Prisoners in 2020 - Statistical Tables

U.S.
Department of Justice
Office of Justice Programs
Bureau of Justice Statistics
December 2021, NCJ 302776
Prisoners in 2020 – Statistical Tables
Bureau of Justice Statistics · Statistical Tables

E. Ann Carson, Ph.D., BJS Statistician
I
n 2020, the number of persons held in state or FIGURE 1
federal prisons in the United States declined Imprisonment rate per 100,000 U.S. residents, by
15%, from 1,430,200 at yearend 2019 to age, 2010–2020
1,215,800 at yearend 2020. Only Alaska showed
Rate per 100,000
an increase (2%) in its prison population, while
700
other jurisdictions showed declines of 7% to Age 18 or older
31%. The number of persons sentenced to more 600
than 1 year in state or federal prison decreased
from 1,379,800 in 2019 to 1,182,200 in 2020. The 500
All ages
combined state and federal imprisonment rate for 400
2020 (358 per 100,000 U.S. residents) represented
a decrease of 15% from 2019 (419 per 100,000 300
U.S. residents) and a decrease of 28% from 2010
200
(500 per 100,000 U.S. residents) (figure 1).
100
The COVID-19 pandemic was largely responsible
for the decline in prisoners under state and 0
federal correctional authority. Courts significantly 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
altered operations for part or all of 2020, leading Note: Imprisonment rate is the number of sentenced prisoners
under state or federal jurisdiction per 100,000 U.S. residents.
to delays in trials and/or sentencing of persons, Rates are presented for all ages and age 18 or older as of
and this was reflected in the 40% decrease in December 31 of each year and are based on prisoners with a
sentence of more than 1 year. See appendix table 1 for rates.
admissions to state and federal prison from
Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, National Prisoner Statistics,
2019. While the number of releases also declined 2010–2020; and U.S. Census Bureau, postcensal resident
during 2020, releases occurred at a slower rate population estimates for January 1 of the following calendar year.
Highlights
At yearend 2020, the number of prisoners under From 2010 to 2020, the sentenced imprisonment
state or federal jurisdiction had decreased by rate for U.S. residents fell 37% among blacks;
214,300 (down 15%) from 2019 and by 399,700 32% among Hispanics; 32% among Asians,
(down 25%) from 2009, the year the number of Native Hawaiians, and Other Pacific Islanders;
prisoners in the United States peaked. 26% among whites; and 25% among American
Nine states showed decreases in the number Indians and Alaska Natives.
of persons in prison of at least 20% from 2019 The number of admissions to federal prison
to 2020. (down 19,000) and to state prison (down 211,800)
The prison populations of California, Texas, and both declined by 40% from 2019 to 2020.
the Federal Bureau of Prisons each declined by Releases from federal and state prisons
more than 22,500 from 2019 to 2020, accounting decreased during 2020 (down 58,400 or almost
for 33% of the total prison population decrease. 10% from 2019), but at a lower rate than the
In 2020, the imprisonment rate was 358 per decrease in admissions.
100,000 U.S. residents, the lowest since 1992.
(10%) than the decrease in admissions. Although deaths FIGURE 2
represented 1% of the total releases from prison in 2020, Imprisonment rates of U.S. residents, based on
the number prisoners that died under the jurisdiction sentenced prisoners under the jurisdiction of state
of state or federal correctional authorities in 2020 (6,100 or federal correctional authorities, per 100,000 U.S.
prisoners) increased 46% from 2019 (4,200). residents, by race or ethnicity, 2010–2020
From 2019 to 2020, the decline in the number of Rate per 100,000
1,600 Blacka
females sentenced to more than 1 year in prison
1,400
(down 22%) outpaced the decrease in sentenced male
1,200
prisoners (down 14%). The imprisonment rates for U.S. American Indian/Alaska Nativea
1,000
residents in all racial or ethnic categories decreased
800 Hispanic
by 12% to 16% from 2019 to 2020 and by at least 25%
600
from 2010 to 2020 (figure 2). The imprisonment rate
400 Whitea Asiana,b
for black U.S. residents decreased 37%, from 1,489 per 200
100,000 in 2010 to 938 per 100,000 in 2020. 0
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
Findings in this report are based on the National
Note: Jurisdiction refers to the legal authority of state or federal
Prisoner Statistics (NPS) program, administered by the correctional officials over a prisoner, regardless of where the prisoner
Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS). The program collects is held. Imprisonment rate is the number of sentenced prisoners under
state or federal jurisdiction per 100,000 U.S. residents in a given category.
annual data from state departments of corrections Rates are for December 31 of each year and are based on prisoners
(DOCs) and the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) on with a sentence of more than 1 year. Resident population estimates are
prison capacity and prisoner counts, characteristics, from the U.S. Census Bureau for January 1 of the following year. As of
December 31, 2001, sentenced felons from the District of Columbia were
admissions, and releases. This report is the ninety-fifth the responsibility of the Federal Bureau of Prisons. See table 5 for rates.
in a series that began in 1926. Forty-eight states aExcludes persons of Hispanic origin (e.g., “white” refers to non-Hispanic
whites and “black” refers to non-Hispanic blacks). See Methodology.
and the BOP reported NPS data for 2020. Oregon bIncludes Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islanders.
submitted 2020 data to the National Corrections Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Federal Justice Statistics Program,
Reporting Program, which BJS used to impute 2020 2020 (preliminary), National Corrections Reporting Program, 2019,
NPS responses. BJS obtained data for New Hampshire National Prisoner Statistics, 2010–2020, Survey of Inmates in State and
Federal Correctional Facilities, 2004, and Survey of Prison Inmates, 2016;
from other source and imputed NPS responses, which and U.S. Census Bureau, postcensal resident population estimates for
the state DOC approved. (See Methodology.) January 1 of the following calendar year.
Prisoners in 2020 – Statistical Tables | December 2021 2

Effects of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on U.S. prisons
The COVID-19 pandemic had significant effects on all to home confinement. All of these factors contributed
stages of the criminal justice process, including state to the 15% decline in the total U.S. prison population
and federal correctional systems. In most states, courts from yearend 2019 to yearend 2020 described in
significantly altered operations for part or all of 2020, this report.
leading to delays in trials and/or sentencing of persons During the spring of 2021, BJS conducted a
and decreasing the overall number of admissions to supplementary data collection to the NPS on the
prison. At the same time, states and the Federal Bureau effects, policies, and practices of state and federal
of Prisons adopted an array of policies to mitigate correctional systems in response to the COVID-19
transmission of COVID-19, including the suspension of pandemic and will release a subsequent report
transfers between prison facilities or from local jails to describing the specific effects of the pandemic on the
prisons; expedited releases of persons in prison based U.S. prison population.
on their crimes, time served, and behavior; and releases

