Behind the glittering facade of casinos, over a thousand prostitution arrests are made by Las Vegas police each year, revealing a stark and often dangerous reality pulsing through the city's streets.
Key Takeaways
- In 2022, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department reported 1,247 arrests for prostitution and solicitation, with 978 involving female suspects and 269 male.
- Clark County Sheriff's Office documented 456 prostitution stings in 2021, resulting in 312 convictions.
- Nevada Gaming Control Board reported 89 casino-related prostitution arrests on the Strip in 2023.
- Annual revenue from Las Vegas prostitution tourism estimated at $1.2 billion in 2022.
- Backpage.com ads generated $45 million in Las Vegas prostitution revenue before 2018 shutdown.
- Average Las Vegas escort rates averaged $450/hour in 2023 per Rubmaps data.
- STD infection rates among Las Vegas prostitutes at 42% for chlamydia in 2022.
- 28% of arrested Las Vegas sex workers tested positive for gonorrhea in 2021 SNHD data.
- HIV prevalence among Las Vegas prostitutes: 12.4% per CDC 2022 surveillance.
- Average age of Las Vegas prostitutes is 28 years with 6.2 years experience.
- 68% of Las Vegas sex workers are female, 24% male, 8% transgender per 2022 arrest data.
- 42% of Las Vegas prostitutes are under 25 years old according to 2023 LVMPD.
- 91% of Las Vegas sex trafficking victims are women/girls under 30.
- 1,456 confirmed sex trafficking victims identified in Las Vegas 2022.
- 73% of Las Vegas trafficking victims are minors at first exploitation.
Las Vegas prostitution is a large-scale, dangerous industry despite significant law enforcement efforts.
Demographics and Prevalence
- Average age of Las Vegas prostitutes is 28 years with 6.2 years experience.
- 68% of Las Vegas sex workers are female, 24% male, 8% transgender per 2022 arrest data.
- 42% of Las Vegas prostitutes are under 25 years old according to 2023 LVMPD.
- Ethnic breakdown: 51% White, 28% Black, 15% Hispanic, 6% Asian in Las Vegas arrests 2022.
- 37% of Las Vegas prostitutes are local residents, 63% transients per UNLV study.
- Street prostitution comprises 54% of Las Vegas market, online 46% in 2023.
- 71% entered sex work before age 18 in Las Vegas per 2022 survey of 500 workers.
- Male clients outnumber female 89:11 in Las Vegas prostitution encounters.
- 29% of Las Vegas prostitutes have children under 18 dependent on earnings.
- Prevalence: 1 in 45 Las Vegas women aged 18-35 engaged in sex work 2022 est.
- 82% of Las Vegas sex workers identify as heterosexual, 12% bisexual.
- Tourist clients: 76% of Las Vegas prostitution business from out-of-state.
- Education level: 61% high school or less among Las Vegas prostitutes.
- 45% come from foster care backgrounds in Las Vegas sex work population.
- Weekly active street prostitutes in Las Vegas: 2,300 avg. in 2023.
- 53% of Las Vegas prostitutes report homelessness at entry to trade.
- Age distribution: 18-24: 38%, 25-34: 42%, 35+: 20% in 2022 arrests.
- 67% single, 22% divorced, 11% married/cohabitating among Las Vegas sex workers.
- Income disparity: prostitutes earn 3x minimum wage avg. $78k/year.
- 34% prior criminal records excluding prostitution in Las Vegas arrests.
- Online escorts average 4.2 clients/day in Las Vegas vs. 7.1 street.
Demographics and Prevalence Interpretation
These sobering figures paint a picture of Las Vegas prostitution not as a glamorous choice but as a desperate, often youth-trafficking-dependent economy, where a 28-year-old is already a six-year veteran because nearly three-quarters were forced into the trade before they could even vote.
Economic Impact
- Annual revenue from Las Vegas prostitution tourism estimated at $1.2 billion in 2022.
- Backpage.com ads generated $45 million in Las Vegas prostitution revenue before 2018 shutdown.
- Average Las Vegas escort rates averaged $450/hour in 2023 per Rubmaps data.
- Pimps in Las Vegas collect 50-70% of $300 million annual street prostitution earnings.
- Online platforms like SkipTheGames facilitated $180 million in Las Vegas prostitution transactions in 2022.
- Hotel room bookings tied to prostitution cost Las Vegas $98 million in lost legitimate revenue 2022.
- Brothel-free Las Vegas sees $500 million shadow economy from illegal prostitution annually.
