This article has lists of U.S. states by adult incarceration and correctional supervision rates according to United States Department of Justice figures. The state incarceration numbers include sentenced and un-sentenced inmates in jails and state prisons, but not persons in federal prisons. They are listed separately. The state numbers also do not include youth held in juvenile detention. There is a separate table of incarceration numbers for U.S. territories.
U.S. states by incarceration rate and count under state prison or local jail jurisdiction. [1] Rates are for year-end 2018. The table below has all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
Asterisk (*) indicates "Incarceration in STATE" or "Crime in STATE" links.
Jurisdiction | Rates. All ages | Rates. Adults | Counts. Adults |
---|---|---|---|
Federal | 50 | 70 | 179,200 |
State | 580 | 750 | 1,919,200 |
Louisiana * | 980 | 1,280 | 45,700 |
Oklahoma * | 970 | 1,290 | 38,500 |
Mississippi * | 920 | 1,210 | 27,500 |
Georgia * | 850 | 1,110 | 89,700 |
Kentucky * | 840 | 1,080 | 37,500 |
Alabama * | 820 | 1,060 | 40,400 |
Arkansas * | 820 | 1,070 | 24,700 |
Arizona * | 750 | 980 | 54,600 |
Texas * | 750 | 1,010 | 218,000 |
Tennessee * | 730 | 930 | 49,300 |
Florida * | 700 | 870 | 150,500 |
Missouri * | 700 | 900 | 43,000 |
Wyoming * | 700 | 910 | 4,000 |
Idaho * | 690 | 920 | 12,100 |
Indiana * | 690 | 900 | 46,300 |
South Dakota * | 680 | 910 | 6,100 |
Nevada * | 670 | 860 | 20,500 |
Virginia * | 670 | 850 | 57,100 |
Wisconsin * | 630 | 810 | 36,700 |
Delaware * | 620 | 790 | 6,100 |
Kansas * | 620 | 820 | 18,000 |
New Mexico * | 620 | 810 | 13,100 |
Pennsylvania * | 610 | 770 | 77,900 |
Alaska * | 600 | 790 | 4,400 |
Ohio * | 600 | 770 | 70,500 |
South Carolina * | 590 | 760 | 30,300 |
West Virginia * | 590 | 740 | 10,600 |
Montana * | 580 | 740 | 6,200 |
Colorado * | 570 | 730 | 32,700 |
Michigan * | 540 | 690 | 54,500 |
North Carolina * | 520 | 670 | 54,600 |
California * | 510 | 650 | 200,700 |
Oregon * | 500 | 630 | 21,100 |
Nebraska * | 480 | 640 | 9,300 |
Maryland * | 460 | 580 | 27,600 |
Illinois * | 440 | 560 | 55,800 |
Iowa * | 440 | 580 | 14,000 |
Washington * | 410 | 520 | 30,900 |
North Dakota * | 400 | 530 | 3,100 |
Utah * | 390 | 550 | 12,500 |
Connecticut * | 380 | 480 | 13,700 |
Hawaii * | 380 | 480 | 5,400 |
New York * | 350 | 440 | 67,700 |
New Jersey * | 320 | 410 | 28,700 |
Maine | 300 | 370 | 4,000 |
New Hampshire | 300 | 370 | 4,100 |
Minnesota * | 280 | 370 | 15,900 |
District of Columbia * | 260 | 310 | 1,800 |
Rhode Island * | 260 | 320 | 2,800 |
Vermont * | 260 | 320 | 1,700 |
Massachusetts * | 250 | 320 | 17,600 |
Asterisk (*) indicates "Incarceration in TERRITORY" or "Crime in TERRITORY" links.
