The National Human Trafficking Hotline found that 7,500 cases of human trafficking were reported in 2016 — up from 5,526 in the previous year, based on the group's data.

The hotline, which is run by the nonprofit organization Polaris, maintains a resource center for victims of trafficking and aggregates statistics based on incoming reports and phone calls. It also reported that California and Texas are again among the most egregious states for human trafficking.

California bore the lion's share with over 1,300 incidences of human trafficking last year, almost double any other state, the nonprofit reported.

Related: Flight Attendants Train to Spot Human Trafficking

"As a diverse cultural center and popular destination for immigrants with multiple international borders, California is one of the largest sites of human trafficking in the United States," said the California Attorney General's office in a report on human trafficking.

Texas, another border state, followed behind at 670 cases and Florida came in third at 550 cases, according to the hotline.





29 PHOTOS Where the wall already exists along the US-Mexico border See Gallery Where the wall already exists along the US-Mexico border A gap in the U.S.-Mexico border fence is seen outside Jacumba, California, United States, October 7, 2016. REUTERS/Mike Blake U.S. customs and border patrol officers inspect a vehicle entering the U.S. from Mexico at the border crossing in San Ysidro, California, United States, October 14, 2016. REUTERS/Mike Blake U.S. customs and border patrol officers inspect a vehicle entering the U.S. from Mexico at the border crossing in San Ysidro, California, United States, October 14, 2016. REUTERS/Mike Blake Men talk on a street in the town of Calexico, California, United States, October 8, 2016. REUTERS/Mike Blake A U.S. customs and border patrol officer stands at a border crossing in San Ysidro, California, United States, October 14, 2016. REUTERS/Mike Blake Recent arrivals from Mexico wait to board a greyhound bus in San Ysidro, California, United States, October 14, 2016. REUTERS/Mike Blake Highway 82 towards Douglas, Arizona is seen near Sonoita, Arizona, United States, October 10, 2016. REUTERS/Mike Blake Clouds float above the border towns of Nogales, Mexico and Nogales, Arizona, United States, October 9, 2016. REUTERS/Mike Blake A sign warning drivers that firearms and ammunition are prohibited in Mexico is seen at the U.S.-Mexico border in Nogales, Arizona, United States, October 9, 2016. REUTERS/Mike Blake Buildings in Nogales, Mexico (R) are separated by a border fence from Nogales, Arizona, United Sates, October 9, 2016. REUTERS/Mike Blake An abandoned car sits off the side of a road near Jacumba, California, United States, October 7, 2016. REUTERS/Mike Blake A worker makes his way through the water after setting up an irrigation system on an agricultural field, near Calexico, California, U.S. October 7, 2016. REUTERS/Mike Blake An abandoned car sits off the side of a road near Jacumba, California, United States, October 7, 2016. REUTERS/Mike Blake A church at the Museum of History in Granite is seen in Felicity, California, United States, October 8, 2016. REUTERS/Mike Blake A man drives a tractor plowing a field at sunrise near Calexico, California, United States, October 8, 2016. REUTERS/Mike Blake Residential homes are seen next to the fence that borders Mexico, in Douglas, Arizona, United States, October 10, 2016. REUTERS/Mike Blake Pedestrians wait to cross the street in Calexico, California, Unites States, October 7, 2016. REUTERS/Mike Blake The town of Bisbee is seen in Arizona, United States, October 10, 2016. REUTERS/Mike Blake Pedestrians make their way into the the United States from Mexico at the pedestrian border in Nogales, Arizona, United States, October 9, 2016. REUTERS/Mike Blake A roadside collection of alien dolls and toy UFO saucers is seen next to a roadside residence neat Jacumba, California, United States, October 7, 2016. REUTERS/Mike Blake A road abruptly ends next to a sign for a cattle ranch near Douglas, Arizona, United States, October 10, 2016. REUTERS/Mike Blake A boy rides an all-terrain vehicle next Mexican border along the Buttercup San Dunes in California, United States, October 8, 2016. REUTERS/Mike Blake An old refurbished gas station is seen in Lowell, Arizona, United States, October 10, 2016. REUTERS/Mike Blake A man rides a tricycle past a grocery store in a town that borders Mexico, in San Luis Butter, California, United States, October 8, 2016. REUTERS/Mike Blake A U.S. customs and border patrol truck drives past the fence that marks the border between U.S. and Mexico, in Calexico, California, United States, October 8, 2016. REUTERS/Mike Blake A truck drives west towards California along highway 8 near Gila Bend, Arizona, United States, October 10, 2016. REUTERS/Mike Blake Electronic items are displayed in a shop window in Calexico, California, United States, October 7, 2016. REUTERS/Mike Blake A residential home is seen in Nogales, Arizona, United States, October 9, 2016. REUTERS/Mike Blake A fence separates the border towns of Nogales, Mexico (R) and Nogales, Arizona, United Sates, October 9, 2016. REUTERS/Mike Blake Up Next See Gallery Discover More Like This HIDE CAPTION SHOW CAPTION of SEE ALL BACK TO SLIDE

All three states, which also topped the same list last year, experienced a rise in trafficking crimes from just one year prior, according to the report.