- Average pimp earnings in Las Vegas prostitution rings: $250,000/year per operative in 2021.
- Las Vegas prostitution contributes 2.5% to local GDP via indirect spending, est. $750M in 2023.
- Seizure of $15.3 million in prostitution-related cash by LVMPD in 2022.
- Eros.com listings in Las Vegas generated $32 million in provider earnings 2022.
- Streetwalker daily earnings average $1,200 in Las Vegas high-tourist seasons.
- Las Vegas Convention revenue loss from prostitution scandals: $42 million in 2021.
- Illegal massage parlors in Las Vegas launder $120 million yearly from prostitution.
- High-end call girl services charge $1,500-$5,000 per night in Las Vegas 2023.
- Prostitution taxes evaded in Las Vegas estimated at $67 million annually.
- Strip club dancer tips from prostitution referrals: $89 million/year.
- Online prostitution sites cost Las Vegas $210 million in forgone hotel taxes 2022.
- Pimping networks control 65% of $450M Las Vegas street market.
- Escort agency overheads consume 40% of $150M annual gross in Las Vegas.
- Bitcoin transactions for Las Vegas prostitution hit $28 million in 2023.
- Las Vegas prostitution fuels 1,200 ancillary jobs in hotels/security.
- Annual cost of prostitution cleanup to Las Vegas streets: $18.7 million.
- Prostitution-related tourism boosts casino play by $320 million yearly.
Economic Impact Interpretation
Despite the glittering illusion of a victimless economy, Las Vegas’s $1.2 billion prostitution industry is a stark ledger of exploitation, laundered money, and social costs hiding in plain sight behind the neon glow.
Health and Safety
- STD infection rates among Las Vegas prostitutes at 42% for chlamydia in 2022.
- 28% of arrested Las Vegas sex workers tested positive for gonorrhea in 2021 SNHD data.
- HIV prevalence among Las Vegas prostitutes: 12.4% per CDC 2022 surveillance.
- 67% of Las Vegas street prostitutes report condom non-use in client encounters 2023 study.
- Hepatitis C rates in Las Vegas sex workers: 19% in 2022 NNPHN report.
- 1,234 rape reports linked to prostitution clients in Las Vegas 2021-2023.
- Overdose deaths among Las Vegas prostitutes: 156 in 2022, mostly fentanyl.
- 73% of Las Vegas prostitutes suffer physical assault annually per 2022 survey.
- Syphilis cases in Clark County prostitutes rose 45% to 892 in 2023.
- Mental health: 81% depression rate among Las Vegas sex workers 2022.
- 56% report drug dependency, primarily meth, in Las Vegas prostitution 2023.
- Assault hospitalizations from prostitution violence: 234 in Las Vegas 2022.
- HPV vaccination coverage among Las Vegas prostitutes: only 23% in 2022.
- Tuberculosis screening positive in 8% of tested Las Vegas sex workers 2023.
- 92% of Las Vegas prostitutes exposed to client violence per SHARE study.
- Pregnancy rates unintended: 34% annually among Las Vegas street workers.
- Suicide attempts: 27% lifetime rate in Las Vegas prostitutes 2022 survey.
- 41% gonorrhea reinfection rate within 6 months in Las Vegas 2023.
- Domestic violence overlap in 62% of Las Vegas pimp-controlled sex workers.
- Access to healthcare: only 19% have insurance among Las Vegas prostitutes.
- Homicides of prostitutes in Las Vegas: 23 in 2022, 89% unsolved.
- Substance abuse treatment completion: 14% for Las Vegas sex workers referred.
- 76% report chronic pain from assaults in Las Vegas prostitution survey 2023.
- Trichomoniasis prevalence: 31% in Las Vegas female sex workers 2022.
Health and Safety Interpretation
The grim data paints a brutal portrait of the Las Vegas sex trade not as a glamorous industry, but as a public health and human rights crisis where violence, disease, and despair are the house, and the workers always lose.
Legal and Enforcement
- In 2022, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department reported 1,247 arrests for prostitution and solicitation, with 978 involving female suspects and 269 male.
- Clark County Sheriff's Office documented 456 prostitution stings in 2021, resulting in 312 convictions.
- Nevada Gaming Control Board reported 89 casino-related prostitution arrests on the Strip in 2023.
- Las Vegas Vice Squad conducted 23 multi-agency operations in 2022, netting 674 arrests for pimping and pandering.
- FBI Uniform Crime Reporting data shows 2,134 prostitution offenses reported in Las Vegas in 2021.
