Maps

Mapped: U.S. States With the Most Human Trafficking Victims

Published

3 weeks ago

November 8, 2024

Bruno Venditti

Graphics/Design:

Sam Parker

See this visualization first on the Voronoi app.

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Mapped: U.S. States With the Most Human Trafficking Victims

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Human trafficking involves the exploitation of individuals through force, fraud, or coercion for labor or commercial sex acts.

This map ranks U.S. states by the number of human trafficking victims per 100,000 people between 2019 and 2023, based on data compiled by Joslyn Law Firm.

Nevada Leads in Human Trafficking

Nevada has the highest number of human trafficking victims per 100,000 people, followed by Georgia in second place and Mississippi in third.

Rank	State	Victims per 100K people
1	Nevada	58.5
2	Georgia	46.6
3	Mississippi	43.1
4	Missouri	32.5
5	Louisiana	31.6
6	Florida	30.5
7	New Mexico	30.5
8	California	28.9
9	South Dakota	28.7
10	Oregon	27.8
11	Utah	26.8
12	Michigan	26.4
13	Iowa	26.0
14	Delaware	25.5
15	Arkansas	25.4
16	Nebraska	24.9
17	Arizona	24.3
18	Washington	24.3
19	Texas	24.2
20	Kentucky	23.7
21	Colorado	23.6
22	Montana	23.5
23	Hawaii	23.2
24	North Dakota	23.1
25	Alaska	22.8
26	Ohio	22.7
27	Kansas	22.3
28	North Carolina	22.1
29	South Carolina	21.5
30	West Virginia	21.3
31	Maryland	20.9
32	Oklahoma	20.5
33	Wyoming	19.9
34	Maine	19.1
35	New Jersey	18.5
36	Tennessee	18.4
37	New York	18.3
38	Indiana	17.0
39	New Hampshire	16.2
40	Illinois	16.0
41	Pennsylvania	15.8
42	Idaho	15.2
43	Alabama	15.0
44	Virginia	14.7
45	Wisconsin	14.5
46	Minnesota	14.3
47	Connecticut	12.7
48	Vermont	11.0
49	Massachusetts	10.8
50	Rhode Island	8.1

According to the National Human Trafficking Hotline, approximately 90% of human trafficking victims in Nevada are female, with about 21% being minors.

Rhode Island has the lowest number of human trafficking victims per 100,000 people. The state has implemented several initiatives to combat sex trafficking, including the establishment of a Human Trafficking Task Force and a Sex Trafficking Law Enforcement Task Force.

A common misconception is that the vast majority of human trafficking victims are women and girls. However, research by Joslyn Law Firm estimates that young men, particularly those identifying as LGBTQ, comprise at least half of sex trafficking victims in the U.S.

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