Homelessness in Goleta increased by 46% in 2025, and a majority of people without permanent housing lived in vehicles, according to the Santa Barbara County’s Point in Time Count. 

On Tuesday the Goleta City Council reviewed countywide data as well as the city’s Point in Time Count data, which provides a snapshot of data collected by volunteers on a single day in January.

Vehicular homelessness in Goleta doubled this year, with 160 people living in vehicles. The 2024 Point in Time Count identified 80 people in Goleta living in vehicles.

Joe Dzvonik, the county’s deputy director of housing and community development, said the significant increase in vehicular homelessness reflects a countywide trend. 

During this year’s Point in Time Count, 962 people were identified as living in their car across the county, while in 2024, that number was 710 people. 

Dzvonik said people tend to live in their cars when they first lose housing, as they don’t necessarily seek services right away. 

“Because folks are typically just entering homelessness, they kind of don’t want to admit that they’re in that situation when that’s actually the best time for us to save them from going further down,” Dzvonik said. 

This year’s Point in Time Count showed that vehicular homelessness was the largest proportion of homelessness in the county, with 962 people identified as living in their cars, 958 people who were staying in shelter beds, and 516 people who were found to be unsheltered. 

However, since these numbers only reflect visible observations made on one day, Dzvonik said the actual numbers could be much higher. 

Jett Black-Maertz, Santa Barbara County’s chief homeless assistance program manager, said that the Point in Time count reflected that people were moving away from sheltering on sidewalks, in parks, and commercial areas, with more people living in their cars and parking in residential neighborhoods.

Specifically in Goleta, Black-Maertz said there was a decrease in the number of unsheltered people in the residential area north of Highway 101 near Fairview Avenue, but an increase in people living in their vehicles in that same area. 

The same goes for Old Town Goleta where the count showed an increase of people living in their cars in the neighborhoods surrounding Old Town. 

While vehicular homelessness increased, the rate of the growing homelessness population in the county has slowed and more people are going into permanent housing.

Dzvonik said that in 2024, 1,368 people transitioned out of homelessness and into permanent housing in the county, according to the Homeless Management Information System (HMIS). 

Additionally the increase of homelessness did slightly slow down last year, with less than a 3% increase in people accessing homelessness services, while in previous years the county has seen more than a 10% increase in people seeking services, according to Dzvonik. 

“A drop to something less than 3% growth in overall homelessness is a positive trend, however we fully acknowledge that the total number still increased overall,” Dzvonik said. 

There was also a decrease in new people seeking homelessness services for the first time. In 2024, 1,712, new people sought services for the first time while in 2023, 2,216 people sought services for the first time, according to HMIS.