Territory | Rate | Count | Percent female | Data year |
---|---|---|---|---|
American Samoa | 345 | 193 | 4.1% | 2017, 2017, 2017 |
Guam | 411 | 690 | 7.2% | 2019, 2019, 2017 |
Northern Mariana Islands | 313 | 175 | 5.8% | 2019, 2019, 2007 |
Puerto Rico * | 278 | 8,884 | 3.6% | 2019, 2019, 2017 |
U.S. Virgin Islands | 394 | 412 | 2.7% | 2020, 2020, 2011 |
Juvenile detention totals from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. [3]
Year | Male | Female | Total |
---|---|---|---|
1997 | 90,771 | 14,284 | 105,055 |
1999 | 92,985 | 14,508 | 107,493 |
2001 | 89,115 | 15,104 | 104,219 |
2003 | 81,975 | 14,556 | 96,531 |
2006 | 78,998 | 13,723 | 92,721 |
2007 | 75,017 | 11,797 | 86,814 |
2010 | 61,359 | 9,434 | 70,793 |
2011 | 53,079 | 8,344 | 61,423 |
2013 | 46,421 | 7,727 | 54,148 |
2015 | 40,750 | 7,293 | 48,043 |
2017 | 36,982 | 6,598 | 43,580 |
2019 | 31,064 | 5,415 | 36,479 |
On January 1, 2008 more than 1 in 100 adults in the United States were in prison or jail. [7] [8] Total US incarceration peaked in 2008. [5] The US incarceration rate was the highest in the world in 2008. [4] It is no longer the highest rate. [9]
The United States has one of the highest rates of female incarceration. [10] According to a November 2017 report by the World Prison Brief around 212,000 of the 714,000 female prisoners worldwide (women and girls) are incarcerated in the United States. [11] In the United States in 2016, women made up 9.8% of the incarcerated population in adult prisons and jails. [12] [13]
Comparing English-speaking developed countries; [9] the overall incarceration rate in the US was 531 per 100,000 population of all ages in 2021, [12] the incarceration rate of Canada was 85 per 100,000 in 2020, [14] England and Wales was 146 per 100,000 in 2023, [15] and Australia was 158 per 100,000 in 2022. [16] Comparing other developed countries, the rate of Spain was 122 per 100,000 in 2020, [17] France was 90 per 100,000 in 2020, [18] Germany was 69 per 100,000 in 2020, [19] Norway was 49 per 100,000 in 2020, [20] Netherlands was 63 per 100,000 in 2018, [21] and Japan was 38 per 100,000 in 2019. [22]
In addition, the United States has striking statistics when observing the racial dimension of mass incarceration. According to Michelle Alexander (in 2010 book), the United States "imprisons a larger percentage of its black population than South Africa did at the height of apartheid." [23]
Chart below has numbers for people in adult facilities, and for people on probation and on parole. [1] The incarceration numbers for the states in the chart below are for sentenced and unsentenced inmates in adult facilities in local jails and state prisons. Numbers for federal prisons are in the Federal line.
Asterisk (*) indicates "Incarceration in STATE" or "Crime in STATE" links.
Jurisdiction | Total | Community supervision | Incarcerated | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Counts | Rate | Probation or Parole | Rate | In prison or jail | Rate | |
Federal | 302,100 | 90 | 122,800 | 40 | 179,200 | 50 |
State | 6,083,300 | 1,850 | 4,276,200 | 1,300 | 1,919,200 | 580 |
Alabama * | 99,200 | 2,030 | 60,900 | 1,240 | 40,400 | 820 |
