Signs of stabilization: Pierce County homelessness growth slows to 3% in 2026 Point-in-Time Count | pierceco
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 28, 2026
Signs of stabilization: Pierce County homelessness growth slows to 3% in 2026 Point-in-Time Count
Sustained investment and new affordable housing will be needed to turn stabilization into a decline.
Click here for b-roll of past Point-in-Time Counts.
Homelessness in Pierce County is rising far more slowly than in recent years. The 2026 Homeless Point-in-Time (PIT) Count found 3,045 people experiencing homelessness on a single night in January, a 3% increase from last year. The change marks a notable slowdown from previous years, as housing costs have more than doubled over the past decade, and homelessness has climbed sharply with them.
A slower rate of growth suggests the system is stabilizing, but it does not yet mean homeless numbers are dropping. The findings underscore persistent challenges, including limited access to affordable housing, declining benefits, increasing homelessness among youth and young adults, and continued housing instability.
Moving beyond stabilization and achieving lasting reductions will require a coordinated countywide response and sustained investment in homelessness prevention, outreach, shelter, housing and supportive services, alongside the County’s aggressive efforts to build more affordable housing.
“Homelessness is one of Pierce County’s most urgent issues. We are connecting more people to wraparound services that help them improve their health and employment options, and we’re speeding up the pace of affordable housing construction,” Pierce County Executive Ryan Mello said. “I’m encouraged by the signs of stabilization. We will continue working with our partners on a coordinated response that meets people in need where they are at. Everyone deserves a safe, stable place to live.”
What the 2026 data tells us
Here are the main trends and challenges identified during this year's count:
Lack of affordable housing is a growing barrier: The most common reason people gave for being homeless was simply that they could not find a home they could afford. County efforts to build more affordable housing are crucial to helping more people establish housing stability.
Disabilities and lost income make it harder to stay housed: Forty-two percent of individuals counted live with a disability, and 42% earn an income, including wages from active employment. Connecting people to job services and wage-sustaining opportunities remains a top priority.
More young people are without housing: The count was largely stable for other age groups, but homelessness increased among youth and young adults.
Fewer people in tents, more living in cars: The share of people who spent the prior night outdoors fell 4 percentage points, while those sleeping in vehicles rose 3 percentage points. The share of people saying this was not their first episode of homelessness rose 2 percentage points, showing how hard it is to stay housed long term.
Racial disparities persist: Black, African American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander residents experience homelessness at disproportionately high rates.
How Pierce County’s strategies are helping slow the growth
The slower rate of increase comes as the county and its partners continue investing across the full range of homelessness services, including prevention, diversion, outreach, shelter, housing and supportive services.
Prevention: Since its inception in 2024, the Homeless Prevention Program has been a major driver in slowing the growth of homelessness. It serves people who often are not eligible for traditional eviction prevention assistance, including households without formal leases, people who are couch surfing, immigrants and refugees, and households displaced by code enforcement actions or natural disasters. The program has prevented 1,100 households from becoming homeless. The County also operates an Eviction Prevention Program that provides rental assistance to households facing the eviction. In 2025, the program supported 963 households, helping approximately 2,400 residents maintain stable housing.
Street Outreach: Street outreach is key to helping people get off the streets and into homes. Thanks to these direct outreach efforts, last year 1 out of every 3 people helped moved into safer, more stable housing. To make even more progress, Pierce County will start using digital mapping technology (GIS) in 2027. By dividing the county into five regions, outreach teams can avoid overlapping work, coordinate their efforts better, and accurately map where people need help most.
Shelter: More shelter options are needed to help people move out of homelessness and into stable housing. Ongoing investments in the Shelter Access Hub, permanent supportive housing, emergency shelter, and moving assistance for families will help increase shelter turnover and make more beds available for those who need them. In early 2027, Oak View—the first tiny home village in unincorporated Pierce County—will open and provide non‑congregate emergency shelter. This will add 50 new beds to the system.
Targeted support for young people: Recent investments from the Youth Homeless Demonstration Program are supporting transitional and rapid re-housing services, making it easier for youth and young adults to access and afford a stable place to stay. The number of youth and young adult Coordinated Entry locations has increased, adding more urgency to these efforts.
Income and benefits connection: Since 2022, the Pierce County Veterans Services division has hosted weekly groups for homeless veterans looking for employment. In 2025 the System Navigation Program served over 600 households and connected them to resources to obtain documentation, social security income, food and transportation.
Regional coordination: Partnerships have helped move hundreds of people out of dangerous areas under overpasses and state rights-of-way and into more stable housing through the state-funded Right of Way (ROW) Encampment Resolution Program. ROW currently supports five shelter sites in Pierce County, including Maureen Howard Place, Calyx, Oasis Inn, Aspen Court and King Fisher Village. Investments in public health are expanding access to street medicine, ensuring people living outdoors can receive medical care before their ailment becomes a health crisis. Pierce County is collaborating with neighboring jurisdictions on a Unified Regional Approach to deliver coordinated services and significantly reduce homelessness.
Affordable housing development: Since mid-2023, the Maureen Howard Affordable Housing Act, funded by a one-tenth of 1% local sales tax, has supported the creation or preservation of 1,545 affordable homes, including 220 homes funded this fall. The county is also investing in supportive services, new cottage housing rules and infrastructure funding to speed up construction.
“When it comes to street outreach, getting a third of our unhoused neighbors into homes in just one year is a huge turnaround from where we were a few years back,” said Trisha Munson, senior outreach and engagement specialist at Commonstreet Consulting. “Having partners in medicine, behavioral health, and housing pathways right alongside us on the ground means we can meet folks where they are and deliver on our promises. The work is tough and the need is still high, but the momentum on the ground right now is real.”
What comes next
To move from holding steady to reducing homelessness, Pierce County will need continued local, state and federal funding to keep shelters open, prevent evictions and increase the supply of affordable housing.
The scale of that need is significant. By 2044, Pierce County will need more than 100,000 new housing units to meet projected demand, about 77,000 of them for households who need lower-cost options. Local investments like the Maureen Howard Affordable Housing Act are building toward that goal, but lasting reductions in homelessness will depend on sustained, regionwide action.
About the Point-in-Time Count
The PIT Count is a federally mandated census that provides a one-night snapshot of people experiencing sheltered and unsheltered homelessness in January. Local outreach teams, service providers, and volunteers interview people experiencing homelessness to learn more about their situation and offer housing resources. Because it is a single-night snapshot, it likely undercounts the total number of people experiencing homelessness. It helps track local trends and plan county services alongside year-round data, but it is only one piece of the area's overall plan to tackle homelessness.
To view the complete 2026 PIT Count findings, explore full data breakdowns, or download the summary infographic, visit www.piercecountywa.gov/PITresults.