Terms and definitions
Adult imprisonment rate—The number of prisoners and all of their inmates are counted in this report
sentenced to more than 1 year under state or federal as prisoners.
jurisdiction, per 100,000 U.S. residents age 18 or older. Jurisdiction—The legal authority of state or federal
Capacity, design—The number of prisoners a facility correctional officials over a prisoner, regardless
can hold, as set by the architect or planner. of where the prisoner is held. Prisoners under the
Capacity, highest—The maximum number of beds jurisdiction of state or federal correctional officials
across the three capacity measures: design, operational, can be held in publicly or privately operated secure
and rated capacity. or nonsecure facilities, including boot camps, halfway
houses, treatment facilities, hospitals, local jails, or
Capacity, lowest—The minimum number of beds another state’s facilities.
across the three capacity measures: design, operational,
and rated capacity. New court commitments—Admissions into prison
of persons convicted and sentenced by a court,
Capacity, operational—The number of prisoners a usually to a term of more than 1 year, including
facility can hold based on staffing and services. probation violators and persons with a split sentence
Capacity, rated—The number of prisoners or beds a of incarceration followed by court-ordered probation
facility can hold, as set by a rating official. or parole.
Conditional releases—Includes discretionary parole, Parole violators—For purposes of this report, persons
mandatory parole, postcustody probation, and other released from prison on discretionary or mandatory
unspecified conditional releases. parole who were subsequently imprisoned either for
Conditional release violators—Persons who returned violating conditions of release or for new crimes.
to prison after being granted unspecified conditional Prison—A long-term confinement facility that is run by
release or being released to discretionary parole, a state or the federal government and typically holds
mandatory parole, or postcustody probation. felons, or persons with sentences of more than 1 year
Custody count—Persons held in the physical custody of imposed by state or federal courts. Sentence length
state or federal prisons, regardless of sentence length or may vary by state. Alaska, Connecticut, Delaware,
which authority has jurisdiction over the prisoner. Hawaii, Rhode Island, and Vermont each operate an
integrated system that combines prisons and jails,
Federal prison system—Includes adult prisoners held and all of their inmates are counted in this report
under the jurisdiction of the Federal Bureau of Prisons as prisoners.
in secure federal prison facilities, nonsecure community
corrections facilities, and privately operated facilities; Prisoner—A person confined in a state or federal
and persons age 17 or younger, all of whom are held in prison, in a private facility under state or federal
privately operated facilities. jurisdiction, or in a local jail facility under the legal
authority of state or federal correctional authorities.
Imprisonment rate—The number of prisoners
sentenced to more than 1 year under state or federal Probation violators—For purposes of this report,
jurisdiction per 100,000 U.S. residents. persons on probation, sometimes following release
from prison, who were subsequently imprisoned
Jail—A confinement facility that is usually administered either for violating conditions of their probation or for
by a local law enforcement agency (county, city, or new crimes.
municipal) and is intended for adults but sometimes
holds juveniles for confinement before or after Sentenced prisoners—Persons sentenced to more than
adjudication. Such facilities include jails and city or 1 year under state or federal correctional authorities,
county correctional centers; special jail facilities, such as usually felons.
medical treatment or release centers; halfway houses; Supervised mandatory releases—Conditional releases
work farms; and temporary holding or lockup facilities with postcustody supervision (generally occurring in
that are part of the jail’s combined function. Prisoners jurisdictions using determinate sentencing statutes).
sentenced to jail facilities usually have a sentence of 1 Total prisoners—All prisoners under jurisdiction,
year or less and therefore are not counted as sentenced regardless of sentencing status or length.
prisoners for purposes of this report, although prisoners
sentenced to jail facilities are counted in the total prison Unconditional releases—Expirations of sentences,
population tables. Alaska, Connecticut, Delaware, commutations, and other unspecified releases that are
Hawaii, Rhode Island, and Vermont each operate an not followed by probation, parole, or other supervision.
integrated system that combines prisons and jails, Yearend—December 31 of the calendar year.

List of tables
Table 1. Prisoners under the jurisdiction of state or federal correctional authorities, by jurisdiction
and sex, 2010–2020
Table 2. Prisoners under the jurisdiction of state or federal correctional authorities, by sex and
jurisdiction, 2019 and 2020
Table 3. Sentenced prisoners under the jurisdiction of state or federal correctional authorities, by
jurisdiction, sex, and race or ethnicity, 2010–2020
Table 4. Sentenced prisoners under the jurisdiction of state or federal correctional authorities, by sex
and jurisdiction, 2019 and 2020
Table 5. Imprisonment rates of U.S. residents, based on sentenced prisoners under the jurisdiction of
state or federal correctional authorities, by jurisdiction, sex, and race or ethnicity, 2010–2020
Table 6. Imprisonment rates of U.S. adults, based on sentenced prisoners under the jurisdiction of
state or federal correctional authorities, by jurisdiction, sex, and race or ethnicity, 2010–2020
Table 7. Imprisonment rates of U.S. residents, based on sentenced prisoners under the jurisdiction of
state or federal correctional authorities, by sex, age, and jurisdiction, 2019 and 2020
Table 8. Admissions of sentenced prisoners under the jurisdiction of state or federal correctional
authorities, 2019 and 2020
Table 9. Releases of sentenced prisoners under the jurisdiction of state or federal correctional
authorities, 2019 and 2020
Table 10. Percent of sentenced prisoners under the jurisdiction of state or federal correctional
authorities, by sex, race or ethnicity, and age, December 31, 2020
Table 11. Imprisonment rates of U.S. residents, based on sentenced prisoners under the jurisdictions
of state and federal correctional authorities, by demographic characteristics, December 31, 2020
Table 12. Prisoners held in the custody of private prisons or local jails under the jurisdiction of state
or federal correctional authorities, by jurisdiction, 2019 and 2020
Table 13. Prisoners age 17 or younger in the custody of publicly or privately operated state or federal
prisons, by sex and jurisdiction, 2019 and 2020
Table 14. Percent of sentenced prisoners under the jurisdiction of state correctional authorities, by
sex, race or ethnicity, and most serious offense, December 31, 2019
Table 15. Number of sentenced prisoners under the jurisdiction of state correctional authorities, by
sex, race or ethnicity, and most serious offense, December 31, 2019
Table 16. Sentenced prisoners in the custody of state correctional authorities and privately operated
facilities contracted to states, by most serious offense and jurisdiction, December 31, 2019
Table 17. Percent of sentenced federal prisoners held in publicly or privately operated correctional
facilities, by sex, race or ethnicity, and most serious offense, September 30, 2020
Table 18. Number of sentenced federal prisoners held in publicly or privately operated correctional
facilities, by sex, race or ethnicity, and most serious offense, September 30, 2020
Continued on next page

List of tables (continued)
Table 19. Prison facility capacity, custody population, and percent of capacity, by jurisdiction,
December 31, 2020
Table 20. Non-U.S. citizen prisoners in the custody of publicly or privately operated state or federal
prisons, excluding jails, by sex and jurisdiction, December 31, 2020
Table 21. Prisoners under military jurisdiction, by branch of service, 2019 and 2020
Table 22. Percent of prisoners under the jurisdiction of military correctional authorities with any
sentence length, by branch of service and most serious offense, December 31, 2020
Table 23. Prisoners under the jurisdiction or in the custody of correctional authorities in U.S. territories
and commonwealths, by prison facility capacity, December 31, 2020
List of figures
Figure 1. Imprisonment rate per 100,000 U.S. residents, by age, 2010–2020
Figure 2. Imprisonment rates of U.S. residents, based on sentenced prisoners under the jurisdiction
of state or federal correctional authorities, per 100,000 U.S. residents, by race or ethnicity, 2010–2020
Figure 3. Change in total prison population, by jurisdiction, 2019–2020
FIGURES 4A AND 4B. Imprisonment rates of U.S. residents, based on sentenced prisoners under
the jurisdictions of state and federal correctional authorities, by demographic characteristics,
December 31, 2020
List of appendix tables

Appendix table 1. Imprisonment rates, based on sentenced prisoners under the jurisdiction of
state or federal correctional authorities, per 100,000 U.S. residents and 100,000 U.S. adults, 1978–2020
Appendix table 2. Prisoners under the jurisdiction of state or federal correctional authorities, by
jurisdiction and race or ethnicity, December 31, 2020
Appendix table 3. Percent of sentenced prisoners under the jurisdiction of state correctional
Appendix table 4. Percent of sentenced prisoners under the jurisdiction of federal correctional

Total prison population
TablE 1
The United States held 1,215,800 persons in state and
Prisoners under the jurisdiction of state or federal
federal prisons at yearend 2020, about 214,300 fewer correctional authorities, by jurisdiction and sex,
than at yearend 2019 (1,430,200) (table 1). 2010–2020
Yeara Total Federalb State Male Female
The 15% decrease in persons in state and federal
2010 1,613,803 209,771 1,404,032 1,500,936 112,867
prisons between 2019 and 2020 was the largest single 2011 1,598,968 216,362 1,382,606 1,487,561 111,407
year decrease recorded since the United States began 2012 1,570,397 217,815 1,352,582 1,461,625 108,772
tracking prisoner populations through the National 2013 1,576,950 215,866 1,361,084 1,465,592 111,358
Prisoner Statistics program in 1926 (not shown 2014 1,562,319 210,567 1,351,752 1,449,291 113,028
in tables). 2015 1,526,603 196,455 1,330,148 1,415,112 111,491
2016 1,508,129 189,192 1,318,937 1,396,296 111,833
From 2010 to 2020, the number of persons held by
2017 1,489,189 183,058 1,306,131 1,377,815 111,374
the BOP declined more than 27%. 2018 1,464,385 179,898 1,284,487 1,353,595 110,790
2019 1,430,165 175,116 1,255,049 1,322,256 107,909
In 2020, state prisons continued a decrease in the
2020 1,215,821 152,156 1,063,665 1,132,767 83,054
number of imprisoned persons that started in 2013. Percent change
2010–2020 -24.7% -27.5% -24.2% -24.5% -26.4%
State-level total prison populations 2019–2020 -15.0 -13.1 -15.2 -14.3 -23.0
Nine states had declines in their total prisoner
correctional officials over a prisoner, regardless of where the prisoner
populations of at least 20% from yearend 2019 to is held. Counts are for December 31 of each year. As of December
yearend 2020 (New Jersey, Connecticut, Illinois, 31, 2001, sentenced felons from the District of Columbia were the
responsibility of the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
North Dakota, Maine, New York, Hawaii, California, aTotal and state estimates for 2019 include imputed counts for Oregon,
and Vermont) (table 2). which did not submit 2019 National Prisoner Statistics data. See
Methodology. Counts for 2018 and earlier may have been revised from
Three states (Arkansas, Mississippi, and Nebraska)
previous reports.
bIncludes adult prisoners held in nonsecure community corrections
had decreases in the number of prisoners of less than facilities and adults and persons age 17 or younger held in privately
10% from 2019 to 2020. operated facilities.
Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, National Prisoner Statistics, 2010–2020.
Alaska had an increase of 2% in its total prison

