Incarceration in the U.S.: The big picture

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Very little data exists about how many people are locked up in U.S. prisons and jails (much less on parole and probation). So the Prison Policy Initiative collects and presents the data that does exist, in order to illustrate the unprecedented size and reach of our criminal justice system:

Key statistics:

  • Adults under correctional control in 1983: 1 in 71 adults 1
    • … in 2023: 1 in 48 adults2
  • Number of people booked into local jails each year: 5.6 million people3
  • Number of living people in the U.S. who have been imprisoned: 7.3 million people4
  • Number of people incarcerated or detained on an average day: 2 million people5
  • Percentage of people in jails and prisons aged 55 or older in 1990: 2.6%6
    • … in 2024: 15%7
  • Percentage of people in jails and prisons aged 18-24 in 1990: 25%8
    • … in 2024: 8%9
  • Rate at which Black people are imprisoned in the average U.S. state compared to white people: 6 times the rate of white people10
  • Women’s incarceration rates in Arkansas, Idaho, Kentucky, Montana, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Wyoming: over 200 per 100,000 female state residents11
    • … in Massachusetts: 20 per 100,000 female state residents12
  • Percentage of adults who’ve had an immediate family member incarcerated: 50% of adults13
  • Places that incarcerate more than 1 in 100 of their residents on any given day: Louisiana, Mississippi, and El Salvador14
  • Percentage of people in state prisons that meet criteria for substance use disorder: 49% of people in state prisons15
  • Percentage of people in state prisons who were unemployed and looking for work in the month prior to their arrest: 15%16
    • … in the general public who were unemployed in the past month: 5%17
  • Median annual earnings for people incarcerated in 2024 who were employed in the prior year: $13,62118
    • … for non-incarcerated people in 2024: $46,949 19

Mass Incarceration: The Whole Pie 2026

Our report and comprehensive graphic provide the big picture: nearly 2 million people are locked up in in U.S. more than 6,000 correctional facilities operated by thousands of agencies. We break down how many people are incarcerated in the U.S., where, and why — highlighting causes of incarceration that get too little attention as well as 10 incarceration “myths” that receive too much. Also, check out our other Whole Pie reports that focus specifically on the incarceration of women and the incarceration of young people.


States of Incarceration: The Global Context 2024

This report and infographic directly situate individual U.S. states in the global context, revealing that every region in the U.S. is out of step with the rest of the world when it comes to incarceration. We also have a companion report focused on the incarceration of women.

US incarceration rates vs other nato countries


Following the Money of Mass Incarceration 2026

Mass incarceration costs the government and families of system-involved people hundreds of billions of dollars annually. In this groundbreaking report, the Prison Policy Initiative aggregates economic data to offer a big picture view of who pays for and who benefits when millions of people are behind bars.


Punishment Beyond Prisons 2026: Incarceration and Supervision by State

The U.S. has a staggering 1.9 million people behind bars, but even this number doesn’t capture the true reach of the criminal legal system. In this report, using 100+ state-specific graphics, we examine the full system of mass punishment — incarceration, probation, and parole — to show the true number of people ensnared in the criminal legal system.

correctional control rates by type


State-by-State Incarceration Rates by Race/Ethnicity and Sex

We've pulled together the most recently available incarceration data for people in state prisons and local jails, by race and ethnicity, and by sex, for all 50 states and D.C. This dataset allows for comparisons across state lines to better understand racial disparities in the criminal legal system — and offers surprising insights. We also produced more than 100 charts to show racial disparities in each state.


Beyond the Count: A deep dive into state prison population

In this report we take a deep dive into a large-scale survey of incarcerated people to gain a better understanding of how mass incarceration has been used to warehouse people with marginalized identities and those struggling with poverty, substance use disorder, housing insecurity, and more.





The “bigger picture”: our other research, organized by topic

We've published highly-readable reports on issues including exploitation in the criminal justice system, how many women and youth are in prison, people's experiences on probation and parole, and much more. See our research on:


Data for every state:

Select your state:

Footnotes

  1. For more information, see the Bureau of Justice Statistics, Probation and Parole, 1983.  ↩

  2. For more information, see the Bureau of Justice Statistics, Correctional Populations in the United States, 2023.  ↩

  3. For more information, see Who is jailed, how often, and why: Our Jail Data Initiative collaboration offers a fresh look at the misuse of local jails  ↩

  4. For more information, see The Growth, Scope, and Spatial Distribution of People With Felony Records in the United States, 1948-2010.  ↩

  5. For more information, see Mass Incarceration: The Whole Pie 2025.  ↩

  6. In 1990, 1,115,110 people were in correctional institutions, and 28,710 were aged 55 or older.

    Source: Census 2000 PHC-T-26. Population in Group Quarters by Type, Sex and Age, for the United States: 1990 and 2000, Table 2.  ↩

  7. In 2024, 1,867,404 people were in correctional institutions, and 276,210 were aged 55 or older.

    Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey, ACS 1-Year Estimates, Total group quarters population in Adult Correctional Facilities (B26101_100) as well as those aged 55 to 64 (B26101_106), 65 to 74 (B26101_107), 75 to 84 (B26101_108), and 85 and up (B26101_109) accessed via U.S. Census API on October 8, 2025.  ↩

  8. In 1990, 1,115,110 people were in correctional institutions, and 279,730 were between the ages of 18 and 24.

    Source: Census 2000 PHC-T-26. Population in Group Quarters by Type, Sex and Age, for the United States: 1990 and 2000, Table 2.  ↩

  9. In 2024, 1,867,404 were in correctional institutions, and 154,530 were between the ages of 18 and 24.

    Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey, ACS 1-Year Estimates, Total group quarters population in Adult Correctional Facilities (B26101_100) and those aged 18 to 24 (B26101_102) accessed via Census API on October 8, 2025.  ↩

  10. For more information, see Updated data and charts: Incarceration stats by race, ethnicity, and gender for all 50 states and D.C.  ↩

  11. For more information, see Appendix 2 - States of Women’s Incarceration: The Global Context 2025.  ↩

  12. In Massachusetts, 730 women and girls were incarcerated out of 3,580,213 women and girls statewide. For more information, see Appendix 2 - States of Women’s Incarceration: The Global Context 2025.  ↩

  13. For more information, see FWD.US, Every Second.  ↩

  14. For more information, see States of Incarceration: The Global Context 2024.  ↩

  15. This includes about 59% of women and 48% of men. For more information, see Beyond the Count: A deep dive into state prison populations.  ↩

  16. This figure covers state prisons in 2016, the most recent year for which these data are available. For more information, see Beyond the Count: A deep dive into state prison populations.  ↩

  17. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 4.9% of working aged people were unemployed as of July 2016 — the same year for which we have data pertaining to people in state prisons. For more information, see the Bureau of Labor Statistics, The Employment Situation — July 2016.  ↩

  18. For more information, see U.S. Census Bureau, “Median Earnings in the Past 12 Months by Group Quarters Type (5 Types) by Sex,” American Community Survey, ACS 1-Year Estimates Detailed Tables, Table B26219, accessed on November 17, 2025, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT1Y2024.B26219.  ↩

  19. For more information, see U.S. Census Bureau, “Median Earnings in the Past 12 Months (in 2024 Inflation-Adjusted Dollars) by Sex for the Population 16 Years and Over With Earnings in the Past 12 Months,” American Community Survey, ACS 1-Year Estimates Detailed Tables, Table B20002.  ↩

See all footnotes



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