Human Trafficking in Colorado: 2025 Update
Introduction
Colorado’s human trafficking has not improved since 2023, when it tracked its highest-ever year for statewide human trafficking cases. According to national and state data, Colorado remains at peak levels of the crime category, and may exceed them in 2025 as new data becomes available.
Colorado continues to rank among the states with the highest numbers of human trafficking reports and rates of human trafficking reports.
This report takes information from two sources. The Federal Bureau of Investigation has complete data through 2024. CSI used this data to make state-to-state comparisons about annual human trafficking counts and rates.
The Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has data through 2025, but this is currently an undercount. The data for this website is current through the last full month, plus a 30-day data-entry lag. Some human trafficking crimes may not have found their way into the database yet. This data, however, is a valuable source regarding age, demographics, and locality of Colorado’s human trafficking crimes. This data should be viewed as a credible estimate for 2025-specific findings.
The total count of human trafficking offenses in Colorado varies slightly (usually between 1-5 cases) between FBI and CBI datasets.
Key Findings
According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation:
- In 2024, Colorado had the nation’s 13th highest number of human trafficking offenses, 88 in total.
- That total corresponded to the nation’s 15th highest per-capita rate, 1.48 offenses per 100,000 residents.
- The 88 counts of trafficking in 2024 was the second-highest year on record for Colorado, only behind 2023 of 107.
According to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation:
- Commercial sex trafficking is the majority of human trafficking in Colorado.
- In 2025, 79% of Colorado human trafficking crimes were for the purposes of commercial sex.
- On average, 64% of Colorado’s human trafficking victims are minors in any given year between 2008 and 2025.
- 2025 could be another record year for human trafficking offenses in Colorado. CBI preliminary data currently shows 110 trafficking counts, down from 117 in 2023.
Human Trafficking in Colorado
In 2024, Colorado’s human trafficking was the second-highest on record, according to FBI data.[i] According to preliminary Colorado Bureau of Investigation data, 2025 may have met or exceeded the previous record year of 2023. Figures from the Federal Bureau of Investigation show the number of human trafficking offenses, while victim-specific figures from the Colorado Bureau of Investigation show the number of persons trafficked.
Colorado reached a record number of human trafficking in 2023, with 107 reported incidents. In 2024, that decreased to 88 – the second highest year on FBI record.
The new decade has seen more human trafficking in Colorado than the 2010s or 2000s. On average, there have been 84 counts of human trafficking in Colorado between 2021 and 2024. Between 2016 and 2020, there were an average of 50 per year.
Figure 1 - Colorado Human Trafficking Counts by Year
Colorado is not alone in its sharp increase in human trafficking, but it does have one of the nation’s highest numbers of reported trafficking and one of the highest rates. Virtually every U.S. state saw human trafficking reports spike in 2021 and thereafter. All but 11 states saw human trafficking increase from 2020 to 2021.
In 2024, Colorado had the nation’s 13th highest number of human trafficking reports, behind Texas, California, Georgia, Nevada, Florida, Arizona, Michigan, Alabama, Minnesota, Indiana, Tennessee, and Wisconsin.
Colorado also had 2024’s 15th highest rate of human trafficking reports per 100,000.
Colorado Human Trafficking by Age Range
Colorado’s human trafficking victims fall into all age ranges, but the number of minors has grown in the 2020s alongside the climbing number of trafficking crimes overall. There were 48 human trafficking victims in 2025 under the age of 18.
Between 2016 and 2020, there were an average of 31 human trafficking victims per year, according to CBI data. Between 2021 and 2025, there have been an average of 51 per year, a 63% increase.
Figure 2 - Colorado Human Trafficking Crimes by Age Range
On an annual basis, the majority of Colorado’s human trafficking victims are under the age of 18, though the share varies substantially from year to year.
CBI’s records go back to 2008. Between 2008 and 2025, 60% of Colorado’s human trafficking victims have been under 18 and 40% have been over the age of 18. On average, 64% of Colorado’s human trafficking victims are under 18 each year.
Figure 3 - Share of Colorado Human Trafficking Victims by Age Range
Concentrations of Human Trafficking in Colorado
In Colorado, these offenses take place all over the state but are most heavily concentrated in a few counties.
Between 2008 and 2025, Adams County has the highest number of human trafficking offenses, with 211 total victims or 27%. Second highest is El Paso County with 150 or 19% followed by Denver County with 136 or 18%.
Figure 4 - Colorado Human Trafficking Victims, 2008-2025
In 2025, Adams County led the state in human trafficking crimes, with 37 total, or 34% of the annual statewide count. El Paso and Denver counties followed with 16% of the total statewide count each.
Figure 5 – Colorado Human Trafficking Victims, 2025
2025 May Be Another Record Year
The FBI’s data from 2024 establish that 2024 was the second-highest year on record for Colorado human trafficking. Colorado Bureau of Investigation data indicates 2025 is near or at record levels.[ii]
In 2025, CBI tracked 110 human trafficking crimes – 87 for commercial sex purposes and 23 for involuntary labor purposes. This closely matches the distribution of human trafficking crimes from 2023, in which there were 87 commercial sex trafficking crimes and 26 involuntary labor trafficking crimes.
Figure 6 - Colorado Human Trafficking Crimes by Year
CBI’s data for 2025, however, is incomplete, as there is a 30-day data entry lag for previous months. As figures are finalized, the 2025 count may remain at 110 or climb higher.
Bottom Line
According to federal data, Colorado’s human trafficking reached its second-highest levels in 2024, ranking 13
th among U.S. states for the total number of counts and 15
th for its rate of human trafficking. According to Colorado Bureau of Investigation data, the number of human trafficking crimes in 2025 is near the level of 2023, and data entry lag may make that count climb. A majority of Colorado’s human trafficking victims are minors, with roughly two-thirds of the statewide victims since 2008 being under the age of 18.
[i] Colorado Bureau of Investigation
https://cbi.colorado.gov/sections/criminal-justice-information-services-unit/uniform-crime-reporting-ucr-and-colorado-crime
[ii] Federal Bureau of Investigation Crime Data Explorer
https://cde.ucr.cjis.gov/LATEST/webapp/#/pages/explorer/crime/crime-trend