population from 2019 to 2020, gaining more than
100 prisoners.
TablE 2
Prisoners under the jurisdiction of state or federal correctional authorities, by sex and jurisdiction, 2019 and 2020
2019 2020 Change, 2019–2020 Percent change, 2019–2020
Jurisdiction Total Male Female Total Male Female Total Male Female Total Male Female
U.S. totala 1,430,165 1,322,256 107,909 1,215,821 1,132,767 83,054 -214,344 -189,489 -24,855 -15.0% -14.3% -23.0%
Federalb 175,116 162,787 12,329 152,156 141,964 10,192 -22,960 -20,823 -2,137 -13.1% -12.8% -17.3%
Statea 1,255,049 1,159,469 95,580 1,063,665 990,803 72,862 -191,384 -168,666 -22,718 -15.2% -14.5% -23.8%
Alabama 28,304 25,555 2,749 25,328 23,166 2,162 -2,976 -2,389 -587 -10.5 -9.3 -21.4
Alaskac 4,475 4,049 426 4,578 4,159 419 103 110 -7 2.3 2.7 -1.6
Arizonad 42,441 38,035 4,406 37,731 34,076 3,655 -4,710 -3,959 -751 -11.1 -10.4 -17.0
Arkansas 17,759 16,188 1,571 16,094 14,781 1,313 -1,665 -1,407 -258 -9.4 -8.7 -16.4
California 122,687 117,119 5,568 97,328 93,823 3,505 -25,359 -23,296 -2,063 -20.7 -19.9 -37.1
Colorado 19,785 17,866 1,919 16,168 14,858 1,310 -3,617 -3,008 -609 -18.3 -16.8 -31.7
Connecticutc 12,823 11,882 941 9,559 9,020 539 -3,264 -2,862 -402 -25.5 -24.1 -42.7
Delawarec 5,692 5,313 379 4,710 4,486 224 -982 -827 -155 -17.3 -15.6 -40.9
Florida 96,009 89,381 6,628 81,027 76,012 5,015 -14,982 -13,369 -1,613 -15.6 -15.0 -24.3
Georgia 54,816 50,798 4,018 47,141 44,041 3,100 -7,675 -6,757 -918 -14.0 -13.3 -22.8
Hawaiic 5,279 4,523 756 4,171 3,744 427 -1,108 -779 -329 -21.0 -17.2 -43.5
Idaho 9,437 8,117 1,320 8,171 7,094 1,077 -1,266 -1,023 -243 -13.4 -12.6 -18.4
Illinois 38,259 35,995 2,264 29,729 28,311 1,418 -8,530 -7,684 -846 -22.3 -21.3 -37.4
Indiana 27,180 24,576 2,604 23,944 21,735 2,209 -3,236 -2,841 -395 -11.9 -11.6 -15.2

TablE 2 (continued)
Prisoners under the jurisdiction of state or federal correctional authorities, by sex and jurisdiction, 2019 and 2020
Iowa 9,282 8,443 839 8,307 7,616 691 -975 -827 -148 -10.5 -9.8 -17.6
Kansas 10,177 9,267 910 8,779 8,019 760 -1,398 -1,248 -150 -13.7 -13.5 -16.5
Kentucky 23,082 20,177 2,905 18,552 16,528 2,024 -4,530 -3,649 -881 -19.6 -18.1 -30.3
Louisiana 31,609 29,920 1,689 26,964 25,773 1,191 -4,645 -4,147 -498 -14.7 -13.9 -29.5
Maine 2,185 2,000 185 1,714 1,586 128 -471 -414 -57 -21.6 -20.7 -30.8
Maryland 18,595 17,864 731 15,623 15,105 518 -2,972 -2,759 -213 -16.0 -15.4 -29.1
Massachusetts 8,205 7,904 301 6,762 6,564 198 -1,443 -1,340 -103 -17.6 -17.0 -34.2
Michigan 38,053 36,024 2,029 33,617 31,913 1,704 -4,436 -4,111 -325 -11.7 -11.4 -16.0
Minnesota 9,982 9,317 665 8,148 7,683 465 -1,834 -1,634 -200 -18.4 -17.5 -30.1
Mississippi 19,417 18,034 1,383 17,577 16,388 1,189 -1,840 -1,646 -194 -9.5 -9.1 -14.0
Missouri 26,044 23,643 2,401 23,062 21,167 1,895 -2,982 -2,476 -506 -11.4 -10.5 -21.1
Montanae 4,723 4,175 548 3,927 3,457 470 : : : : : :
Nebraska 5,682 5,254 428 5,306 4,927 379 -376 -327 -49 -6.6 -6.2 -11.4
Nevada 12,840 11,601 1,239 11,422 10,451 971 -1,418 -1,150 -268 -11.0 -9.9 -21.6
New Hampshire 2,691 2,463 228 2,352 2,168 184 -339 -295 -44 -12.6 -12.0 -19.3
New Jersey 18,613 17,912 701 12,830 12,369 461 -5,783 -5,543 -240 -31.1 -30.9 -34.2
New Mexico 6,723 6,046 677 5,500 4,955 545 -1,223 -1,091 -132 -18.2 -18.0 -19.5
New York 43,500 41,572 1,928 34,128 32,837 1,291 -9,372 -8,735 -637 -21.5 -21.0 -33.0
North Carolina 34,079 31,398 2,681 29,461 27,354 2,107 -4,618 -4,044 -574 -13.6 -12.9 -21.4
North Dakota 1,794 1,585 209 1,401 1,239 162 -393 -346 -47 -21.9 -21.8 -22.5
Ohio 50,338 46,072 4,266 45,036 41,408 3,628 -5,302 -4,664 -638 -10.5 -10.1 -15.0
Oklahomaf 25,033 22,409 2,624 22,462 20,275 2,187 -2,571 -2,134 -437 -10.3 -9.5 -16.7
Oregong 14,961 13,740 1,221 12,753 11,834 919 : : : : : :
Pennsylvania 45,702 42,886 2,816 39,357 37,122 2,235 -6,345 -5,764 -581 -13.9 -13.4 -20.6
Rhode Islandc 2,740 2,583 157 2,227 2,138 89 -513 -445 -68 -18.7 -17.2 -43.3
South Carolina 18,608 17,327 1,281 16,157 15,159 998 -2,451 -2,168 -283 -13.2 -12.5 -22.1
South Dakota 3,801 3,239 562 3,250 2,822 428 -551 -417 -134 -14.5 -12.9 -23.8
Tennessee 26,349 23,615 2,734 22,685 20,415 2,270 -3,664 -3,200 -464 -13.9 -13.6 -17.0
Texas 158,429 144,787 13,642 135,906 125,547 10,359 -22,523 -19,240 -3,283 -14.2 -13.3 -24.1
Utahd 6,671 6,089 582 5,446 5,073 373 -1,225 -1,016 -209 -18.4 -16.7 -35.9
Vermontc 1,608 1,484 124 1,284 1,200 84 -324 -284 -40 -20.1 -19.1 -32.3
Virginia 36,091 33,090 3,001 31,838 29,476 2,362 -4,253 -3,614 -639 -11.8 -10.9 -21.3
Washington 19,261 17,626 1,635 15,724 14,676 1,048 -3,537 -2,950 -587 -18.4 -16.7 -35.9
West Virginia 6,800 5,979 821 6,044 5,393 651 -756 -586 -170 -11.1 -9.8 -20.7
Wisconsin 23,956 22,405 1,551 20,298 19,034 1,264 -3,658 -3,371 -287 -15.3 -15.0 -18.5
Wyoming 2,479 2,142 337 2,087 1,826 261 -392 -316 -76 -15.8 -14.8 -22.6
Note: Jurisdiction refers to the legal authority of state or federal correctional officials over a prisoner, regardless of where the prisoner is held. For
jurisdiction-level information, see Jurisdiction notes on the BJS website. Counts are for December 31 of each year. As of December 31, 2001, sentenced
felons from the District of Columbia were the responsibility of the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Multiple states reported large changes in prison
populations, admissions, and releases between 2019 and 2020 due to criminal justice reforms enacted to address the COVID-19 pandemic. Because
these differences were not the result of changes in reporting methods, BJS made direct comparisons of 2019 and 2020 data, understanding that the
criminal justice reforms may be temporary.
:Not calculated. Counts for 2019 and 2020 are not comparable.
aTotal and state estimates for 2019 include imputed counts for Oregon, which did not submit 2019 National Prisoner Statistics (NPS) data.
See Methodology.
bIncludes adult prisoners held in nonsecure community corrections facilities and adults and persons age 17 or younger held in privately
operated facilities.
cPrisons and jails form one integrated system. Data include total jail and prison populations. Data for these states are not reported in BJS’s annual Jail
Inmates reports.
dState submitted updated 2019 population counts.
eAfter a change in prisoner tracking software at the end of 2018, Montana continued to see issues with data that render counts between 2019 and
2020 incomparable.
fIncludes persons who were waiting in county jails to be moved to state prison.
gState did not submit 2019 NPS data. Counts were imputed for 2019. See Methodology.
Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, National Prisoner Statistics, 2019 and 2020.

