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Alaska
632
Mississippi
589
Louisiana
572
Arkansas
551
Oklahoma
548
Alabama
487
Delaware
461
Arizona
452
Idaho
447
Texas
432
Georgia
422
Kentucky
409
Ohio
381
Montana
377
Missouri
377
Wyoming
362
South Dakota
361
Indiana
359
Florida
350
Virginia
347
Wisconsin
341
West Virginia
331
Michigan
321
Nevada
318
Oregon
312
Tennessee
305
Kansas
289
South Carolina
288
Pennsylvania
287
Hawaii
287
Nebraska
282
Connecticut
273
Colorado
268
Iowa
266
North Carolina
264
California
261
Maryland
244
New Mexico
244
Illinois
227
North Dakota
214
Rhode Island
204
Vermont
199
Washington
174
Utah
171
New York
156
New Hampshire
151
Minnesota
139
New Jersey
134
Maine
112
Massachusetts
88

Prison Population by State 2024

Prison Population by State 2024

The United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world. This is despite the national incarceration rate being at its lowest in 20 years. About 25% of the world’s total prison population is in the United States, which holds about 1.21 million prisoners as of 2020, a 15% decrease since 2019. Mass incarceration in the United States has led to several problems. Among these are overcrowded prisons, which lead to increased health risks and decreased psychological well-being.

Additionally, the increasing number of prisoners puts a major strain on state budgets. State prisons spend as high as $69,355 per inmate (the average cost of an inmate in New York). Prisons control and administer all aspects of life for inmates, resulting in a long list of costly necessities. Costs include food, recreational activities, educational opportunities, adequate security, utility costs, infrastructure maintenance, and health care.

State
Prisoners per 100k
Alaska632
Mississippi589
Louisiana572
Arkansas551
Oklahoma548
Alabama487
Delaware461
Arizona452
Idaho447
Texas432

Mass incarceration in the United States is a civil rights issue. Many argue that incarceration dehumanizes poor people and minorities, damages already marginalized communities, and does not increase public safety. Additionally, high recidivism rates show that incarceration is ineffective and harmful to offenders, their families, the victims, and law enforcement if an offender does time without proper counseling and assimilation back into their community. Many prisoners have difficulty reestablishing relationships, finding jobs, and staying away from criminal activity after being released.

The United States has about 437 prisoners per 100,000 people as of the end of 2019, a 2.6% drop from 2018. As of 2018, the imprisonment rate of black males was 5.8 times greater than that of white males, and the imprisonment rate of black females was 1.8 times greater than that of white females. New Hampshire, Vermont, Minnesota, Rhode Island, Maine, and Massachusetts have the lowest prison incarceration rates of under 200 per 100,000 people.

The ten states with the highest prison populations in the country are Texas (1535,906), California (97,328), Florida (81,027), Georgia (47,141), Ohio (45,036), Pennsylvania (39,357), Arizona (37,731), New York (34,128), Michigan (33,617), and Virginia (31,838).

On the other end of the spectrum, the states with the lowest prison populations include Vermont, North Dakota, Maine, Wyoming, and Rhode Island.

