Colorado has seen the fourth highest percentage increase in homelessness in the U.S. since 2020, according to a new report.
The report, by the free-enterprise Common Sense Institute, also called into question most of the state’s “housing first” approach, saying it “may not be the best approach to addressing this challenge.”
Colorado’s homeless population increased by 90% since 2020, ranking behind only Vermont (212%), Illinois (148%) and Rhode Island (121%). According to the report, the state’s 3.14 homeless per 1,000 residents ranks ninth nationally.
In the combined Denver-Boulder-Aurora area, $405 million in local, state, federal and nonprofit funding was spent in 2023 to combat homelessness, CSI noted.
Denver had a record-high 9,977 unhoused individuals in 2024, according to point-in-time counts. Of those, 2,233 individuals participated in Denver’s “housing first” All in Mile High Program, which cost $69,413 per person and an additional $16 million on those who became unsheltered after leaving the program, the report said.
“This report makes clear that homelessness is growing fastest in cities most reliant on housing-first strategies,” said Dustin Zvonek, CSI’s research fellow on homelessness and a former Aurora City Council member. “We need to step back and look at the broader data — ask what’s working, what’s not, and focus on implementing policies that deliver measurable, sustained improvements.
The think tank also contrasted Denver’s “housing first” approach with El Paso County’s (Colorado Springs) and Aurora’s “work first” approach. In El Paso County, the point-in-time count for last year was 1,146 homeless individuals, 12% less than the prior year.
“Communities like Colorado Springs are showing real results with work-first models grounded in accountability and recovery,” Zvonek added. “It’s time to apply those lessons where the crisis is growing most rapidly.”
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Other cities that take a “housing first” approach include Los Angeles, which saw a 39% increase in homeless individuals since 2020; San Francisco (9% increase) and Portland, Oregon (70% increase).
“Housing first policies have not reduced the number of homeless individuals in many of the cities practicing them, though they have moved many people from unsheltered spaces to sheltered spaces,” CSI’s report concluded. “Because results have not been demonstrated, federal agencies and other public leaders must loosen funding so that it can be used to support approaches that prioritize self-sufficiency.”