California (down 25,400), the BOP (down 23,000),
FIGURE 3
and Texas (down 22,500) had the largest absolute Change in total prison population, by jurisdiction,
decreases in the number of persons imprisoned in 2019–2020
their correctional systems at yearend 2020 (figure 3).
California
The number of females in prison on December 31,
BOP
Texas
2020 decreased in all states and the BOP, and the Florida
percentage decrease for females exceeded that of New York
males in all jurisdictions.1 Illinois
Georgia
Pennsylvania
At yearend 2020, the number of persons in
New Jersey
California state prisons fell below 100,000 for the Ohio
first time since 1990. (See CSAT-Prisoners webtool Arizona
Louisiana
(https://www.bjs.gov/index.cfm?ty=nps), Quick North Carolina
Table “Prisoners under the jurisdiction of state or Kentucky
federal correctional authorities, December 31, 1978- Michigan
Virginia
2020.”) Tennessee
Wisconsin
New York held fewer prisoners at yearend 2020
Colorado
(34,100) than at any time since 1984 (33,100). (See Washington
Connecticut*
CSAT-Prisoners webtool (https://www.bjs.gov/ Indiana
index.cfm?ty=nps), Quick Table “Prisoners under Missouri
the jurisdiction of state or federal correctional Alabama
Maryland
authorities, December 31, 1978-2020.”) Oklahoma
South Carolina
1Data from 2019 and 2020 cannot be compared for Montana and Mississippi
Oregon. See table 2 and the Jurisdiction notes on the BJS website Minnesota
for details. Arkansas
Massachusetts
Nevada
Kansas
Idaho
Utah
New Mexico
Hawaii*
Delaware*
Iowa
West Virginia
South Dakota
Rhode Island*
Maine
North Dakota
Wyoming
Nebraska
New Hampshire
Vermont*
Alaska*
-26 -24 -22 -20 -18 -16 -14 -12 -10 -8 -6 -4 -2 0 2
Change in prison population (thousands)
Note: Estimates show the change in the number of persons imprisoned
on December 31, 2019 and December 31, 2020. Jurisdiction refers
to the legal authority of state or federal correctional officials over a
prisoner, regardless of where the prisoner is held. For jurisdiction-level
information, see Jurisdiction notes on the BJS website. As of December
31, 2001, sentenced felons from the District of Columbia were the
responsibility of the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP). Data for Montana
and Oregon could not be compared between 2019 and 2020. See
table 4 for counts.
*Prisons and jails form one integrated system. Data include total jail and
prison populations.
Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, National Prisoner Statistics, 2019–2020.

Population of sentenced prisoners Females accounted for 6.7% of all sentenced

Each year from 2010 to 2020, American Indians and
prisoners in 2020, down from 7.3% in 2019.
Alaska Natives and Asians, Native Hawaiians, and The number of sentenced prisoners under federal

Other Pacific Islanders each represented between jurisdiction at yearend 2020 was 142,000, down 28%
1.1% and 1.6% of prisoners. This is the first year this from 2011, the year when the BOP population was
series has presented data on these two racial groups the greatest (197,000).
(table 3).
A decrease in sentenced prisoners accounted for

Persons sentenced to more than 1 year under
95% of the total prisoner decrease in state prisoners
the legal authority of state or federal correctional and 72% of the decrease in federal prisoners from
officials accounted for 97% (1,182,200) of the total 2019 to 2020.
U.S. prison population in 2020.
An additional 19,000 persons in state and federal

prison at yearend 2020 were unsentenced (almost 2%
of the total U.S. prison population), and 15,000 were
sentenced to serve 1 year or less in prison (more
than 1%). (See CSAT-Prisoners webtool on the
BJS website.)
TablE 3
Sentenced prisoners under the jurisdiction of state or federal correctional authorities, by jurisdiction, sex, and race
or ethnicity, 2010–2020
American Indian/
Yeara Totalb Federalc State Male Female Whited,e Blackd,e Hispanice Alaska Natived,e Asiand,e,f
2010 1,552,669 190,641 1,362,028 1,447,766 104,903 490,500 568,500 338,500 23,800 16,700
2011 1,538,847 197,050 1,341,797 1,435,141 103,706 480,400 554,400 341,300 22,600 17,100
2012 1,512,430 196,574 1,315,856 1,411,076 101,354 470,900 536,600 336,100 21,500 17,000
2013 1,520,403 195,098 1,325,305 1,416,102 104,301 469,800 530,100 343,100 19,800 16,900
2014 1,507,781 191,374 1,316,407 1,401,685 106,096 463,800 516,800 339,500 21,300 17,300
2015 1,476,847 178,688 1,298,159 1,371,879 104,968 450,600 496,400 335,800 20,500 17,800
2016 1,459,948 171,482 1,288,466 1,354,109 105,839 440,700 484,600 342,100 20,400 18,000
2017 1,439,877 166,203 1,273,674 1,334,828 105,049 436,800 473,000 338,800 21,200 17,800
2018 1,413,370 163,653 1,249,717 1,309,194 104,176 430,500 461,500 332,900 21,100 17,900
2019 1,379,786 158,498 1,221,288 1,278,484 101,302 422,900 449,900 322,700 21,500 17,500
2020 1,182,166 142,028 1,040,138 1,102,651 79,515 358,900 389,500 275,300 19,000 14,900
Percent change
2010–2020 -23.9% -25.5% -23.6% -23.8% -24.2% -26.8% -31.5% -18.7% -20.2% -10.8%
2019–2020 -14.3 -10.4 -14.8 -13.8 -21.5 -15.1 -13.4 -14.7 -11.6 -14.9
Note: Jurisdiction refers to the legal authority of state or federal correctional officials over a prisoner, regardless of where the prisoner is held. Counts
are for December 31 of each year and are based on prisoners with a sentence of more than 1 year. Data for 2019 have been updated with changes
to the population counts for several states. As of December 31, 2001, sentenced felons from the District of Columbia were the responsibility of the
Federal Bureau of Prisons.
aEstimates for 2019 include imputed counts for Oregon, which did not submit 2018 or 2019 National Prisoner Statistics data. Estimates for 2019 also
include imputed counts for Vermont, which provided total jurisdiction counts but could not break down the population by sentence length. See
Methodology. Counts for 2018 and earlier may have been revised from previous reports.
bIncludes persons of two or more races and other races that are not broken out.
cIncludes adult prisoners held in nonsecure community corrections facilities and adults and persons age 17 or younger held in privately
dExcludes persons of Hispanic origin (e.g., “white” refers to non-Hispanic whites and “black” refers to non-Hispanic blacks). See Methodology.
eRace/ethnicity estimates are rounded to the nearest 100.
fIncludes Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islanders.
Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Federal Justice Statistics Program, 2020 (preliminary); National Corrections Reporting Program, 2019; National
Prisoner Statistics, 2010–2020; Survey of Inmates in State and Federal Correctional Facilities, 2004; and Survey of Prison Inmates, 2016.