Alaska * | 7,800 | 1,060 | 3,400 | 460 | 4,400 | 600 |
Arizona * | 136,800 | 1,890 | 84,300 | 1,170 | 54,600 | 750 |
Arkansas * | 74,700 | 2,470 | 53,800 | 1,780 | 24,700 | 820 |
California * | 513,100 | 1,290 | 312,400 | 790 | 200,700 | 510 |
Colorado * | 122,600 | 2,140 | 91,300 | 1,590 | 32,700 | 570 |
Connecticut * | 54,800 | 1,530 | 43,100 | 1,210 | 13,700 | 380 |
Delaware * | 20,600 | 2,120 | 14,500 | 1,490 | 6,100 | 620 |
District of Columbia * | 9,500 | 1,340 | 8,600 | 1,210 | 1,800 | 260 |
Florida * | 357,400 | 1,670 | 209,400 | 980 | 150,500 | 700 |
Georgia * | 495,200 | 4,680 | 433,200 | 4,100 | 89,700 | 850 |
Hawaii * | 27,200 | 1,920 | 21,900 | 1,540 | 5,400 | 380 |
Idaho * | 51,800 | 2,920 | 39,700 | 2,240 | 12,100 | 690 |
Illinois * | 171,900 | 1,350 | 116,100 | 910 | 55,800 | 440 |
Indiana * | 164,700 | 2,450 | 118,400 | 1,760 | 46,300 | 690 |
Iowa * | 47,600 | 1,500 | 35,600 | 1,120 | 14,000 | 440 |
Kansas * | 39,000 | 1,340 | 21,900 | 750 | 18,000 | 620 |
Kentucky * | 99,600 | 2,230 | 62,800 | 1,400 | 37,500 | 840 |
Louisiana * | 104,000 | 2,230 | 62,300 | 1,340 | 45,700 | 980 |
Maine | 10,300 | 770 | 6,800 | 500 | 4,000 | 300 |
Maryland * | 96,600 | 1,600 | 80,600 | 1,330 | 27,600 | 460 |
Massachusetts * | 71,200 | 1,030 | 53,700 | 780 | 17,600 | 250 |
Michigan * | 219,200 | 2,190 | 164,800 | 1,650 | 54,500 | 540 |
Minnesota * | 122,900 | 2,180 | 107,500 | 1,910 | 15,900 | 280 |
Mississippi * | 63,600 | 2,130 | 37,200 | 1,240 | 27,500 | 920 |
Missouri * | 106,100 | 1,730 | 63,100 | 1,030 | 43,000 | 700 |
Montana * | 16,700 | 1,570 | 11,400 | 1,070 | 6,200 | 580 |
Nebraska * | 25,100 | 1,300 | 15,900 | 820 | 9,300 | 480 |
Nevada * | 40,300 | 1,310 | 19,800 | 640 | 20,500 | 670 |
New Hampshire | 10,400 | 760 | 6,300 | 460 | 4,100 | 300 |
New Jersey * | 173,700 | 1,950 | 146,300 | 1,640 | 28,700 | 320 |
New Mexico * | 26,800 | 1,280 | 13,700 | 660 | 13,100 | 620 |
New York * | 202,300 | 1,040 | 139,700 | 720 | 67,700 | 350 |
North Carolina * | 148,600 | 1,420 | 94,100 | 900 | 54,600 | 520 |
North Dakota * | 10,100 | 1,320 | 7,000 | 920 | 3,100 | 400 |
Ohio * | 322,500 | 2,760 | 253,900 | 2,170 | 70,500 | 600 |
Oklahoma * | 81,800 | 2,070 | 43,300 | 1,100 | 38,500 | 970 |
Oregon * | 81,000 | 1,920 | 59,900 | 1,420 | 21,100 | 500 |
Pennsylvania * | 360,200 | 2,810 | 288,000 | 2,250 | 77,900 | 610 |
Rhode Island * | 22,000 | 2,080 | 20,900 | 1,980 | 2,800 | 260 |
South Carolina * | 67,000 | 1,310 | 36,700 | 720 | 30,300 | 590 |
South Dakota * | 15,100 | 1,710 | 9,200 | 1,040 | 6,100 | 680 |
Tennessee * | 117,400 | 1,730 | 72,100 | 1,060 | 49,300 | 730 |
Texas * | 672,400 | 2,330 | 474,600 | 1,640 | 218,000 | 750 |
Utah * | 26,800 | 840 | 16,600 | 520 | 12,500 | 390 |
Vermont * | 6,500 | 1,030 | 4,800 | 770 | 1,700 | 260 |
Virginia * | 122,000 | 1,430 | 65,000 | 760 | 57,100 | 670 |
Washington * | 115,200 | 1,520 | 88,900 | 1,170 | 30,900 | 410 |
West Virginia * | 21,500 | 1,190 | 10,900 | 600 | 10,600 | 590 |
Wisconsin * | 100,600 | 1,730 | 63,900 | 1,100 | 36,700 | 630 |
Wyoming * | 9,900 | 1,720 | 6,300 | 1,090 | 4,000 | 700 |
In 2015 there were 1,942,500 male and 202,600 female inmates in prisons and jails. That is 10.4% female. [24]