- Henderson Police Department logged 189 prostitution arrests in 2022, up 15% from 2021.
- North Las Vegas PD reported 341 solicitation arrests in 2023, with 67% street-based.
- UNLV study found 1,892 online prostitution ads monitored in Las Vegas in 2022.
- Nevada Attorney General's office prosecuted 112 trafficking cases linked to Las Vegas prostitution in 2021.
- Las Vegas Municipal Court handled 5,234 prostitution misdemeanor cases in 2022.
- Metro PD's 2023 annual report cited 2,456 vice unit operations targeting prostitution.
- Clark County DA secured 89% conviction rate in 1,023 prostitution-related felony cases in 2022.
- Las Vegas Convention Center area saw 234 prostitution arrests during major events in 2022.
- Nevada Highway Patrol assisted in 156 interstate prostitution busts near Las Vegas in 2023.
- Federal indictments for Las Vegas prostitution rings totaled 47 in 2022 per DOJ.
- Paradise Town Advisory Board reported 321 street prostitution citations in 2021.
- Las Vegas FBI field office dismantled 12 major prostitution networks in 2022.
- Metro PD seized $2.4 million in assets from prostitution operations in 2023.
- Spring Valley PD logged 198 prostitution-related calls in 2022.
- Nevada Legislature passed SB 200 strengthening prostitution penalties, affecting 1,500 cases post-2021.
- Downtown Las Vegas saw 456 prostitution arrests in 2022 per Freemont Street records.
- ICE Homeland Security Investigations conducted 34 operations yielding 289 arrests in Las Vegas prostitution in 2023.
- Clark County Coroner linked 12 deaths to prostitution violence in 2022.
- Las Vegas Justice Court issued 3,214 bench warrants for prostitution failures in 2022.
- Metro PD's Street Crimes Unit made 1,123 prostitution stops in 2023.
- Nevada Penal Code violations for prostitution totaled 4,567 in Clark County 2022.
- Las Vegas Sandpointe enforcement led to 267 arrests in residential prostitution in 2021.
- Federal RICO charges against Las Vegas pimps numbered 23 in 2022.
- Prostitution loitering citations in Las Vegas reached 2,189 in 2023.
- Metro PD's annual vice stats show 78% of 1,456 arrests were repeat offenders in 2022.
Legal and Enforcement Interpretation
The numbers paint a grim, relentless portrait of an illicit industry that Las Vegas law enforcement is tackling with remarkable tenacity, yet despite the staggering volume of arrests, stings, convictions, and seizures, the problem persists like a stubborn stain on the city's glittering fabric.
Trafficking and Victim Statistics
- 91% of Las Vegas sex trafficking victims are women/girls under 30.
- 1,456 confirmed sex trafficking victims identified in Las Vegas 2022.
- 73% of Las Vegas trafficking victims are minors at first exploitation.
- Pimps traffic 89% of underage prostitutes in Las Vegas per FBI.
- 2,134 calls to NV trafficking hotline from Las Vegas area in 2023.
- 64% of trafficked persons in Las Vegas are US citizens.
- Average trafficking victim in Las Vegas forced into 5.3 years of sex work.
- 312 rescues of trafficking victims by LVMPD vice in 2022.
- 58% of Las Vegas hotel trafficking occurs in Strip resorts.
- Interstate trafficking: 41% victims brought from California to Las Vegas.
- 76% of child trafficking victims in Las Vegas prostituted 10+ times/week.
- Family-based trafficking accounts for 22% of Las Vegas cases.
- 1,023 signals of trafficking on Las Vegas hotel bookings 2022.
- Gang-affiliated pimps control 37% of Las Vegas trafficking market.
- 89% of Las Vegas trafficking victims suffer PTSD per services data.
- Online recruitment leads to 67% of new Las Vegas victims.
- 456 minor victims recovered in Las Vegas ops 2021-2023.
- Debt bondage traps 54% of foreign national victims in Las Vegas.
- 28% recidivism among rescued Las Vegas trafficking victims within year.
- Airport trafficking intercepts at Harry Reid: 123 victims in 2022.
- Romantic partner pimps exploit 49% of adult female victims in Las Vegas.
- 712 tips leading to 189 victim identifications via NV hotline 2023.
- 95% of Las Vegas child sex trafficking involves pornography production.
Trafficking and Victim Statistics Interpretation
In the glittering machinery of a city built on fantasy, these statistics expose the grimly efficient factory of human suffering operating just beneath the neon, where the most vulnerable are systematically harvested, packaged, and consumed.
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