State-specific sentenced prison populations In 2020, the three states with the largest prison

Alaska had an increase in the number of sentenced
populations accounted for 35% of the decrease in
female prisoners and a decrease in the number of females sentenced to more than 1 year in state or
sentenced male prisoners under its jurisdiction in federal correctional facilities; Texas (down 2,700
2020 (table 4). females), California (down 2,000), Florida (down
1,600), and the BOP (down 1,500).
In two of the six states that have combined jail and

prison systems, the decline in prisoners sentenced Texas, California, Florida, and the BOP were

for more than 1 year accounted for less than a third responsible for a decrease of 69,000 sentenced male
of the total decline in their prison populations: prisoners from yearend 2019 to yearend 2020, about
Hawaii (27%) and Alaska (12%). 39% of the total decrease in sentenced males during
that period (down 175,800).
TablE 4
Sentenced prisoners under the jurisdiction of state or federal correctional authorities, by sex and jurisdiction, 2019
and 2020
U.S. totala 1,379,786 1,278,484 101,302 1,182,166 1,102,651 79,515 -197,620 -175,833 -21,787 -14.3% -13.8% -21.5%
Federalb 158,498 147,422 11,076 142,028 132,407 9,621 -16,470 -15,015 -1,455 -10.4% -10.2% -13.1%
Statea 1,221,288 1,131,062 90,226 1,040,138 970,244 69,894 -181,150 -160,818 -20,332 -14.8% -14.2% -22.5%
Alabama 20,595 19,192 1,403 19,608 18,373 1,235 -987 -819 -168 -4.8 -4.3 -12.0
Alaskac 1,782 1,700 82 1,794 1,695 99 12 -5 17 0.7 -0.3 20.7
Arizonad 40,951 36,847 4,104 37,101 33,566 3,535 -3,850 -3,281 -569 -9.4 -8.9 -13.9
Arkansas 17,713 16,156 1,557 16,052 14,750 1,302 -1,661 -1,406 -255 -9.4 -8.7 -16.4
California 122,417 116,929 5,488 97,319 93,814 3,505 -25,098 -23,115 -1,983 -20.5 -19.8 -36.1
Coloradoe 19,785 17,866 1,919 16,168 14,858 1,310 -3,617 -3,008 -609 -18.3 -16.8 -31.7
Connecticutc 8,751 8,232 519 6,359 6,062 297 -2,392 -2,170 -222 -27.3 -26.4 -42.8
Delawarec 3,735 3,568 167 3,118 3,024 94 -617 -544 -73 -16.5 -15.2 -43.7
Florida 96,009 89,381 6,628 81,027 76,012 5,015 -14,982 -13,369 -1,613 -15.6 -15.0 -24.3
Georgia 54,113 50,151 3,962 46,574 43,515 3,059 -7,539 -6,636 -903 -13.9 -13.2 -22.8
Hawaiic 3,037 2,752 285 2,740 2,490 250 -297 -262 -35 -9.8 -9.5 -12.3
Idaho 8,571 7,326 1,245 7,343 6,328 1,015 -1,228 -998 -230 -14.3 -13.6 -18.5
Illinoise 38,259 35,995 2,264 29,729 28,311 1,418 -8,530 -7,684 -846 -22.3 -21.3 -37.4
Indiana 26,969 24,394 2,575 23,774 21,595 2,179 -3,195 -2,799 -396 -11.8 -11.5 -15.4
Iowa 9,260 8,423 837 8,280 7,591 689 -980 -832 -148 -10.6 -9.9 -17.7
Kansas 9,965 9,103 862 8,677 7,939 738 -1,288 -1,164 -124 -12.9 -12.8 -14.4
Kentucky 23,082 20,177 2,905 18,552 16,528 2,024 -4,530 -3,649 -881 -19.6 -18.1 -30.3
Louisiana 31,584 29,895 1,689 26,964 25,773 1,191 -4,620 -4,122 -498 -14.6 -13.8 -29.5
Maine 1,967 1,815 152 1,619 1,504 115 -348 -311 -37 -17.7 -17.1 -24.3
Maryland 18,476 17,753 723 15,602 15,087 515 -2,874 -2,666 -208 -15.6 -15.0 -28.8
Massachusetts 7,503 7,264 239 6,195 6,030 165 -1,308 -1,234 -74 -17.4 -17.0 -31.0
Michigan 38,053 36,024 2,029 33,617 31,913 1,704 -4,436 -4,111 -325 -11.7 -11.4 -16.0
Minnesota 9,982 9,317 665 8,236 7,758 478 -1,746 -1,559 -187 -17.5 -16.7 -28.1
Mississippi 18,915 17,644 1,271 17,311 16,179 1,132 -1,604 -1,465 -139 -8.5 -8.3 -10.9
Missouri 26,038 23,638 2,400 23,059 21,164 1,895 -2,979 -2,474 -505 -11.4 -10.5 -21.0
Montanaf 4,723 4,175 548 3,927 3,457 470 : : : : : :
Nebraska 5,596 5,190 406 5,220 4,858 362 -376 -332 -44 -6.7 -6.4 -10.8
Nevada 12,840 11,601 1,239 11,422 10,451 971 -1,418 -1,150 -268 -11.0 -9.9 -21.6
New Hampshire 2,691 2,463 228 2,352 2,168 184 -339 -295 -44 -12.6 -12.0 -19.3
New Jerseye 18,613 17,912 701 12,830 12,369 461 -5,783 -5,543 -240 -31.1 -30.9 -34.2
New Mexico 6,634 5,975 659 5,433 4,896 537 -1,201 -1,079 -122 -18.1 -18.1 -18.5
New York 43,439 41,522 1,917 34,114 32,828 1,286 -9,325 -8,694 -631 -21.5 -20.9 -32.9
North Carolina 33,042 30,579 2,463 28,881 26,890 1,991 -4,161 -3,689 -472 -12.6 -12.1 -19.2
North Dakota 1,767 1,563 204 1,396 1,235 161 -371 -328 -43 -21.0 -21.0 -21.1

TablE 4 (continued)
Sentenced prisoners under the jurisdiction of state or federal correctional authorities, by sex and jurisdiction, 2019
and 2020
Ohioe 50,338 46,072 4,266 45,036 41,408 3,628 -5,302 -4,664 -638 -10.5 -10.1 -15.0
Oklahoma 24,692 22,155 2,537 22,309 20,167 2,142 -2,383 -1,988 -395 -9.7 -9.0 -15.6
Oregong 14,943 13,726 1,217 12,747 11,828 919 : : : : : :
Pennsylvania 45,485 42,724 2,761 39,335 37,103 2,232 -6,150 -5,621 -529 -13.5 -13.2 -19.2
Rhode Islandc 1,656 1,598 58 1,382 1,345 37 -274 -253 -21 -16.5 -15.8 -36.2
South Carolina 18,295 17,058 1,237 15,984 15,021 963 -2,311 -2,037 -274 -12.6 -11.9 -22.2
South Dakota 3,797 3,237 560 3,242 2,817 425 -555 -420 -135 -14.6 -13.0 -24.1
Tennessee 26,349 23,615 2,734 22,685 20,415 2,270 -3,664 -3,200 -464 -13.9 -13.6 -17.0
Texas 154,479 141,830 12,649 134,345 124,350 9,995 -20,134 -17,480 -2,654 -13.0 -12.3 -21.0
Utahd 6,667 6,085 582 5,441 5,068 373 -1,226 -1,017 -209 -18.4 -16.7 -35.9
Vermontc,h 1,137 1,052 85 907 859 48 -230 -193 -37 -20.2 -18.3 -43.5
Virginia 36,091 33,090 3,001 31,838 29,476 2,362 -4,253 -3,614 -639 -11.8 -10.9 -21.3
Washington 19,184 17,565 1,619 15,689 14,646 1,043 -3,495 -2,919 -576 -18.2 -16.6 -35.6
West Virginia 6,800 5,979 821 6,044 5,393 651 -756 -586 -170 -11.1 -9.8 -20.7
Wisconsin 22,039 20,612 1,427 18,674 17,511 1,163 -3,365 -3,101 -264 -15.3 -15.0 -18.5
Wyoming 2,479 2,142 337 2,087 1,826 261 -392 -316 -76 -15.8 -14.8 -22.6
jurisdiction-level information, see Jurisdiction notes on the BJS website. Counts are for December 31 of each year and are based on prisoners with a
sentence of more than 1 year. As of December 31, 2001, sentenced felons from the District of Columbia were the responsibility of the Federal Bureau
of Prisons. Multiple states reported large changes in prison populations, admissions, and releases between 2019 and 2020 due to criminal justice
reforms enacted to address the COVID-19 pandemic. Because these differences were not the result of changes in reporting methods, BJS made direct
comparisons of 2019 and 2020 data, understanding that the criminal justice reforms may be temporary.
:Not calculated. Counts for 2019 and 2020 are not comparable.
aTotal and state estimates for 2019 include imputed counts for Oregon, which did not submit 2019 National Prisoner Statistics (NPS) data. Estimates
for 2019 also include imputed counts for Vermont, which provided total jurisdiction counts but could not break down the population by sentence
length. See Methodology.
bIncludes prisoners held in nonsecure community corrections facilities and privately operated facilities and persons age 17 or younger held in
privately operated facilities.
cPrisons and jails form one integrated system. Data include total jail and prison populations.
dState submitted updated 2019 sentenced population counts.
eIncludes a small number of prisoners sentenced to 1 year or less.
fAfter a change in prisoner tracking software at the end of 2018, Montana continued to see issues with data that render counts between 2019 and
2020 incomparable.
hState provided total jurisdiction counts for 2019 but could not break down the population by sentence length. BJS used the state-reported distribution
of total jurisdiction counts by sentence length from 2018 to calculate the number of prisoners in 2019 who were sentenced to more than 1 year.