Jurisdiction | Parole, probation, etc. | Incarcerated | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Number | Rate | Number | Rate | |||||||
Total | Male | Female | Male | Female | Total | Male | Female | Male | Female | |
State | 4,518,100 | 3,485,100 | 1,033,000 | 2,190 | 630 | 1,949,400 | 1,759,700 | 189,800 | 1,450 | 150 |
Federal | 132,800 | 109,200 | 23,700 | 70 | 10 | 195,700 | 182,800 | 12,900 | 150 | 10 |
U.S. total | 4,650,900 | 3,594,300 | 1,056,700 | 2,260 | 640 | 2,145,100 | 1,942,500 | 202,600 | 1,600 | 160 |
Alabama * | 64,600 | 50,600 | 14,000 | 2,140 | 560 | 42,900 | 38,600 | 4,300 | 1,640 | 170 |
Alaska * | 8,500 | 6,600 | 1,900 | 1,700 | 550 | 5,400 | 4,800 | 600 | 1,230 | 170 |
Arizona * | 83,300 | 66,700 | 16,700 | 1,950 | 480 | 54,900 | 49,100 | 5,800 | 1,440 | 170 |
Arkansas * | 51,500 | 39,000 | 12,500 | 2,660 | 820 | 24,000 | 21,200 | 2,800 | 1,450 | 180 |
California * | 349,600 | 277,500 | 72,100 | 1,420 | 360 | 201,000 | 186,000 | 15,100 | 950 | 80 |
Colorado * | 89,200 | 66,700 | 22,400 | 2,410 | 820 | 31,800 | 28,000 | 3,800 | 1,010 | 140 |
Connecticut * | 45,300 | 35,700 | 9,500 | 2,040 | 520 | 15,800 | 14,700 | 1,100 | 840 | 60 |
Delaware * | 16,100 | 12,400 | 3,700 | 2,690 | 760 | 6,700 | 6,100 | 500 | 1,330 | 110 |
District of Columbia * | 9,900 | 8,500 | 1,400 | 2,640 | 400 | 1,800 | 1,700 | 100 | 530 | 30 |
Florida * | 225,400 | 167,000 | 58,400 | 1,670 | 560 | 153,000 | 137,900 | 15,100 | 1,380 | 140 |
Georgia * | 451,800 | 353,600 | 98,200 | 7,060 | 1,870 | 88,500 | 79,600 | 8,900 | 1,590 | 170 |
Hawaii * | 22,500 | 17,200 | 5,300 | 2,360 | 740 | 5,900 | 5,200 | 700 | 710 | 100 |
Idaho * | 37,800 | 28,100 | 9,700 | 3,370 | 1,160 | 10,900 | 9,300 | 1,600 | 1,120 | 190 |
Illinois * | 151,300 | 118,200 | 33,100 | 1,870 | 510 | 63,900 | 59,500 | 4,400 | 940 | 70 |
Indiana * | 122,500 | 93,100 | 29,400 | 2,850 | 870 | 43,500 | 38,200 | 5,200 | 1,170 | 160 |
Iowa * | 35,600 | 26,900 | 8,700 | 1,730 | 550 | 12,900 | 11,500 | 1,400 | 740 | 90 |
Kansas * | 20,900 | 16,400 | 4,500 | 1,120 | 310 | 16,600 | 14,800 | 1,800 | 1,010 | 130 |
Kentucky * | 70,600 | 49,400 | 21,300 | 2,260 | 940 | 33,800 | 28,700 | 5,100 | 1,310 | 230 |
Louisiana * | 71,900 | 57,400 | 14,500 | 2,510 | 600 | 49,000 | 45,400 | 3,600 | 1,980 | 150 |
Maine | 6,700 | 5,400 | 1,400 | 820 | 200 | 4,000 | 3,500 | 500 | 540 | 70 |
Maryland * | 87,400 | 71,800 | 15,600 | 2,460 | 500 | 29,700 | 27,800 | 1,900 | 950 | 60 |
Massachusetts * | 66,900 | 52,600 | 14,300 | 1,590 | 410 | 20,100 | 19,000 | 1,200 | 570 | 30 |
Michigan * | 193,900 | 147,700 | 46,100 | 3,020 | 910 | 57,700 | 53,100 | 4,600 | 1,090 | 90 |
Minnesota * | 105,100 | 81,000 | 24,000 | 2,960 | 870 | 16,500 | 14,800 | 1,600 | 540 | 60 |
Mississippi * | 44,800 | 35,500 | 9,300 | 2,440 | 600 | 28,000 | 25,800 | 2,300 | 1,770 | 150 |
Missouri * | 62,600 | 47,600 | 15,000 | 1,590 | 480 | 43,400 | 38,500 | 4,900 | 1,290 | 160 |
Montana * | 9,700 | 7,400 | 2,300 | 1,430 | 440 | 5,600 | 4,800 | 800 | 930 | 150 |
Nebraska * | 13,700 | 10,000 | 3,700 | 1,050 | 390 | 8,600 | 7,700 | 900 | 810 | 100 |
Nevada * | 19,200 | 15,200 | 4,000 | 1,040 | 270 | 19,100 | 16,800 | 2,300 | 1,150 | 160 |
