A total of about 12,200 victim service providers (VSPs) operated in the United States in 2017. Tose included non-profit, governmental, healthcare, tribal, for-profit, educational, and other organizations that served victims of crime or abuse as their primary function, or that had dedicated staff or programs to serve victims. (See Terms and definitions.) The four largest states (California, Texas, Florida, and New York), which made up about a third of the U.S. population, had nearly a quarter (23%) of the VSPs.
Findings are based on the 2017 National Census of Victim Service Providers (NCVSP), the first nationwide data collection on VSPs. The census asked organizations whether they had served victims in the 6 months prior to the survey. From October 2016 to July 2017, the NCVSP gathered data on location and type of organization from VSPs. These data were compared to U.S. Census Bureau population estimates to develop rates of VSPs per state. The rate of VSPs ranged from about 2 VSPs per 100,000 U.S. residents in Florida and New Jersey, to almost 15 VSPs per 100,000 U.S. residents in Wyoming and the District of Columbia. Six states (Alaska, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont, and Wyoming) and the District of Columbia had 8 or more VSPs per 100,000 U.S. residents.