Addressing Homelessness in Mesa

Services Provided for People Experiencing Homelessness

The City of Mesa addresses homelessness through our Housing Path to Recovery strategy. Our strategy is focused on addressing health and safety needs and improving the quality of life and housing stability for all in Mesa. We do this through wise investments, strong collaborations and a region-wide approach.
Off the Streets, highlighted below, is a first step on our Housing Path providing immediate shelter with strong support services for Mesa’s most vulnerable including seniors, Veterans, families with young children and single women.
This site reflects data from Maricopa Association of Governments (MAG) Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) and Continuum of Care (CoC) providers as well as City of Mesa services and programs.

County Trends in Homelessness

Every quarter, the MAG Homelessness Trends Report provides a snapshot of the trends in the population experiencing homelessness in Maricopa County. The report includes the number of people experiencing homelessness and more detailed information on demographics, subpopulations, and programs. The report includes data from the Maricopa Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) unless otherwise noted.
Actively Homeless
Actively Homeless Households are households that recently engaged with homeless service providers in Maricopa County during the month listed. This is a national best practice standard for understanding who is experiencing homelessness in our community.
Top Takeaways 2022 Q4: October - December 2022
  1. In Maricopa County 5,544 households are experiencing homelessness. Since December of 2021, the number of households experiencing homelessness has increased by 13%.
  2. Of the 5,544 households, 577 households are families with minor children. These households encompass 2,100 people. Since December of 2021, the number of families experiencing homelessness has decreased by 11%.
  3. The other 4,967 households are made up of adults. These households encompass 5,243 people. Since December of 2021, the number of singles experiencing homelessness has increased by 17%.
  4. Fewer people experienced homelessness for the first time. In December, 804 households experienced homelessness for the first time compared to 909 new households in December of 2021, a decrease of 12%
  5. Not enough people are exiting homelessness fast enough. In December, 510 found housing. However, this represents 63% of the new people coming into the system.

Mesa Demographics

The following data reflects the demographics of the 4,935 Mesa residents that received services for homeless related services during calendar year 2022 compared with the total Mesa population as estimated by the US Census 2021 American Community Survey (ACS).  

Off the Streets Program Dashboard

The Off the Streets program is a temporary housing program that provides strong support services to people experiencing homelessness. This program is offered by the City of Mesa and our partner Community Bridges, Inc. The data below represents all clients since program inception May 2020. 

Mesa Police Homeless Outreach Project

The "Homeless Outreach Project" involves a proactive contact made by police during an outreach effort in which services are offered to people experiencing homelessness by a nonprofit partner in partnership with Police.
Contacts Number of individuals contacted by officers and confirmed by self-admission or other means to be homeless. Not all contacts were involved in a citeable or arrestable criminal offense or accepted humanitarian service of shelter, medical, or mental health assistance.
Service Resistance/Arrests Individual is arrested, cited, or a long form complaint is filed. Individual was contacted in commission of a crime or citable offense. If it was a felony or a warrant individual was arrested. Any minor misdemeanor or city code offenses individual is offered services of housing, CBI, etc. in lieu of a cite or being arrested. Individual declines services and is arrested or issued a citation.
Service Acceptance No crime or criminal activity is occurring. Individual is contacted and is offered shelter, medical, or mental health services and accepts placement into one of these services. Individual is transported to CBI by officer, Navigators are called and transport individual for shelter, or fire transports subject to an appropriate facility.

Park Ranger Homelessness Related Contacts

Contacts are identified by Park Rangers as experiencing homelessness through field interviews and individuals self-reporting. Often Park Rangers know and recognize individuals experiencing homelessness through repeated contacts, presence of personal belongings, etc.

Unsheltered and Point-In-Time Count

Learn more about Maricopa County's Point-In-Time Homelessness Count that City of Mesa participates in each January. The data below is for Mesa only. 

Tracking Mesa Housing Trends

Cost-Burdened Households

Cost burden is defined as paying more than 30% of household income for housing (rent or mortgage, plus utilities) and may have difficulty affording necessities such as food, clothing, transportation, and medical care.
As of December 2021 31.5% of Mesa households are considered "cost-burdened". However, this cost burden is greatest among renters (49.3%).



*Data sourced by US Census American Community Survey (ACS) 5-Year Estimates.

Apartment Rent

Mesa's overall median rent in Q3 2022: 
  • $1,495
  • Ranked #11 in overall median rent compared with other municipalities in Maricopa County. 
Maricopa County's overall median rent in Q3 2022:
  • $1,600
During Q3 2022, Mesa's monthly rent of $2,000+ as a percentage of overall monthly rent reached 10% of all rents.