New Hampshire | 6,300 | 4,900 | 1,400 | 750 | 210 | 4,600 | 4,100 | 500 | 620 | 80 |
New Jersey * | 151,300 | 117,700 | 33,700 | 2,690 | 730 | 33,900 | 31,700 | 2,200 | 720 | 50 |
New Mexico * | 16,800 | 12,600 | 4,200 | 1,210 | 400 | 15,100 | 13,300 | 1,800 | 1,290 | 170 |
New York * | 145,600 | 120,500 | 25,000 | 1,250 | 250 | 75,900 | 71,100 | 4,800 | 740 | 50 |
North Carolina * | 97,400 | 73,400 | 24,000 | 1,490 | 460 | 53,800 | 48,800 | 5,000 | 990 | 100 |
North Dakota * | 6,900 | 5,100 | 1,800 | 1,300 | 490 | 3,200 | 2,700 | 400 | 690 | 120 |
Ohio * | 262,000 | 189,700 | 72,300 | 3,330 | 1,220 | 70,700 | 62,800 | 7,900 | 1,100 | 130 |
Oklahoma * | 33,400 | 25,700 | 7,700 | 1,320 | 390 | 39,700 | 34,400 | 5,300 | 1,770 | 270 |
Oregon * | 61,900 | 49,600 | 12,300 | 2,470 | 600 | 21,000 | 18,600 | 2,400 | 930 | 120 |
Pennsylvania * | 296,200 | 223,500 | 72,700 | 3,560 | 1,110 | 83,900 | 76,300 | 7,600 | 1,220 | 120 |
Rhode Island * | 24,400 | 20,600 | 3,800 | 4,010 | 690 | 3,200 | 3,100 | 100 | 600 | 30 |
South Carolina * | 38,500 | 30,500 | 8,000 | 1,280 | 320 | 31,600 | 28,900 | 2,800 | 1,210 | 110 |
South Dakota * | 9,800 | 7,500 | 2,300 | 1,720 | 540 | 5,300 | 4,600 | 800 | 1,050 | 180 |
Tennessee * | 75,400 | 57,100 | 18,300 | 1,770 | 540 | 48,000 | 41,600 | 6,500 | 1,290 | 190 |
Texas * | 488,800 | 375,200 | 113,600 | 2,730 | 810 | 214,800 | 192,500 | 22,300 | 1,400 | 160 |
Utah * | 15,700 | 12,000 | 3,700 | 790 | 240 | 11,700 | 10,100 | 1,600 | 660 | 110 |
Vermont * | 6,300 | 4,800 | 1,500 | 1,550 | 470 | 1,800 | 1,600 | 200 | 520 | 50 |
Virginia * | 57,000 | 43,700 | 13,300 | 1,060 | 310 | 57,300 | 51,000 | 6,300 | 1,230 | 150 |
Washington * | 104,700 | 81,600 | 23,200 | 2,260 | 640 | 29,700 | 26,300 | 3,400 | 730 | 90 |
West Virginia * | 10,100 | 7,300 | 2,800 | 800 | 300 | 10,100 | 8,700 | 1,400 | 950 | 150 |
Wisconsin * | 65,600 | 52,700 | 12,900 | 1,830 | 440 | 35,000 | 31,800 | 3,100 | 1,110 | 110 |
Wyoming * | 5,900 | 4,300 | 1,600 | 1,450 | 550 | 3,900 | 3,400 | 600 | 1,130 | 200 |
Female incarceration rates by country and US state. Per 100,000 female population of all ages. Female incarceration rates if every US state were a country. Incarcerated females of all ages (where the data is available). From a 2018 report with latest available data. From the source report: "Figure 1. This graph shows the number of women in state prisons, local jails, and federal prisons from each U.S. state per 100,000 people in that state and the incarceration rate per 100,000 in all countries with at least a half million in total population." [10]
Incarceration in the United States is one of the primary means of punishment for crime in the United States. In 2023, over five million people are under supervision by the criminal justice system, with nearly two million people incarcerated in state or federal prisons and local jails. The United States has the largest known prison population in the world, it has 5% of the worlds population, and 20% of the worlds incarcerated persons. China, with four times more inhabitants, has less persons in prison. Prison populations grew dramatically beginning in the 1970s, but began a decline around 2009, dropping 25% by year-end 2021.