Imprisonment rates The 2020 imprisonment rate for black U.S. residents

The imprisonment rate at yearend 2020 (358 per
showed a 37% decrease from 2010, when almost
100,000 U.S. residents) was the lowest since 1992 1.5% of all black residents were serving a sentence of
(330 per 100,000) (table 5 and appendix table 1). at least 1 year in state or federal prisons.
From 2019 to 2020, imprisonment rates for state

Of all the racial or ethnic groups, Hispanics

prisons fell 15% (from 371 per 100,000 U.S. residents and Asians, Native Hawaiians, and Other
to 315 per 100,000) and the BOP imprisonment Pacific Islanders showed the largest declines in
rate decreased almost 11% (from 48 per 100,000 to imprisonment rates (16% each).
43 per 100,000).
TablE 5
Imprisonment rates of U.S. residents, based on sentenced prisoners under the jurisdiction of state or federal
correctional authorities, by jurisdiction, sex, and race or ethnicity, 2010–2020
Per 100,000 U.S. residents within each demographic group
Per 100,000 U.S. residents American Indian/
Yeara Totalb Federalc State Male Female Whited Blackd Hispanic Alaska Natived Asiand,e
2010 500 61 439 948 66 248 1,489 658 1,044 108
2011 492 63 429 932 65 243 1,438 650 983 107
2012 480 62 418 910 63 238 1,377 629 927 103
2013 479 61 418 907 65 237 1,348 630 846 99
2014 472 60 412 891 65 234 1,302 611 903 98
2015 459 55 403 865 64 228 1,239 592 863 98
2016 450 53 397 848 64 223 1,199 591 853 96
2017 442 51 391 831 63 221 1,161 575 881 93
2018 431 50 381 811 63 218 1,124 555 873 92
2019 419 48 371 789 61 214 1,088 530 885 88
2020 358 43 315 678 47 183 938 446 778 74
Percent change
2010–2020 -28.4% -29.9% -28.1% -28.4% -28.6% -26.5% -37.0% -32.2% -25.4% -31.8%
2019–2020 -14.5 -10.6 -15.1 -14.0 -21.7 -14.9 -13.8 -15.8 -12.1 -16.1
Note: Jurisdiction refers to the legal authority of state or federal correctional officials over a prisoner, regardless of where the prisoner is held.
Imprisonment rate is the number of sentenced prisoners under state or federal jurisdiction per 100,000 U.S. residents or per 100,000 U.S. residents
in a given category. Rates are for December 31 of each year and are based on prisoners with a sentence of more than 1 year. Resident population
estimates are from the U.S. Census Bureau for January 1 of the following year. As of December 31, 2001, sentenced felons from the District of Columbia
were the responsibility of the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
aTotal and state estimates for 2019 include imputed counts for Oregon, which did not submit 2019 National Prisoner Statistics data. See Methodology.
Counts for 2018 and earlier may have been revised from previous reports.
eIncludes Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islanders.
Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Federal Justice Statistics Program, 2020 (preliminary), National Corrections Reporting Program, 2019, National
Prisoner Statistics, 2010–2020, Survey of Inmates in State and Federal Correctional Facilities, 2004, and Survey of Prison Inmates, 2016; and U.S. Census
Bureau, postcensal resident population estimates for January 1 of the following calendar year.

Asian, Native Hawaiian, and Other Pacific Islander
Each year from 2010 to 2020, more than 1% of black

U.S. residents had the lowest imprisonment rates and American Indian or Alaska Native adults were
of all racial or ethnic groups in 2020, with 74 per serving a sentence of at least 1 year in prison.
100,000 Asian, Native Hawaiian, and Other Pacific
Islander U.S. residents of all ages (table 5), and 93
per 100,000 ages 18 or older (table 6).
TablE 6
Imprisonment rates of U.S. adults, based on sentenced prisoners under the jurisdiction of state or federal
correctional authorities, by jurisdiction, sex, and race or ethnicity, 2010–2020
Per 100,000 U.S. adults within each demographic group
Per 100,000 U.S. adults American Indian/
Yeara Totalb Federalc State Male Female Whited Blackd Hispanic Alaska Natived Asiand,e
2010 656 81 576 1,260 86 311 2,044 992 1,457 139
2011 644 82 561 1,235 84 303 1,960 976 1,363 137
2012 627 81 545 1,202 82 296 1,866 939 1,277 132
2013 624 80 544 1,194 83 295 1,818 935 1,160 126
2014 613 78 535 1,171 84 290 1,749 903 1,232 125
2015 595 72 523 1,135 82 281 1,659 871 1,172 124
2016 583 68 514 1,110 82 275 1,599 866 1,152 122
2017 570 66 504 1,085 81 272 1,543 837 1,183 118
2018 556 64 491 1,056 80 268 1,488 804 1,165 116
2019 539 62 477 1,024 77 263 1,436 763 1,175 111
2020 459 55 404 879 60 223 1,234 639 1,027 93
Percent change
2010–2020 -30.0% -31.6% -29.8% -30.3% -30.1% -28.1% -39.6% -35.6% -29.5% -33.3%
2019–2020 -14.7 -10.8 -15.2 -14.2 -21.9 -15.1 -14.1 -16.3 -12.6 -16.4
Imprisonment rate is the number of sentenced prisoners age 18 or older under state or federal jurisdiction per 100,000 U.S. residents age 18 or older
or per 100,000 U.S. residents age 18 or older in a given category. Rates are for December 31 of each year and are based on prisoners with a sentence
of more than 1 year. Resident population estimates are from the U.S. Census Bureau for January 1 of the following year. As of December 31, 2001,
sentenced felons from the District of Columbia were the responsibility of the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
aTotal and state estimates for 2019 include imputed counts for Oregon, which did not submit 2019 National Prisoner Statistics data. See Methodology.
Counts for 2018 and earlier may have been revised from previous reports.
eIncludes Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islanders.
Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Federal Justice Statistics Program, 2020 (preliminary), National Corrections Reporting Program, 2019, National
Prisoner Statistics, 2010–2020, Survey of Inmates in State and Federal Correctional Facilities, 2004, and Survey of Prison Inmates, 2016; and U.S. Census
Bureau, postcensal resident population estimates for January 1 of the following calendar year.