Ohio, New York, and Georgia followed.





22 PHOTOS Human and sex trafficking issues around the world See Gallery Human and sex trafficking issues around the world A journalist takes photo of 24 alleged human traffickers' pictures displayed on a board, released by Italian police during a press conference in Palermo on April 20, 2015. AFP PHOTO / MARCELLO PATERNOSTRO (Photo credit should read MARCELLO PATERNOSTRO/AFP/Getty Images) SHAMLAPUR, BANGLADESH - JULY 4: A photograph of Rohingya trafficking victim Mohammad Aiaz is seen July 4, 2015 in Shamlapur, Bangladesh. On March 5, 2015 Aiaz met a man who promised to take him to a good job in Malaysia for free. He left Bangladesh with 13 other Rohingya. A few days after that his mother, Lila Begum, got a phone call from her son saying he was on the ship and that she needed to pay a man in Teknaf 200,000 taka ($2,570) or he would be killed. She managed to pay 175,000 but she has not heard from her son since. In the past months thousands of Rohingya have landed on the shores of Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand, many of them by way of Bangladesh. The Rohingya pay up to $2,000 to traffickers, and they sail out from Bangladesh's southern coastline on fishing boats to meet larger ships in the deep sea that will take them to Malaysia. UNHCR estimates that there are more than 300,000 Rohingya living in Bangladesh. (Photo by Shazia Rahman/Getty Images) An armed Malaysian policeman checks a driver's documentations a day after the government announced the discovery of camps and graves, the first such sites found in Malaysia since a regional human-trafficking crisis erupted earlier this month, near Malaysia-Thailand borders in Wang Kelian on May 25, 2015. A total of 139 grave sites and 28 human-trafficking camps have been found in a remote northern Malaysian border region, the country's top police official told reporters. AFP PHOTO / MOHD RASFAN (Photo credit should read MOHD RASFAN/AFP/Getty Images) Sex workers and sympathizers demonstrate on April 9, 2015 against the closure of window brothels by the municipality in the red light district in Amsterdam. With Project 1012, the Amsterdam wants to close window prostitution to prevent crime, human trafficking and degradation. AFP PHOTO / ANP / ROBIN VAN LONKHUIJSEN - netherlands out - (Photo credit should read ROBIN VAN LONKHUIJSEN/AFP/Getty Images) Ivanka Trump speaks during a meeting on action to end modern slavery and human trafficking on the sidelines of the 72nd United Nations General Assembly at U.N. Headquarters in Manhattan, New York, U.S., September 19, 2017. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid ATHENS, ATTIKI, GREECE - 2017/10/14: Greek human right activists take part in the 2017 Walk for Freedom event raising awareness about Human Trafficking. (Photo by George Panagakis/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images) ATHENS, ATTIKI, GREECE - 2017/10/14: Greek human right activists take part in the 2017 Walk for Freedom event raising awareness about Human Trafficking. (Photo by George Panagakis/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images) Human trafficking suspect Patchuban Angchotipan, a former official in the provincial government of the southern province of Satun, arrives at the criminal court in Bangkok, Thailand, November 10, 2015. Eighty-eight human trafficking suspects arrested as part of a crackdown on Thailand's lucrative smuggling and trafficking syndicates were brought before a Bangkok court on Tuesday to start examination of evidence and witnesses ahead of a trial. REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha Lieutenant-General Manas Kongpan, a suspected human trafficker, is escorted by officers as he arrives for a hearing at the criminal court in Bangkok, Thailand, March 15, 2016. REUTERS/Chaiwat Subprasom Timothy Patrick Deegan, who has been charged with human trafficking after being accused of keeping three women as sex slaves in Gainesville, Florida, is seen in an undated photo released by the Alachua County Sheriff's Office in Gainesville, Florida. Deegan, 53, a Florida certified public accountant, remained behind bars on June 12, 2014, on a $300,000 bond following his arrest on June 6, 2014. REUTERS/Alachua County Sheriff's Office/Handout via Reuters (UNITED STATES - Tags: CRIME LAW HEADSHOT) ATTENTION EDITORS ? THIS PICTURE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. REUTERS IS UNABLE TO INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE AUTHENTICITY, CONTENT, LOCATION OR DATE OF THIS IMAGE. FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS. THIS