List of U.S. states by incarceration rate

This is a list of U.S. states by adult incarceration rate according to United States Department of Justice figures. It includes sentenced and unsentenced inmates in jails and state prisons, but not persons in federal prisons.

A map of U.S. states by adult incarceration rate per 100,000 adult population. State prisons and local jails. Excludes federal prisoners.

Incarceration rate by state

US incarceration rate

U.S. states by incarceration rate under state prison or local jail jurisdiction per 100,000 population. Rates are for yearend 2013. Federal prison inmates are not included in the state rates. The table below has all 50 states plus the District of Columbia.

Note: There are 2 incarceration rate columns: One per 100,000 adults, and one per 100,000 of all ages.^[1][2]

Note: The rate columns can be sorted in ascending or descending order. The row number column on the left sorts separately. This way the states can be ranked by incarceration rate. Sort the state column to return to alphabetical order.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51

Jurisdiction Yearend 2013. In prison or jail 2013 rate per 100,000 adults 2013 rate per 100,000 of all ages State 2,012,400 830 636 Federal 215,100 90 68 U.S. total 2,227,500 910 704 Alabama 46,000 1,230 951 Alaska 5,100 940 691 Arizona 55,200 1,090 831 Arkansas 22,800 1,010 770 California 218,800 750 569 Colorado 32,100 790 608 Connecticut 17,600 620 488 Delaware 7,000 960 756 District of Columbia 2,400 450 369 Florida 154,500 990 788 Georgia 91,600 1,220 916 Hawaii 5,600 510 397 Idaho 10,200 860 632 Illinois 69,300 700 537 Indiana 45,400 910 690 Iowa 12,700 530 410 Kansas 16,600 760 573 Kentucky 32,100 950 729 Louisiana 50,100 1,420 1,082 Maine 3,800 350 285 Maryland 32,700 710 550 Massachusetts 21,400 400 318 Michigan 60,200 790 608 Minnesota 15,700 380 289 Mississippi 28,800 1,270 962 Missouri 44,500 950 736 Montana 6,000 760 591 Nebraska 8,500 600 454 Nevada 19,900 930 712 New Hampshire 4,800 460 362 New Jersey 37,600 540 421 New Mexico 15,500 980 742 New York 81,400 530 413 North Carolina 55,300 730 561 North Dakota 2,700 470 373 Ohio 69,800 780 603 Oklahoma 37,900 1,300 983 Oregon 22,900 740 582 Pennsylvania 85,500 850 668 Rhode Island 3400 400 322 South Carolina 32,600 880 683 South Dakota 5,300 820 626 Tennessee 48,100 960 740 Texas 221,800 1,130 836 Utah 12,500 620 430 Vermont 2,100 410 335 Virginia 58,800 910 710 Washington 29,700 550 425 West Virginia 9,700 660 523 Wisconsin 34,800 780 605 Wyoming 3,800 840 651

Comparison with other countries

The stats source is the World Prison Population List. 8th edition. Prisoners per 100,000 population.^[3]

The United States has the largest prison population in the world,^[4][5][6] and the second-highest per-capita incarceration rate, behind Seychelles (which in 2014 had a total prison population of 735 out of a population of around 92,000).^[4][7]

On January 1, 2008 more than 1 in 100 adults in the United States were in prison or jail.^[8][9] Total US incarceration peaked in 2008.^[1]

In addition to overall incarceration rates, the United States is also leading in rates of female incarceration. In the United States, women make up more than one tenth of the whole prison population.^[10] In most countries, the proportion of female inmates to the larger population is closer to one in twenty. Australia is the exception where the rate of female imprisonment increased from 9.2 percent in 1991 to 15.3 percent in 1999.^[11]

Comparing other English-speaking developed countries,^[4] whereas the incarceration rate in the US is 704 per 100,000 (as of 2013), the incarceration rate of Canada is 106 per 100,000 (as of 2014),^[12] England and Wales is 148 per 100,000 (as of 2015),^[13] and Australia is 151 per 100,000 (as of 2015).^[14] Comparing other developed countries, the rate of Spain is 141 per 100,000 (as of 2015),^[15] Greece is 120 per 100,000 (as of 2013),^[16] Norway is 71 per 100,000 (as of 2015),^[17] Netherlands is 75 per 100,000 (as of 2013),^[18] and Japan is 49 per 100,000 (as of 2014).^[19]