State-specific imprisonment rates In 2020, two states imprisoned more than 100

Three states imprisoned more than 1% of their male
females per 100,000 female state residents (Idaho
residents at yearend 2020: Louisiana (1,140 male and Oklahoma), down from eight states in 2019.
prisoners per 100,000 male residents of all ages), Among U.S. residents age 18 or older, the 2020

Mississippi (1,128 per 100,000), and Oklahoma imprisonment rate was 459 per 100,000, down from
(1,020 per 100,000) (table 7). 539 per 100,000 in 2019.
TablE 7
correctional authorities, by sex, age, and jurisdiction, 2019 and 2020
Per 100,000 U.S. residents within each group in 2019 Per 100,000 U.S. residents within each group in 2020
All ages All ages
Jurisdiction Total Male Female Age 18 or older Total Male Female Age 18 or older
U.S. totala 419 789 61 539 358 678 47 459
Federalb 48 91 7 62 43 81 6 55
Statea 371 698 54 477 315 597 42 404
Alabama 419 808 55 538 398 772 48 510
Alaskac 243 445 23 322 246 445 28 325
Arizonad 556 1,007 111 716 495 902 94 635
Arkansas 585 1,087 101 761 529 990 84 686
California 310 596 28 400 247 480 18 318
Coloradoe 342 613 67 436 277 505 45 352
Connecticutc 246 474 28 308 179 350 16 224
Delawarec 380 751 33 480 314 631 18 396
Florida 444 845 60 552 371 712 45 461
Georgia 507 967 72 662 433 834 55 564
Hawaiic 215 389 40 272 195 355 36 247
Idaho 474 808 138 631 398 683 110 527
Illinoise 303 580 35 389 237 459 22 304
Indiana 400 733 75 521 351 647 64 457
Iowa 293 535 53 380 262 482 43 339
Kansas 342 627 59 450 298 547 50 391
Kentucky 515 915 128 664 414 749 89 533
Louisiana 678 1,317 71 885 581 1,140 50 757
Maine 146 275 22 179 120 227 17 146
Maryland 305 605 23 391 258 515 16 330
Massachusetts 133 263 10 165 103 205 6 127
Michigan 381 733 40 485 337 651 34 429
Minnesota 177 331 23 229 145 275 17 189
Mississippi 636 1,225 83 830 584 1,128 74 761
Missouri 423 783 77 545 374 700 60 481
Montanaf 439 771 103 558 362 632 87 459
Nebraska 289 537 42 383 269 501 37 356
Nevada 412 743 80 530 361 659 62 464
New Hampshire 197 364 33 242 172 320 27 211
New Jerseye 209 412 15 268 145 285 10 185
New Mexico 315 574 62 407 258 469 50 331
New York 224 440 19 282 177 351 13 223
North Carolina 313 596 45 400 271 519 36 346
North Dakota 231 399 55 303 182 315 43 239
Ohioe 430 803 72 552 385 722 61 493
Oklahoma 621 1,126 126 818 559 1,020 106 734
Oregong 353 654 57 444 300 561 43 375
Pennsylvania 355 681 42 447 308 592 34 387
Rhode Islandc 156 310 11 194 131 261 7 161

TablE 7 (continued)
correctional authorities, by sex, age, and jurisdiction, 2019 and 2020
Per 100,000 U.S. residents within each group in 2019 Per 100,000 U.S. residents within each group in 2020
All ages All ages
Jurisdiction Total Male Female Age 18 or older Total Male Female Age 18 or older
South Carolina 352 679 46 449 304 592 36 387
South Dakota 426 720 127 565 362 623 96 479
Tennessee 384 705 78 492 328 605 64 420
Texas 529 978 86 710 455 848 67 608
Utahd 207 374 36 290 166 307 23 232
Vermontc,h 182 341 27 223 146 279 15 178
Virginia 421 784 69 538 370 696 54 472
Washington 250 458 42 320 203 378 27 259
West Virginia 380 674 91 475 340 611 72 424
Wisconsin 378 710 49 482 320 602 40 407
Wyoming 426 722 118 553 358 614 91 463
jurisdiction-level information, see Jurisdiction notes on the BJS website. Imprisonment rate is the number of sentenced prisoners under state or
federal jurisdiction per 100,000 U.S. residents or per 100,000 U.S. residents in a given category. Rates are for December 31 of each year and are based
on sentenced prisoners. Resident population estimates are from the U.S. Census Bureau for January 1, 2019 and 2020. As of December 31, 2001,
sentenced felons from the District of Columbia were the responsibility of the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Multiple states reported large changes in
prison populations, admissions, and releases between 2019 and 2020 due to criminal justice reforms enacted to address the COVID-19 pandemic.
Because these differences were not the result of changes in reporting methods, BJS made direct comparisons of 2019 and 2020 data, understanding
that the criminal justice reforms may be temporary.
aTotal and state estimates for 2019 include imputed rates for Oregon, which did not submit 2019 National Prisoner Statistics (NPS) data. Estimates for
2019 also include imputed rates for Vermont, which provided total jurisdiction counts but could not break down the population by sentence length.
See Methodology.
bIncludes adult prisoners held in nonsecure community corrections facilities and privately operated facilities and persons age 17 or younger held in
privately operated facilities.
dState submitted updated 2019 sentenced population counts.
eIncludes a small number of prisoners sentenced to 1 year or less.
fAfter a change in prisoner tracking software at the end of 2018, Montana continued to see issues with data that render counts between 2019 and
2020 incomparable.
hState provided total jurisdiction counts for 2019 but could not break down the population by sentence length. BJS used the state-reported distribution
of total jurisdiction counts by sentence length from 2018 to calculate the number of prisoners in 2019 who were sentenced to more than 1 year.
Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, National Prisoner Statistics, 2019 and 2020; and U.S. Census Bureau, postcensal resident population estimates for
January 1 of the following calendar year.

Prison admissions Admissions of persons on new court commitments

States and the BOP had 230,500 fewer prison
decreased almost 43% from 2019 to 2020, while
admissions in 2020 than in 2019, a 40% decrease, conditional supervision violation admissions
because courts altered their operations in 2020, decreased 35%.
leading to delays in trials and sentencing of persons, The largest percentage declines in admissions

and fewer sentenced prisoners were transferred occurred in California, which had 66% fewer
from local jails to state and federal prisons due to admissions in 2020 than in 2019, and New York
COVID-19 (table 8). where admissions to prison decreased by 60%.
From 2019 to 2020, admissions decreased by at least
Texas had the largest absolute difference in the

25% in thirty-nine states and the BOP. number of admissions from 2019 to 2020, with
Alaska had 100 more admissions in 2020 than in 2019.
27,800 fewer admissions in 2020.
TablE 8
Admissions of sentenced prisoners under the jurisdiction of state or federal correctional authorities, 2019 and 2020
2019 2020
Percent 2019 new 2020 new conditional conditional
Change, change, court court supervision supervision
Jurisdiction 2019 total 2020 total 2019–2020 2019–2020 commitments commitments violationsa violationsa
U.S. totalb 576,956 346,461 -230,495 -40.0% 395,827 226,106 167,037 108,933
Federalc 46,051 27,315 -18,736 -40.7% 39,329 23,452 6,722 3,863
Stateb 530,905 319,946 -211,759 -39.9% 356,498 202,654 160,315 105,070
Alabama 13,267 7,963 -5,304 -40.0 8,257 5,187 1,646 852
Alaskad 1,560 1,664 104 6.7 1,286 1,582 274 82
Arizona 13,440 9,999 -3,441 -25.6 11,025 7,798 2,352 2,164
Arkansas 10,268 8,328 -1,940 -18.9 4,908 2,970 5,360 5,358
California 34,215 11,565 -22,650 -66.2 29,764 10,044 4,451 1,521
Colorado 9,413 5,883 -3,530 -37.5 6,046 4,218 3,367 1,665
Connecticutd 4,058 1,907 -2,151 -53.0 3,554 1,513 458 384
Delawared 2,007 1,104 -903 -45.0 1,510 822 486 276
Floridae 27,986 13,147 -14,839 -53.0 27,118 12,789 86 29
Georgia 18,277 9,861 -8,416 -46.0 16,032 8,154 2,236 1,704
Hawaiid 1,440 1,260 -180 -12.5 723 636 717 624
Idaho 5,250 2,717 -2,533 -48.2 1,729 1,320 3,248 1,397
Illinoisf 21,951 11,631 -10,320 -47.0 14,003 7,021 7,943 4,585
Indiana 11,172 5,767 -5,405 -48.4 8,785 4,748 2,279 988
Iowa 6,331 3,657 -2,674 -42.2 3,798 2,323 2,524 1,334
Kansas 5,871 3,244 -2,627 -44.7 3,835 2,505 1,249 557
Kentucky 19,407 12,402 -7,005 -36.1 12,170 7,559 7,075 4,644
Louisiana 16,040 9,593 -6,447 -40.2 11,341 6,469 4,699 3,124
Maineg,h 892 433 : : 466 215 426 218
Marylandi 7,171 3,047 -4,124 -57.5 5,265 2,074 1,896 969
Massachusetts 1,950 924 -1,026 -52.6 1,695 716 246 202
Michigan 10,761 6,038 -4,723 -43.9 6,276 3,354 2,406 1,617
Minnesota 6,894 3,949 -2,945 -42.7 4,086 2,435 2,808 1,514
Mississippi 7,284 5,051 -2,233 -30.7 4,620 3,316 2,414 1,733
Missouri 14,385 11,722 -2,663 -18.5 7,384 5,300 6,995 6,420
Montana 2,428 1,791 -637 -26.2 1,533 1,191 895 600
Nebraska 2,495 2,080 -415 -16.6 2,052 1,673 441 403
Nevada 5,805 4,311 -1,494 -25.7 4,375 3,325 1,152 977
New Hampshire 1,292 884 -408 -31.6 568 239 724 645
New Jersey 7,216 3,845 -3,371 -46.7 5,063 2,564 2,153 1,281
New Mexicoj 3,122 2,380 -742 -23.8 1,892 1,421 1,010 834
New York 17,587 6,977 -10,610 -60.3 10,279 3,900 7,223 3,047
North Carolina 16,554 11,965 -4,589 -27.7 11,820 8,130 4,730 3,835