PICTURE IS DISTRIBUTED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED BY REUTERS, AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS Nebraska Attorney General Doug Peterson talks about sex traffickers in Iowa and Nebraska during a human trafficking seminar, where opponents of the proposed Keystone XL Pipeline expressed concerns that "man camps" created during construction of the pipeline might bring the sex trade to their area in O'Neill, Nebraska, U.S. April 12, 2017. Picture taken April 12, 2017. REUTERS/Lane Hickenbottom Backpage.com CEO Carl Ferrer, center, and controlling shareholders James Larkin, left, and Michael Lacey, right, listen to Sacramento Superior Court Judge Lawrence Brown during a hearing on Wednesday, Aug. 23, 2017, in Sacramento Superior Court. (Hector Amezcua/Sacramento Bee/TNS via Getty Images) Japanese national Susumu Fukui (2nd R) is escorted by Cambodian police to the Phnom Penh municipal court in Phnom Penh on February 7, 2017. Fukui, a Japanese restaurant owner accused of overseeing a smuggling ring that forced women into sex work in Japan, was charged with trafficking in Cambodia on February 7, along with his wife and an employee. / AFP / TANG CHHIN Sothy (Photo credit should read TANG CHHIN SOTHY/AFP/Getty Images) TANGERANG, INDONESIA - AUGUST 16: Suspects of human trafficking arrive at Soekarno-Hatta Airport on August 16, 2016 in Tangerang, Indonesia. 9 Suspects while smuggling 16 people from the sea port promontory hall, North Sumatra province to Malaysia got raided and arrested by police. An estimated 6 million Indonesian laborers (70% of whom are female) work abroad. Many Indonesian workers who have migrated to the Middle East and Asia have been subjected to exploitation. According to the 2013 US Trafficking In Persons Report, Indonesia is a major source country for women, children, and men who are subjected to sex trafficking and forced labor.' PHOTOGRAPH BY Jefta Images / Barcroft Images London-T:+44 207 033 1031 E:hello@barcroftmedia.com New York-T:+1 212 796 2458 E:hello@barcroftusa.com New Delhi-T:+91 11 4053 2429 E:hello@barcroftindia.com www.barcroftmedia.comA (Photo credit should read Jefta Images / Barcroft Images / Barcroft Media via Getty Images) TANGERANG, INDONESIA - AUGUST 16: Suspects of human trafficking arrive at Soekarno-Hatta Airport on August 16, 2016 in Tangerang, Indonesia. 9 Suspects while smuggling 16 people from the sea port promontory hall, North Sumatra province to Malaysia got raided and arrested by police. An estimated 6 million Indonesian laborers (70% of whom are female) work abroad. Many Indonesian workers who have migrated to the Middle East and Asia have been subjected to exploitation. According to the 2013 US Trafficking In Persons Report, Indonesia is a major source country for women, children, and men who are subjected to sex trafficking and forced labor.' PHOTOGRAPH BY Jefta Images / Barcroft Images London-T:+44 207 033 1031 E:hello@barcroftmedia.com New York-T:+1 212 796 2458 E:hello@barcroftusa.com New Delhi-T:+91 11 4053 2429 E:hello@barcroftindia.com www.barcroftmedia.comA (Photo credit should read Jefta Images / Barcroft Images / Barcroft Media via Getty Images) MEWAT, INDIA - MARCH 13: Ghausia Khan a bride trafficking survivor, is a member of the district legal aid authority, Mewat is showing the images of enlisted Paros on March 13, 2014 in Mewat, India. Khan a worker with Empower People, an NGO which deals with trafficking cases and helps women in distress to find lawyers and provides them with legal information and at times, monetary assistance. Trafficked brides are locally known as Paro or Molki (means one who has a price). These are pejorative labels in Haryana, Punjab and western Uttar Pradesh where the skewed sex ratio and entrenched feudalism has resulted in a flourishing trade in women trafficked from the poverty-ridden villages of Assam, West Bengal, Jharkhand and Odisha. The women, who are usually promised marriage, find themselves in places like Mewat where the go-betweens sell them sometimes repeatedly to men who cannot find local women. Cut off from their native states, they are often confined and forced to work as bonded labour or pushed into forced marriages or prostitution. (Photo by Subrata Biswas/Hindustan Times via Getty Images) MEWAT, INDIA - MARCH 13: Ghausia Khan a bride trafficking survivor, is a member of the district legal aid authority, Mewat is showing the images of enlisted Paros on March 13, 2014 in Mewat, India. Khan a worker with Empower People, an NGO which deals with trafficking