Analysis Finds Cities with the Greatest Need for Addiction Counseling

One problem facing the U.S. today is addiction. It bears no boundaries when it comes to location either. The number of drug overdose deaths have more than tripled. According to the addiction center, 21 million Americans are battling addiction, yet only 10% are receiving treatment and counseling. Not having the desire or resources could play a factor in this statistic. 

The team at Grand Canyon University mapped out the places in the U.S. with the greatest need for addiction counseling. They looked at the biggest cities across the country and analyzed them for eight key factors:

• Unemployment rate
• Number of substance abuse counselors per 100K people
• Number of opioid prescriptions per 100 people
• Competition for substance abuse counseling jobs
• Combined number of local Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous meetings per 100K people
• Number of substance abuse treatment facilities per 100K people
• Number of drug labs per 100K people
• Number of drug arrests per 100K people

They found that Las Vegas took the top spot for a city with the greatest need for addiction counseling. In the nation, Las Vegas has the highest unemployment rate and highest number of drug arrests per 100K people. When it comes to competition for addiction counseling jobs, Las Vegas has the lowest rate across the country. With Las Vegas being known as Sin City, this makes you wonder if the reputation of this lively party city can be attributed to these statistics.

Next in line is Oklahoma City, which ranked among the bottom 15 cities in both number of addiction treatment centers and number of addiction counselors. Rounding out the top three is Buffalo, NY, which ranked among the bottom 15 cities in both number of opioid prescriptions per 100 people and number of drug labs per 100K people. 

Looking at states overall with the greatest need for addiction counseling, Arkansas and Tennessee take the top spots. While they’re geographically connected to each other, they both also ranked in the top 10 for drug abuse violations per 100K people and number of drug labs per 100K people. Nevada is next in line for the greatest need for addiction counseling. The state homes Las Vegas, which ranked as the top city with the greatest need for addiction counseling.

One thing that can be gathered from this analysis is that addiction is being seen nationwide and while some cities are better than others when it comes to counseling and resources, there’s still a greater need for more.