How Many Students Are Being Trafficked in the Average School?
What the Only Three Statewide Prevalence Studies Actually Tell Us
When you’re training teachers, law enforcement, or community groups about human trafficking, people always ask the same haunting question: “How many kids in a typical school are actually being trafficked right now?”
Most of the time we don’t have an exact answer, because trafficking is a hidden crime. But three U.S. states have done the hard, pioneering work of trying to count it statewide. Here’s what their numbers translate to when you walk into the average school building.
A wrap up explanation and URLs to studies are at the end.
Texas (2016 – The Study Everyone Quotes)
Study: UT Austin + Allies Against Slavery
Estimated minor sex-trafficking victims statewide: ~79,000 (rounded to 80,000 for easy math)
Texas public school students (2015–16): ~5.3 million
Number of schools (public + charter + a rounded estimate including private): people usually say ~10,000
80,000 victims ÷ 10,000 schools = 8 students per school
That’s where the widely used line “on average, 8 students in every Texas school are being trafficked right now” comes from. It’s a tiny bit rounded, but it’s honest, memorable, and backed by the most comprehensive statewide prevalence model ever done in the U.S.
Ohio (2019 – More Conservative, Still Sobering)
Study: “Estimating the Prevalence of Human Trafficking in Ohio” (American Journal of Public Health)
Known + strongly at-risk youth (mostly 12–17): ~4,200
Ohio public school students (2015–16): ~1.78 million
Number of public schools: ~3,500
4,200 at-risk youth ÷ 3,500 schools ≈ 1.2 students per school
Ohio anti-trafficking trainers usually round this to “at least 1 hidden victim in every single school.” It’s lower than Texas, but the methodology was narrower (only counting kids already touching state systems), so most experts believe the real number is higher.
North Carolina (2019 – Labor Trafficking Focus)
Study: NIJ-funded statewide labor-trafficking survey
This one looked only at adults and only at labor trafficking, so we don’t have a direct minor/sex-trafficking estimate.
What we do know: labor trafficking of minors happens (agriculture, construction, family businesses), but the study didn’t produce a school-age count.
Trainers in NC often borrow the “at least 1” framing from Ohio when talking to schools in migrant-heavy counties.
The Bottom Line for Your Next Training or Presentation
Texas (the gold-standard prevalence study): ~8 trafficked students per school
Ohio (more cautious count): at least 1 per school, probably more
North Carolina: we don’t have the minor number yet, but the risk is real
These are averages. A small rural school might have zero. A large urban high school in a high-risk zip code might have twenty or thirty.
But averages wake people up.
When a principal hears “eight of my students—right now—are being sold,” or even “at least one,” it changes the conversation from “this is someone else’s problem” to “this could be happening in my building today.”
That’s why these numbers, even with their imperfections, remain some of the most powerful awareness tools we have.
If you only remember two numbers, remember these: Texas = 8. Ohio = at least 1.
Both mean the same thing: no school is automatically safe, and every school can do something about it.
Why Texas Says “8” and Ohio Says “1” – A Simple Explanation
The two studies asked slightly different questions and used very different tools, so the numbers aren’t really arguing with each other.
Texas (2016) tried to count every child being trafficked in the entire state – even the ones no teacher, police officer, or social worker has ever identified.
They looked at big risk factors (runaways, foster care kids, homelessness, etc.), studied how many of those kids usually end up trafficked, and built a statistical model.
That’s why their final number is huge (~79,000 minors) and translates to about 8 hidden victims in the average school.Ohio (2019) only counted kids who had already touched a state agency (child welfare, juvenile courts, runaway shelters, etc.) and showed strong signs of trafficking or very high risk.
Their method is more like “kids we can prove or strongly suspect right now.”
That’s why their number is much smaller (~4,200 statewide) and comes out to roughly 1 per school.
Think of it this way:
Texas turned on all the lights and tried to count every shadow.
Ohio only counted the shadows they could already see in the flashlight beam.
Both are telling the truth. Texas is probably closer to the full hidden size of the problem; Ohio is showing the tip of the iceberg we’ve actually managed to document. Most experts believe every state has a “Texas-sized” problem – we just haven’t built the bigger flashlight yet.
URLs to the Key Statewide Human Trafficking Prevalence Studies
Here are direct links to the full reports or primary publications (Texas 2016, Ohio 2019, and North Carolina 2019). Official or primary sources are prioritized for accessibility—most are free PDFs or open-access articles. These were verified as the most reliable and complete versions available.
Texas (2016): Human Trafficking by the Numbers: The Initial Benchmark of Prevalence & Economic Impact for Texas
Official Full Report (PDF): University of Texas at Austin Libraries Repository https://repositories.lib.utexas.edu/items/7276b62f-d93d-440e-a479-70d1141495bc
Alternative Download (Semantic Scholar): https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Human-Trafficking-by-the-Numbers:-The-Initial-of-Busch-Armendariz-Nale/c52e7ce68578420f3c9392e6cc5e053e808610b9
Ohio (2019): Estimating the Prevalence of Human Trafficking in Ohio, 2014–2016
Full Article (American Journal of Public Health, Open Access via PMC): https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6727304/(This is the peer-reviewed publication; the detailed technical report is embedded in the methods and appendices.)
Detailed Technical Report (PDF): University of Cincinnati https://www.uc.edu/content/dam/uc/ccjr/docs/reports/Anderson%20Kulig%20Sullivan%20%282019%29%20Ohio%20Human%20Trafficking%20Study%20Final%20Report.pdf
North Carolina (2019): Labor Trafficking in North Carolina: A Statewide Survey Using Multistage Sampling
Official Full Report (PDF): U.S. Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice https://www.ojp.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/252521.pdf
Summary Article (NIJ Overview): https://nij.ojp.gov/topics/articles/migrant-farm-labor-trafficking-north-carolina-pinning-down-elusive-data
These links should give you the complete documents for reference, citation, or deeper dives.
About Beyond the Red Flags
Billy Joe and Jacqueline Cain are the passionate founders of Radical Empathy Education Foundation. Together, they are on a mission to educate the world about emotional manipulation and abuse prevention through immersive experiences like TRAPPED: A VR Detective Story. Their goal is to empower individuals to recognize, prevent, and respond to these issues, saving lives along the way.
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About TRAPPED: A VR Detective Story
TRAPPED: A VR Detective Story provides users with an immersive, interactive experience that tells the story of Lisa, a 14-year-old trafficking victim. Through Lisa’s narrative, participants gain insight into the subtle yet powerful tactics predators use to manipulate and control their victims. This engaging VR experience has already reached over 15,000 participants across 10 states, serving as a critical resource for abuse prevention in schools, shelters, law enforcement, and corporations.
About Radical Empathy Education Foundation
Radical Empathy Education Foundation is a nonprofit organization dedicated to preventing abuse and human trafficking through innovative, immersive VR technology. Their award-winning training tools educate users on the tactics predators use and empower individuals to recognize and avoid abusive situations.
Learn more about Radical Empathy Education Foundation and connect to access their VR training at ArborXR’s XR Directory.
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