Recidivism is the act of a person repeating an undesirable behavior after they have experienced negative consequences of that behavior, or have been trained to extinguish it. Recidivism is also used to refer to the percentage of former prisoners who are rearrested for a similar offense.
The Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) is a United States federal law enforcement agency within the U.S. Department of Justice that operates U.S. federal prisons and is responsible for the care, custody, and control of federal prisoners.
Prison rape commonly refers to the rape of inmates in prison by other inmates or prison staff. In 2001, Human Rights Watch estimated that at least 4.3 million inmates had been raped while incarcerated in the United States. A United States Department of Justice report, Sexual Victimization in Prisons and Jails Reported by Inmates, states that "In 2011–12, an estimated 4.0% of state and federal prison inmates and 3.2% of jail inmates reported experiencing one or more incidents of sexual victimization by another inmate or facility staff in the past 12 months or since admission to the facility, if less than 12 months." However, advocates dispute the accuracy of the numbers, saying they seem to under-report the real numbers of sexual assaults in prison, especially among juveniles.
Crime has been recorded in the United States since its founding and has fluctuated significantly over time, with a sharp rise after 1900 and reaching a broad bulging peak between the 1970s and early 1990s. After 1992, crime rates have generally trended downwards each year, with the exceptions of a slight increase in property crimes in 2001 and increases in violent crimes in 2005-2006, 2014-2016 and 2020-2021. While official federal crime data beginning in 2021 has a wide margin of error due to the incomplete adoption of the National Incident-Based Reporting System by government agencies, federal data for 2020-2021 and limited data from select U.S. cities collected by the nonpartisan Council on Criminal Justice showed significantly elevated rates of homicide and motor vehicle theft in 2020-2022. Although overall crime rates have fallen far below the peak of crime seen in the United States during the late 1980s and early 1990s, the homicide rate in the U.S. has remained high, relative to other "high income"/developed nations, with eight major U.S. cities ranked among the 50 cities with the highest homicide rate in the world in 2022. The aggregate cost of crime in the United States is significant, with an estimated value of $4.9 trillion reported in 2021. Data from the first half of 2023, from government and private sector sources show that the murder rate has dropped, as much as 12% in as many as 90 cities across the United States. The drop in homicide rates is not uniform across the country however, with some cities such as Memphis, TN, showing an uptick in murder rates.
The Bureau of Justice Statistics (UJC) of the U.S. Department of Justice is the principal federal agency responsible for measuring crime, criminal victimization, criminal offenders, victims of crime, correlates of crime, and the operation of criminal and civil justice systems at the federal, state, tribal, and local levels. Established on December 27, 1979, BJS collects, analyzes, and publishes data relating to crime in the United States. The agency publishes data regarding statistics gathered from the roughly fifty-thousand agencies, offices, courts, and institutions that together comprise the U.S. justice system.
Incapacitation in the context of criminal sentencing philosophy is one of the functions of punishment. It involves capital punishment, sending an offender to prison, or possibly restricting their freedom in the community, to protect society and prevent that person from committing further crimes. Incarceration, as the primary mechanism for incapacitation, is also used as to try to deter future offending.
Race in the United States criminal justice system refers to the unique experiences and disparities in the United States in regard to the policing and prosecuting of various races. There have been different outcomes for different racial groups in convicting and sentencing felons in the United States criminal justice system. Although prior arrests and criminal history is also a factor. Experts and analysts have debated the relative importance of different factors that have led to these disparities.
According to the World Prison Brief the United States in 2021 had the sixth highest incarceration rate in the world, at 531 people per 100,000. Between 2019 and 2020, the United States saw a significant drop in the total number of incarcerations. State and federal prison and local jail incarcerations dropped by 14% from 2.1 million in 2019 to 1.8 million in mid-2020. In 2018, the United States had the highest incarceration rate in the world.