In addition, the United States has striking statistics when observing the racial dimension of mass incarceration. According to Michelle Alexander, the United States "imprisons a larger percentage of its black population than South Africa did at the height of apartheid."^[20]

See also

• United States incarceration rate
• Incarceration in the United States
• Incarceration of women in the United States
• Racial and ethnic demographics of the United States
• Race and the War on Drugs
• Youth incarceration in the United States
• List of U.S. states by homicide rate

References

1. Correctional Populations In The United States, 2013. Published December 2014. Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS). By Lauren E. Glaze and Danielle Kaeble, BJS Statisticians. The numbers are from Appendix Table 1 in the PDF.
2. State Totals: Vintage 2014. By U.S. Census Bureau. See: "Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for the United States, Regions, States, and Puerto Rico: April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2014 (NST-EST2014-01)". 2013 state populations were taken from that. Also, the 2013 national population. See the CSV and FactFinder links. The 2013 populations were used to calculate the incarceration rate per 100,000 of all ages.
3. Walmsley, Roy (30 Jan 2009). World Prison Population List (8th Edition). From World Prison Population Lists. By International Centre for Prison Studies. "The information is the latest available in early December 2008. … Most figures relate to dates between the beginning of 2006 and the end of November 2008." According to the summary on page one there were 2.29 million U.S. inmates and 9.8 million inmates worldwide. The U.S. held 23.4% of the world's inmates. The U.S. total in this report is for December 31, 2007 (see page 3), and does not include inmates in juvenile detention facilities.
4. Entire world – Prison Population Rates per 100,000 of the national population. Highest to Lowest Rates. For more details about the figures of any country, click on the name of that country. World Prison Brief. International Centre for Prison Studies. See this page for breakdowns by region, whole world, prison population total, prison population rate, percentage of pre-trial detainees / remand prisoners, percentage of female prisoners, percentage of foreign prisoners, and occupancy rate.
5. Mahapatra, Lisa (19 March 2014). Incarcerated In America: Why Are So Many People In US Prisons? (CHARTS). International Business Times. Chart showing incarceration rates of 50 most populous countries. Another chart showing what the inmates in the USA are in for (does not indicate reasons for probation and parole violations. Those offenses, such as drug tests, etc. change the breakdown of what inmates are in for).
6. National Research Council. The Growth of Incarceration in the United States: Exploring Causes and Consequences. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press, 2014. Retrieved May 10, 2014: "The U.S. penal population of 2.2 million adults is by far the largest in the world. Just under one-quarter of the world's prisoners are held in American prisons."
7. Seychelles. International Centre for Prison Studies.
8. One in 100: Behind Bars in America 2008. February 28, 2008. The Pew Center on the States.
9. Liptak, Adam (28 Feb 2008). 1 in 100 U.S. Adults Behind Bars, New Study Says. New York Times.
10. Carlen, Pat (2004). Analysing Women's Imprisonment. Portland: Willan Publishing. p. 43.
11. Carlen, Pat (2004). Analysing Women's Imprisonment. Portland: Willan Publishing. p. 42.
12. Canada. International Centre for Prison Studies.
13. United Kingdom: England & Wales. International Centre for Prison Studies.
14. Australia. International Centre for Prison Studies.
15. Spain. International Centre for Prison Studies.
16. Greece. International Centre for Prison Studies.
17. Norway. International Centre for Prison Studies.
18. Netherlands. International Centre for Prison Studies.
19. Japan. International Centre for Prison Studies.
20. Alexander, Michelle (2010). The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness. New York: The New Press. p. 7.

External links

Rate Per 100,000 and Rank by State of Crime and Imprisionment by US States 1978 - 2012 Crime,Punishment and Ratio of Crime to Punishment Per 100,000 and Rank by Year and between States