The annual point-in-time count for how many individuals are experiencing homelessness in Indianapolis stayed virtually flat from last year’s count.
The assessment was announced at a State of Homelessness event Tuesday. The Indianapolis count was at 1,821 residents who experienced homelessness the night of January 28, 2026. That’s only six more individuals than the 2025 count.
Of those residents, 1,346 were in emergency shelters (74%), 203 were in transitional housing (11%) and 272 were unsheltered (15%).
The number of individuals who were unsheltered in Indianapolis fell by 18% from 2025, when 331 residents were living outside. The number of people living outside had been trending up in Indianapolis following the pandemic.
This is the first count since city leaders initiated the Streets to Home Indy initiative. It targets people living unsheltered and provides housing for individuals, along with other wrap-around services for up to 12 months. The program has housed more than 200 people so far.
While the data around unsheltered individuals improved, the city did see an increase of those counted in shelters by 4% from last year. That could mean more residents experiencing homelessness have shifted from living unsheltered to now being “stuck” in shelters.
The annual count is conducted by CHIP - the Coalition for Homelessness Intervention and Prevention. The data collected is used by government agencies and organizations to decide where to direct resources.
The count is federally required in order for states and municipalities to receive funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Abe Roll helps interpret the data gathered by CHIP. During Tuesday’s event, he commented that while the data may appear to show stagnation, more individuals are staying in shelters for longer periods of time and more people are entering homelessness for the first time as well.
“Between openings of new programs and other programs closing, our (housing) inventory has been relatively flat, and that is why we often say we are not resourced to end homelessness, we're resourced to manage it,” Roll said.
The count is conducted every January. Data is gathered from surveys conducted by volunteers at locations where those experiencing homelessness are known to stay.
Volunteers may also offer transportation to shelters and hand out supplies to those who did not want to be taken to a shelter.
The Streets to Home initiative kicked off last summer and has a goal to reach 300 unhoused individuals by the end of this year.
Since the 2025 PIT count day, the Streets to Home Indy initiative was responsible for housing 87 people by the 2026 PIT count day in January.
Housing experts from outside of Indiana, like James Mathy, who has helped run Milwaukee’s successful campaign to end chronic homelessness, said the initial data seen from Streets to Home is very promising.
“This is incredible work, and really really difficult,” Mathy said at Tuesday’s event. “And if you take 18%, you do it three years in a row, you just cut your homeless population in half.”
He said some of the ways Milwaukee has been so successful is by spending as much federal funding and other funding supports on rental assistance programs, housing programs and developments. This comes at the same time that HUD is moving away from housing first programs that hinge on financial support for permanent housing.
“You need to find every single dollar for rent assistance under every single couch cushion you can, because even with the shift of the federal priorities, if individuals are willing to engage in mental health and substance abuse treatment, how much money do they have to make to afford rent?” Mathy said. “and that's just the reality of it.”
What else the data showed
The count this year showed an increase in unaccompanied young adults, ages 18-24, going up to 114 this year, compared to 85 counted on last year’s PIT day. Of those young adults, 21 said they were currently couch surfing on the count day.
Black residents continue to be disproportionately represented among those who are experiencing homelessness in Indianapolis. This year’s count found Black residents made up 56% of the population, whereas they represent around 27% of Marion County’s total population.
The PIT day also took into account the number of “open beds” at shelters across the city.
The data gathered this year showed 335 emergency shelter beds were open, however, most of those were reserved for special populations like those fleeing domestic violence or women with children.
Roll also said that even if beds are open, they are not always accessible to everyone because of factors including health conditions and accommodating pets.
The trend among the city’s homeless veteran population continues to be positive even though the population increased slightly from 125 last year to now 137. That is still the second lowest count since data from 2005.
Why are Hoosiers experiencing homelessness?
Roll says the housing crisis is one of the biggest reasons Hoosiers are entering homelessness. It has become easier to lose your home in Indiana, and it's hard to find affordable housing. Indiana is consistently ranked among the highest states in the nation when it comes to eviction rates.
Last year, nearly 25,000 eviction filings were made across the city – an average of over 500 filings weekly in Marion County. That amounts to a 14% eviction filing rate or 14 filings per 100 renter households.
Roll also said that data from United for ALICE shows that nearly 40% of Hoosiers struggle to cover costs of living every year.
“If working hard ended homelessness, our PIT counts in Indiana would be zero,” Roll said. “Hoosiers work hard.”
Roll said that, combined with rising utility costs, stagnating wages and less available housing in general in Indianapolis, means more residents will become homeless.
Over 2,000 individuals in Indianapolis enter homelessness every year, according to CHIP’s data. While the city’s coordinated entry system connects over 1,000 people with housing programs, there is still a large population that gets “stuck” in shelters.
The city’s inventory of long-term and short-term housing has historically been stagnant, and it's an area where CHIP CEO Chelsea Haring-Cozzi says the city and state should invest.
“We need to sustain and scale the progress we've made on the streets,” Haring-Cozzi said. “We need to take these practices into our shelters in partnership to expand pathways and rapid exits for those who are stuck and we need to do more intentional and scaled work at the front door to divert new people from becoming homeless.”
Contact government reporter Caroline Beck at cbeck@wfyi.org
