The results of Bucks County’s 2025 Point in Time (PIT) Count on Jan. 27 showed an increase in homelessness among adults in Bucks County with drops among children and Veterans.
Of the 421 residents counted in the annual survey, 312 were sleeping in emergency shelters, transitional housing or hotels paid for by charitable organizations, including 90 people in Code Blue shelters, while 109 adults were sleeping outdoors or in other places not meant for human habitation.
The overall number of people experiencing homelessness in Bucks County, was up from 407 in 2024, showing a troubling pattern developing despite the best efforts of the county and non-profit organizations alike. In 2024 there was a dramatic spike in the number of unhoused adults from 320 to the 407 number. The spike is paralleled by the number of unhoused families on that night also in 2024 with modest increases for the same cohort.
For the ninth year in a row, the count identified no children sleeping outdoors, county officials said.
Led by the Housing Link Street Outreach team, staff and volunteers found 72 percent of households experiencing homelessness located in Lower Bucks, with 15 percent in Central Bucks and 13 percent in Upper Bucks.
The count found a 15 percent increase compared to 2024 of people sleeping outside or in a Code Blue shelter, and a 7 percent rise in people experiencing chronic homelessness. Chronic homelessness is defined as people experiencing long-term (12 months or more) or repeated episodes of homelessness with a disability.
The number of homeless veterans dropped by half from 2024, declining for the second straight year. The count also found a decrease in unhoused people experiencing serious mental illness and a 9 percent decrease in children experiencing homelessness.
The federally mandated PIT Count is conducted each year during the last week of January. The information gathered is then compiled by the Bucks County Department of Housing and Community Development and reported to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
A summary of the Bucks County 2025 PIT Count is available on the Housing Link website.