Prison Population by State 2024

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State
Prisoners (2021)
Prisoners per 100k
Prisoners (2019)
Change (Total)
Change % (Total)
Male Prisoners (2021)
Male Prisoners (2019)
Change (Male)
Change % (Male)
Female Prisoners (2021)
Female Prisoners (2019)
Change (Female)
Change % (Female)
Alaska4,6396324,4751643.66%4,1974,0491483.66%442426163.76%
Mississippi17,33258919,417-2,085-10.74%16,11618,034-1,918-10.64%1,2161,383-167-12.08%
Louisiana26,07457231,609-5,535-17.51%24,84929,920-5,071-16.95%1,2251,689-464-27.47%
Arkansas17,02255117,759-737-4.15%15,59216,188-596-3.68%1,4301,571-141-8.98%
Oklahoma22,39154825,033-2,642-10.55%20,21622,409-2,193-9.79%2,1752,624-449-17.11%
Alabama25,03248728,304-3,272-11.56%22,91525,555-2,640-10.33%2,1172,749-632-22.99%
Delaware4,8104615,692-882-15.5%4,5685,313-745-14.02%242379-137-36.15%
Arizona33,91445242,441-8,527-20.09%30,79438,035-7,241-19.04%3,1204,406-1,286-29.19%
Idaho8,9074479,437-530-5.62%7,6688,117-449-5.53%1,2391,320-81-6.14%
Texas133,772432158,429-24,657-15.56%123,263144,787-21,524-14.87%10,50913,642-3,133-22.97%
Georgia47,01042254,816-7,806-14.24%43,94250,798-6,856-13.5%3,0684,018-950-23.64%
Kentucky18,56040923,082-4,522-19.59%16,49320,177-3,684-18.26%2,0672,905-838-28.85%
Ohio45,02938150,338-5,309-10.55%41,44346,072-4,629-10.05%3,5864,266-680-15.94%
Montana4,3133774,723-410-8.68%3,7024,175-473-11.33%6115486311.5%
Missouri23,42237726,044-2,622-10.07%21,37023,643-2,273-9.61%2,0522,401-349-14.54%
Wyoming2,1233622,479-356-14.36%1,8582,142-284-13.26%265337-72-21.36%
South Dakota3,3533613,801-448-11.79%2,8923,239-347-10.71%461562-101-17.97%
Indiana24,71635927,180-2,464-9.07%22,39724,576-2,179-8.87%2,3192,604-285-10.94%
Florida80,41735096,009-15,592-16.24%75,40489,381-13,977-15.64%5,0136,628-1,615-24.37%
Virginia30,35734736,091-5,734-15.89%28,11933,090-4,971-15.02%2,2383,001-763-25.42%
Wisconsin20,20234123,956-3,754-15.67%18,95322,405-3,452-15.41%1,2491,551-302-19.47%
West Virginia5,8473316,800-953-14.01%5,2275,979-752-12.58%620821-201-24.48%
Michigan32,18632138,053-5,867-15.42%30,62136,024-5,403-15%1,5652,029-464-22.87%
Nevada10,20231812,840-2,638-20.55%9,41811,601-2,183-18.82%7841,239-455-36.72%
Oregon13,19831214,961-1,763-11.78%12,25213,740-1,488-10.83%9461,221-275-22.52%
Tennessee21,99530526,349-4,354-16.52%19,90323,615-3,712-15.72%2,0922,734-642-23.48%
Kansas8,52128910,177-1,656-16.27%7,7939,267-1,474-15.91%728910-182-20%
South Carolina15,75928818,608-2,849-15.31%14,72117,327-2,606-15.04%1,0381,281-243-18.97%
Pennsylvania37,19428745,702-8,508-18.62%35,18242,886-7,704-17.96%2,0122,816-804-28.55%
Hawaii4,1022875,279-1,177-22.3%3,6694,523-854-18.88%433756-323-42.72%
Nebraska5,6002825,682-82-1.44%5,2005,254-54-1.03%400428-28-6.54%
Connecticut9,88927312,823-2,934-22.88%9,25411,882-2,628-22.12%635941-306-32.52%
Colorado15,86526819,785-3,920-19.81%14,59917,866-3,267-18.29%1,2661,919-653-34.03%
Iowa8,5622669,282-720-7.76%7,8598,443-584-6.92%703839-136-16.21%
North Carolina28,99526434,079-5,084-14.92%26,87131,398-4,527-14.42%2,1242,681-557-20.78%
California101,441261122,687-21,246-17.32%97,525117,119-19,594-16.73%3,9165,568-1,652-29.67%
Maryland15,13424418,595-3,461-18.61%14,61617,864-3,248-18.18%518731-213-29.14%
New Mexico5,1542446,723-1,569-23.34%4,6356,046-1,411-23.34%519677-158-23.34%
Illinois28,47522738,259-9,784-25.57%27,16535,995-8,830-24.53%1,3102,264-954-42.14%
North Dakota1,6892141,794-105-5.85%1,4891,585-96-6.06%200209-9-4.31%
Rhode Island2,2382042,740-502-18.32%2,1152,583-468-18.12%123157-34-21.66%
Vermont1,2871991,608-321-19.96%1,2041,484-280-18.87%83124-41-33.06%
Washington13,67417419,261-5,587-29.01%12,88817,626-4,738-26.88%7861,635-849-51.93%
Utah5,9071716,671-764-11.45%5,4266,089-663-10.89%481582-101-17.35%
New York30,33815643,500-13,162-30.26%29,23341,572-12,339-29.68%1,1051,928-823-42.69%
New Hampshire2,1271512,691-564-20.96%1,9792,463-484-19.65%148228-80-35.09%
Minnesota8,0031399,982-1,979-19.83%7,5469,317-1,771-19.01%457665-208-31.28%
New Jersey12,50613418,613-6,107-32.81%12,05217,912-5,860-32.72%454701-247-35.24%
Maine1,5771122,185-608-27.83%1,4662,000-534-26.7%111185-74-40%
Massachusetts6,148888,205-2,057-25.07%5,9497,904-1,955-24.73%199301-102-33.89%
United States1,047,0083121,255,0490%974,6081,159,4690%72,40095,5800%
showing: 50 rows

Prison Population by State 2024

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Prison Population by State 2024

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Prison Population by State 2024

Sources