cases and helps women in distress to find lawyers and provides them with legal information and at times, monetary assistance. Trafficked brides are locally known as Paro or Molki (means one who has a price). These are pejorative labels in Haryana, Punjab and western Uttar Pradesh where the skewed sex ratio and entrenched feudalism has resulted in a flourishing trade in women trafficked from the poverty-ridden villages of Assam, West Bengal, Jharkhand and Odisha. The women, who are usually promised marriage, find themselves in places like Mewat where the go-betweens sell them sometimes repeatedly to men who cannot find local women. Cut off from their native states, they are often confined and forced to work as bonded labour or pushed into forced marriages or prostitution. (Photo by Subrata Biswas/Hindustan Times via Getty Images) A court order is seen hanging with red wax on the main door of the closed Oragon/Sideway club which was used by sex traffickers as a brothel in the area of Zouk Mkayel, north of Beirut on April, 14, 2016. Lebanese security forces busted a sex trafficking ring involving 75 Syrian women trafficked to Lebanon from their country and forced into prostitution. / AFP / JOSEPH EID (Photo credit should read JOSEPH EID/AFP/Getty Images) A general view shows the three-story Chez Maurice Hotel, which was used by sex traffickers as a brothel, in the Maameltein district of the coastal town of Jounieh, north of Beirut on April, 14, 2016. Lebanese security forces busted a sex trafficking ring involving 75 Syrian women trafficked to Lebanon from their country and forced into prostitution. / AFP / JOSEPH EID (Photo credit should read JOSEPH EID/AFP/Getty Images) A Syrian sex trafficking victim is seen making coffee in the kitchen of her safehouse at an undisclosed location in Lebanon on April 13, 2016, after she fled a brothel in Lebanon where she was being held captive. Lebanese security forces busted a sex trafficking ring involving 75 Syrian women trafficked to Lebanon from their country and forced into prostitution. / AFP / STRINGER (Photo credit should read STRINGER/AFP/Getty Images) Belle Plaine, Minnesota. Billboard showing the effects of sex slavery in the United States. (Photo by: Education Images/UIG via Getty Images) DENVER, CO - OCTOBER 13: FBI officials announced that 20 underage victims were recovered and 7 pimps arrested in Colorado and Wyoming as part of a national Operation Cross CountryIX. At the Denver FBI headquarters on Tuesday, October 13, 2015 18th Judicial District Attorney George Brauchler (second from left) cranes around to see the video display of sex traffickers and their recent sentences. Left to right: Dawn Weber Second Judicial District Chief Deputy District Attorney in charge of Cold Case Unit & Human Trafficking Unit Brauchler , and 18th Judicial District Deputy District Attorney Cara Morlan. (Photo by Cyrus McCrimmon/The Denver Post via Getty Images ) Up Next See Gallery Discover More Like This HIDE CAPTION SHOW CAPTION of SEE ALL BACK TO SLIDE

"Left unchecked, human trafficking will continue to flourish in environments where traffickers can reap substantial monetary gains with relatively low risk of getting caught or losing profits," the National Human Trafficking Hotline said on its site.

Related: Exposing the Unspeakable: World Day Against Human Trafficking

According to the group, Vermont, Rhode Island, and Alaska had the fewest cases of human trafficking were — each with less than 10 total cases.

A majority of victims were trafficked through the course of domestic work or within hotel- or motel-based employment, according to the report. Agricultural work was also identified as one of the top industries harboring human trafficking.

The hotline received thousands of calls in the past year, with 76 percent involving some sort of sex trade. More women than men were victims.

One incident highlighted by the National Human Trafficking Hotline in August last year involved a woman forced into commercial sex work by an abusive partner who "used physical violence, threats, and verbal and emotional abuse as a way to keep her in the situation."

Related: Invisible Boys: Inside the Push to Help Unseen Victims of the Sex Trade

In another incident, the organization helped a laborer who was forced to work "extremely long days on a farm with no days off and no breaks." While living in his employer's house, he had "no access to a bathroom or clean running water." His employer frequently threatened him by "withholding his immigration documents.

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