Results released Wednesday from the annual Point-in-Time and Housing Inventory census of the homeless population in El Paso County for the night of Jan. 25 show marked decreases in the numbers this year, demonstrating the community’s wildly fluctuating statistics.

Last year’s record high of 1,745 people living on the streets or in temporary housing fell this year to 1,413 people staying in emergency shelters and transitional housing and outside in vehicles, encampments, under bridges and other uninhabitable places.

That’s a 19% drop, year over year.

In announcing the survey findings, officials from ChangeLine, a nonprofit that operates and manages the Pikes Peak Continuum of Care, which coordinates the community’s homelessness response, attributed the difference in part to the subzero temperatures that hit the region the night of the count.

However, the temperatures were about the same as in January 2025, when last year’s survey was conducted and concluded with record high numbers.

“The challenge of annual reports is that it’s a look back, and what happened on a night in January might not be what’s happening now,” said Aimee Cox, the city’s chief housing and homelessness response officer.

Three weeks ago, the second annual Colorado’s State of Homelessness Report 2025 said 7,078 people in El Paso County were considered as homeless at some point last year.

Another measurement, the Longitudinal System Analysis, showed 5,394 homeless people from Oct. 1, 2024, through Sept. 30, 2025, countywide. Of those, 15% exited homelessness to permanent housing and 5% returned to homelessness from being permanently housed again.

Many variables contribute to the numbers, said Andy Barton, president and CEO of Catholic Charities of Central Colorado, which can reduce the census’ accuracy and make it hard to get a good sense of the overall picture of homelessness in the community.

However, “It’s always better to see that overall number go down rather than up,” he said.

The method for the survey, which is mandated by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in order for communities to receive federal funding for homelessness programs, provides a single snapshot of where people spent one night, organizers emphasize.

“PIT results are widely understood to be an undercount due to challenges reaching key populations, such as victims fleeing domestic violence, people living in vehicles and homeless youth,” the survey concluded.

The Point-in-Time also does not include the hundreds of homeless people who were in treatment centers, hospitals and jails. For example, the daily population report for the El Paso County jail from the Sheriff’s Office showed 355 people who were homeless and in jail this year when the count was taken.

Still, Colorado Springs Mayor Yemi Mobolade said in a statement, the results are encouraging.

“The decrease reflects the impact of the hard work happening every day across our community to connect people with shelter, services, housing and support,” he said.

Cox said the Point-in-Time remains a barometer of what’s happening this year over previous years.

Mobolade called homelessness one of the community’s “most complex challenges,” and said that solutions involve many organizations and groups working together.

Those include not only the city’s police and fire outreach teams, cleanup crews, financial support for local shelters, coordination of public safety response and long-term housing, but also many nonprofit organizations, churches and other government agencies.

“While there is still much work ahead, these results remind us that action matters, coordinated efforts matter and hope matters,” he said.

It’s uncertain whether this year’s reduced count will translate to less funding from HUD, Cox said, since it’s just one measure of community need. The local continuum of care currently receives $3.8 million in annual federal funding, she said.

The count, conducted by more than 100 volunteers and staff from local charitable providers including housing programs, also identified 308 people considered as “unsheltered homeless,” and living on the streets. That’s a 41% decrease from 522 in 2025, which set a record high.

It’s also the only tabulation of “unsheltered” people, according to Cox. This year 40% of unsheltered homeless people were chronic, meaning they’ve lived without stable housing for long periods of time and have a mental, developmental or physical disability.

That fewer people were camping in tents or under bridges tells Barton that the region’s stepped-up efforts for cold-weather sheltering are working to better shuttle anyone who wants to sleep indoors on a cot or mat during the coldest of nights to a permanent or temporary shelter.

El Paso County had 592 people staying in emergency homeless shelters on Jan. 25 and 504 in transitional housing units, according to the survey.

The county’s inventory of housing increased to the highest number of total beds at 2,508. Still, officials estimate the number of year-round emergency shelter or transitional housing beds needed to shelter every person counted is short by 195.

Some subgroups of homeless people, such as family units, recorded increases. A 12% increase over 2025 drove total households self-identifying as homeless to 144.

“Families are really struggling, especially with cuts to child care, which makes it hard for single parents to work,” Barton said.

But it continues to be hard to be homeless, he said.

“It’s so challenging, and it’s twice as difficult when you have kids,” he said. “We’ve had some successes — families moving to permanent housing and becoming stabilized.”

Cox is looking toward a changing of the guard for the Pikes Peak Continuum of Care. Pikes Peak United Way and the city of Colorado Springs will become the agency’s manager and operator on July 1, as ChangeLine relinquishes that role after more than eight years.

One goal is to develop “real-time data” to better direct assistance, Cox said.

“We’ve seen a 12% increase in transitional and also an increase in permanent beds, which signifies progress,” she said. “Housing is the foundation for everything; once people are housed it helps with education, careers, children’s development.”