A prison, also known as a jail, gaol, penitentiary, detention center, correction center, correctional facility, or remand center, is a facility where people are confined against their will and denied a variety of freedoms under the authority of the state, generally as punishment for various crimes. Authorities most commonly use prisons within a criminal-justice system: people charged with crimes may be imprisoned until their trial; those who have pled or been found guilty of crimes at trial may be sentenced to a specified period of imprisonment.
As of 2013, across the world, 625,000 women and children were being incarcerated in correctional facilities, and the female prison population was increasing in all continents. The list of countries by incarceration rate includes a main table with a column for the historical and current percentage of prisoners who are female.
The Federal Penitentiary Service is a federal agency of the Ministry of Justice of Russia responsible for correctional services.
Prison overcrowding is a social phenomenon occurring when the demand for space in prisons in a jurisdiction exceeds the capacity for prisoners. The issues associated with prison overcrowding are not new, and have been brewing for many years. During the United States' War on Drugs, the states were left responsible for solving the prison overcrowding issue with a limited amount of money. Moreover, federal prison populations may increase if states adhere to federal policies, such as mandatory minimum sentences. On the other hand, the Justice Department provides billions of dollars a year for state and local law enforcement to ensure they follow the policies set forth by the federal government concerning U.S. prisons. Prison overcrowding has affected some states more than others, but overall, the risks of overcrowding are substantial and there are solutions to this problem.
The incarceration of women in the United States refers to the imprisonment of women in both prisons and jails in the United States. There are approximately 219,000 incarcerated women in the US according to a November 2018 report by the Prison Policy Initiative, and the rate of incarceration of women in the United States is at a historic and global high, with 133 women in correctional facilities per every 100,000 female citizens. The United States is home to just 4% of the world's female population, yet the US is responsible for 33% of the entire world's incarcerated female population. The steep rise in the population of incarcerated women in the US is linked to the complex history of the war on drugs and the US's prison–industrial complex, which lead to mass incarceration among many demographics, but had particularly dramatic impacts on women and especially women of color. However, women made up only 10.4% of the US prison and jail population, as of 2015.
Incarceration prevention refers to a variety of methods aimed at reducing prison populations and costs while fostering enhanced social structures. Due to the nature of incarceration in the United States today caused by issues leading to increased incarceration rates, there are methods aimed at preventing the incarceration of at-risk populations.
In 2021, the United States had 1,767,200 inmates in adult facilities. This left America with the highest prison population if China's latest official number (2018) of 1,690,000 were used. According to the World Prison Brief the total number in China would be much higher if pre-trial detainees and those held in administrative detention were added. And yet more depending on the number of Uyghurs being held. The 2021 US incarceration rate of 531 per 100,000 population was the 6th highest rate. According to the World Prison Population List there were around 10.35 million people in penal institutions worldwide in 2015. The US had 2,173,800 prisoners in adult facilities in 2015. That means the US held 21.0% of the world's prisoners in 2015, even though the US represented only around 4.4 percent of the world's population in 2015. In 2015 the US had the 2nd highest incarceration rate (698), behind the Seychelles rate of 799 per 100,000.
Decarceration in the United States involves government policies and community campaigns aimed at reducing the number of people held in custody or custodial supervision. Decarceration, the opposite of incarceration, also entails reducing the rate of imprisonment at the federal, state and municipal level. As of 2019, the US was home to 5% of the global population but 25% of its prisoners. Until the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. possessed the world's highest incarceration rate: 655 inmates for every 100,000 people, enough inmates to equal the populations of Philadelphia or Houston. The COVID-19 pandemic has reinvigorated the discussion surrounding decarceration as the spread of the virus poses a threat to the health of those incarcerated in prisons and detention centers where the ability to properly socially distance is limited. As a result of the push for decarceration in the wake of the pandemic, as of 2022, the incarceration rate in the United States declined to 505 per 100,000, resulting in the United States no longer having the highest incarceration rate in the world, but still remaining in the top five.
Incarceration in Oklahoma is how inmates are rehabilitated and reformed. Incarceration in Oklahoma includes state prisons and county and city jails. Oklahoma has the second highest state incarceration rate in the United States. Oklahoma is the second in women's incarceration in the United States. After becoming a state in 1907, the first prisons were opened and reform began.