Aurora and Arapahoe County both saw increases in the number of homeless people in this year’s Point-In-Time count, but fewer of those people went unsheltered this year.

Aurora saw a 33% increase in the overall number of homeless people from 2025 to 2026, with 626 last year and 832 this year.

While the number of homeless people went up, the number of people who were unsheltered went down 24%, from 256 last year to 194 this year.

The annual Point-in-Time count takes a snapshot of homelessness on a single night in January.

Arapahoe County, which includes Aurora, saw a similar trend, with the overall number of homeless people going up 19%, from 725 to 864, but the number of unsheltered people going down 35%, from 314 to 205.

Adams County, on the other hand, saw a 0.2% increase in the overall number of homeless people, from 730 to 732, and a 9% increase in the number of unsheltered people, from 361 to 392.

The decrease in unsheltered homelessness in Aurora and Arapahoe County can likely be attributed to Aurora’s new Regional Navigation Campus — a onestop shop for homeless services that opened in November with far more shelter capacity than the city previously had.

The campus, operated by Advance Pathways, works on a tiered system, with three tiers that progressively offer better accommodations for people actively working toward exiting homelessness.

As of Thursday, there were 283 people in the low-barrier Tier One shelter, 54 in Tier Two and 11 in Tier Three, which is the highest level of living conditions and requires the person to be working.

In a news release this week, Arapahoe County officials lauded the decline in unsheltered people, calling unsheltered homelessness “the most urgent measure of homelessness.”

There were also no unsheltered homeless families this year, the news release said. There were 14 unsheltered homeless families counted last year.

Officials also pointed to a decline in veteran and youth homelessness in Arapahoe County, the release said, with veteran homelessness falling 15%, from 47 to 40, and youth homelessness falling from 32 to 26.

“These results reflect the hard work of our county team, our community partners, and the nonprofit organizations working every day to connect our most vulnerable neighbors with housing and services,” Board Chair Leslie Summey said. “A 35% drop in unsheltered homelessness is real, measurable progress — and zero families sleeping outside is a milestone worth noting.”

Arapahoe County Community Resources Director Kathy Smith said more people in shelter means “the system is working.”

“We have invested in expanding shelter capacity — including two new navigation centers that serve our entire region — to bring people inside and off the street,” Smith said. “These numbers confirm we’re making progress on the most critical measure: reducing the number of people exposed to the dangers of unsheltered homelessness.”

The Arapahoe County announcement of the annual count comes on the heels of the annual statewide report on homelessness released Monday by the Metro Denver Homeless Initiative. That report found homelessness across metro Denver decreased 1.3% in 2025.