Overall homelessness in Denver went down by 12.5% this year, the first year-to-year reduction in nine years, according to an annual count.

Street homelessness is also at a nine-year low, decreasing by 64% since 2023, when Denver Mayor Mike Johnston took office, city officials said.

Johnston, who campaigned on eliminating homelessness in his first term as mayor, has made the issue a focus of his administration, spending roughly $178 million on various programs since taking office, an amount higher than previously budgeted.

About $55 million was spent on homeless initiatives in 2025, according to a spokesperson for the mayor’s office. For 2026, $35 million has been budgeted.

The 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.

The numbers that Johnston’s office pointed to Wednesday are sourced from the annual Point-In-Time count, which takes a snapshot of homelessness on a single night in January. The 2026 PIT count shows decreases of about 8% in metro Denver and 12.5% in Denver proper.

While the PIT count numbers may be promising, “Colorado’s State of Homelessness Report 2025” by the Metro Denver Homeless Initiative is regarded as a more comprehensive look at homelessness.

The PIT count only looks at homelessness on a single night and the numbers can be skewed by a number of factors, such as participation or weather, while the statewide report relies on data compiled over the entire year.

The 2025 PIT count found 10,774 people who were homeless in Denver, both sheltered and unsheltered. While the number of street homelessness decreased, overall homelessness was up compared to 2024, with more people in shelters.

The 2026 survey counted 9,950 homeless people, a decrease of 7.6%. In Denver proper, those numbers went from 7,327 people in 2025 to 6,411 in 2026.

Street homelessness — defined as people not staying in a shelter — also went down 34% compared to last year, with 518 people counted during the PIT count.

However, due to sub-freezing temperatures on the day of the count, Jan. 26, cold weather shelters were activated, meaning more people may have been staying outside on nights with warmer weather.

Comparing those numbers to the statewide report, the PIT count shows a much smaller number of homeless people. The statewide report counted 35,601 people in metro Denver, compared to the 9,950 counted in the PIT report.

Additionally, family homelessness and youth homelessness went up in 2025, according to the PIT data.

At a news conference Wednesday morning, Johnston pointed to these numbers as evidence his administration’s homeless initiatives are working.

“This year’s results show historic reductions in homelessness in every major category,” Johnston said. “That means overall, we see 30% fewer people entering homelessness in the first place. Our efforts at prevention are working.”

Johnston said the city’s efforts to reduce homelessness involve a range of city leaders, including from the faith and nonprofit communities. They also include Urban Alchemy, which operates the Aspen shelter.

Since taking office, Johnston has led efforts to add roughly 1,000 shelter beds, which has included purchasing hotels to convert into shelters.

At the news conference, two former residents of such shelters spoke highly of their experiences staying there.

Ny’isha Murray, who stayed at the 289-bed Aspen shelter, said her time at Aspen brought stability and support into her life and helped to free her from homelessness.

“They got us up out of there,” Murray said. “I give them all the credit in the world.”