Hope: Central Arizona Shelter Services’ The Haven
Despite the challenges in rising numbers of those experiencing homelessness and a shortage of resources to addresses, the Arizona Housing Coalition members and others are working tirelessly to address the problem. Central Arizona Shelter Services (CASS) has just opened a new emergency shelter to meet the unique needs of seniors. CASS’s The Haven is a 130-unit, low-barrier, closed campus in Phoenix, providing non-congregate emergency shelter to adults ages 55 and up. The purpose of the shelter is to provide a space for aging adults to have a temporary place to address barriers to housing and identify a pathway forward into stable housing. Through case management services, staff and clients work with partner providers to find the next step as quickly as possible.
The Haven provides shelter to seniors 55+ years old experiencing homelessness, meaning they’re sleeping unsheltered on our city streets. Additionally, The Haven aims to prioritize individuals that:
- Are experiencing unsheltered homelessness;
- Are referrals from congregate emergency shelters;
- Are referrals from institutions like hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, and medical respite.
Services Provided at The Haven
Second, The Haven provides intensive case management services to all clients staying in the shelter. These case management services provide in-house navigation of the homeless services system, helping clients understand and navigate what resources exist to help them resolve their homelessness. Case management services provide a whole-person perspective by using an innovative assessment based on the Social Determinants of Health, a screen for cognitive decline, and an assessment of mobility concerns. Additionally, they provide referrals to partner services when clients need resources not immediately available within The Haven. This includes, but is not limited to, healthcare services, behavioral health services, legal support, employment referral, training and education, SOAR referrals, and housing interventions.
Third, The Haven strives to create a sense of community among its residents by providing client programming through a mix between social events and external partnerships. Homelessness can be isolating, especially for seniors, and The Haven combats this by creating a space for clients to interact and build meaningful relationships. In addition to The Haven’s person-centered approach, the design of the facility was created with The Haven’s specific population in mind. Each floor is painted a separate color for clients to easily remember which floor they are located on. Additionally, the furniture was picked out to provide easy access and comfortability to the aging population of The Haven.
The average stay for a senior at The Haven is 94 days. That’s three months of safety, security, and direct assistance in finding the next step toward stability. Since opening, The Haven has served 193 of Arizona’s seniors. With a success rate of more than 85%, The Haven is providing life-saving services to seniors in need.
So, What’s the Cost?
We know it’s going to require an investment to address the growing challenge of senior homelessness. To quantify what that might cost, let’s break down expenses of running The Haven according to CASS’s data.
- The annual cost of operating The Haven is just over $2.5 million.
- Serving just under 200 seniors, the cost per individual assisted nears $13,000.
- If we extrapolate those figures (a calculation not without flaws given variation in local utility, staffing, and other costs but a decent measure for quantifying the expense) we can estimate a figure to shelter all 3,300+ seniors experiencing homelessness statewide. To address the shelter needs of the estimated 3,300 seniors experiencing homelessness across the state, we’d need an investment to approximately $42 million.
Does Arizona Have the Will to Address the Scale of Need?
It won’t without our voices — and your voice matters. Learn more about CASS’s new programs online and sign up to receive the Coalition’s Advocacy Alerts today! By signing up for these alerts, you’ll be the first to know of pressing issues that arise in the affordable housing and homelessness landscape.
The Coalition would like to extend deep gratitude to Nathan Smith and Brittnie Stanton for their willingness to provide their thoughts, data, research, and expertise on the topic of senior homelessness.