TablE 8 (continued)
Admissions of sentenced prisoners under the jurisdiction of state or federal correctional authorities, 2019 and 2020
2019 2020
Percent 2019 new 2020 new conditional conditional
Change, change, court court supervision supervision
Jurisdiction 2019 total 2020 total 2019–2020 2019–2020 commitments commitments violationsa violationsa
North Dakota 1,419 863 -556 -39.2 1,150 719 269 144
Ohioj 20,316 14,749 -5,567 -27.4 14,792 9,670 5,003 4,713
Oklahoma 7,491 4,682 -2,809 -37.5 6,024 3,495 1,445 1,136
Oregong 5,580 3,554 : : 3,716 / 1,722 /
Pennsylvania 16,858 9,824 -7,034 -41.7 7,670 4,399 8,217 5,053
Rhode Islandd 655 393 -262 -40.0 539 332 116 61
South Carolina 5,859 3,347 -2,512 -42.9 4,825 2,620 1,018 720
South Dakota 4,434 3,300 -1,134 -25.6 1,482 1,363 903 617
Tennessee 12,965 8,598 -4,367 -33.7 7,944 5,035 5,021 3,563
Texas 74,393 46,592 -27,801 -37.4 48,156 27,687 24,629 18,224
Utah 4,041 2,930 -1,111 -27.5 1,737 1,000 2,304 1,930
Vermontd,g,k 2,560 952 : : 909 / 1,651 /
Virginial 12,018 11,866 -152 -1.3 11,988 11,844 30 22
Washingtonj 24,154 14,113 -10,041 -41.6 6,011 3,562 18,136 10,536
West Virginia 4,169 2,673 -1,496 -35.9 2,135 1,111 1,841 1,471
Wisconsin 5,252 2,895 -2,357 -44.9 3,466 1,723 1,785 1,154
Wyoming 952 726 -226 -23.7 696 583 256 143
jurisdiction-level information, see Jurisdiction notes on the BJS website. Counts exclude transfers, escapes, and absences without leave (AWOLs).
Counts include other conditional release violators, returns from appeal or bond, and other admissions. See Methodology. Counts cover January 1
through December 31 for each year and are based on prisoners admitted to state or federal correctional authorities with a sentence of more than 1
year. As of December 31, 2001, sentenced felons from the District of Columbia were the responsibility of the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Multiple states
reported large changes in prison populations, admissions, and releases between 2019 and 2020 due to criminal justice reforms enacted to address the
COVID-19 pandemic. Because these differences were not the result of changes in reporting methods, BJS made direct comparisons of 2019 and 2020
data, understanding that the criminal justice reforms may be temporary.
/Not reported.
:Not calculated. Counts and rates for 2019 and 2020 are not comparable.
aIncludes all conditional release violators returned to prison from postcustody community supervision, including parole and probation, either for
violations of conditions of release or for new crimes.
bU.S. and state total estimates for 2019 include imputed counts for Maine, Oregon, and Vermont, which did not submit 2019 National Prisoner
Statistics (NPS) data on admissions. See Methodology in this report and in Prisoners in 2019 (NCJ 255115, BJS, October 2020).
dPrisons and jails form one integrated system. Data include total jail and prison populations.
eFlorida does not report prison admissions for technical violations. All admissions represent new sentences. The admissions due to supervision
violations represent persons who committed new crimes while on postcustody community supervision.
fIncludes the admission of an undetermined number of prisoners with sentences of 1 year or less. Admission counts for parole violations includes
prisoners who were AWOL and who committed a subsequent technical violation or new offense while on parole.
gState did not submit 2019 NPS data on admissions. Total and detailed types of admissions were imputed and included in U.S. and state totals.
Estimates of admissions in 2019 are not comparable to data for previous years or 2020. See Methodology in this report and Jurisdiction notes on the
BJS website.
hNew court commitment admissions in 2020 include probation release violators who received new sentences.
iCounts of admissions for 2019 and 2020 are estimates.
jIncludes all admissions and releases from state prison, regardless of sentence length. See Jurisdiction notes on the BJS website.
kState did not provide admission breakdown by type in 2020.
lAdmission data are based on fiscal year 2019 and are preliminary. Admissions include persons sentenced to 1 year or more.

Prison releases More than 6,100 persons died in state or federal

During 2020, states and the BOP had 549,600
prison during 2020, an increase of more than 1,900
releases from prison, almost 10% (58,400) fewer (up 46%) deaths from 2019.
than in 2019 (table 9). Texas (670), Florida (590), the BOP (530), and

While both admissions to (down 230,500) and
California (510) each had 500 or more persons die in
releases from (down 58,400) state and federal prison prison during 2020.
decreased during 2020, the decline in admissions Seventy-one percent of all releases from prison in

was more than four times the decline in releases. 2020 had conditions attached to their releases, such
From 2019 to 2020, twelve states had increases in
as community supervision.
the number of releases from prison, with the three
highest increases in California (1,800 more), New
Jersey (1,600), and Arizona (900).
TablE 9
Releases of sentenced prisoners under the jurisdiction of state or federal correctional authorities, 2019 and 2020
Percent
Change, change, 2019 2020 2019 2020 2019 2020
Jurisdiction 2019 total 2020 total 2019–2020 2019–2020 unconditionala unconditionala conditionalb conditionalb deathsc deathsc
U.S. totald 608,026 549,622 -58,404 -9.6% 154,876 140,450 433,683 391,019 4,182 6,112
Federale 50,717 46,899 -3,818 -7.5% 47,223 43,516 261 253 366 526
Stated 557,309 502,723 -54,586 -9.8% 107,653 96,934 433,422 390,766 3,816 5,586
Alabamaf 12,251 11,178 -1,073 -8.8 3,222 3,356 7,255 5,126 145 211
Alaskag 1,717 1,626 -91 -5.3 685 472 1,029 1,149 3 5
Arizona 13,034 13,938 904 6.9 1,917 2,081 11,006 11,692 111 163
Arkansas 9,768 9,760 -8 -0.1 763 717 8,923 8,917 82 126
California 37,863 39,673 1,810 4.8 136 135 37,176 38,961 402 505
Colorado 9,891 9,568 -323 -3.3 1,246 1,037 8,510 8,355 51 74
Connecticutg 4,371 4,387 16 0.4 2,070 2,031 2,287 2,251 7 6
Delawareg,h 2,076 1,738 -338 -16.3 175 127 1,801 1,523 8 20
Florida 30,140 28,720 -1,420 -4.7 18,360 17,640 11,365 10,478 403 592
Georgia 15,876 16,460 584 3.7 8,197 7,872 7,524 8,315 155 273
Hawaiig 1,623 1,126 -497 -30.6 366 314 680 797 13 14
Idaho 4,443 4,001 -442 -9.9 429 569 3,958 3,007 27 36
Illinoisi 23,834 20,589 -3,245 -13.6 3,807 2,942 19,765 17,471 102 171
Indiana 11,045 9,893 -1,152 -10.4 1,248 1,165 9,700 8,588 97 140
Iowa 6,266 4,767 -1,499 -23.9 1,276 1,015 4,445 3,709 21 35
Kansas 6,018 4,693 -1,325 -22.0 1,255 422 4,728 4,232 35 39
Kentucky 19,545 16,531 -3,014 -15.4 5,116 4,475 14,078 11,768 67 98
Louisiana 16,868 14,019 -2,849 -16.9 1,360 1,053 15,396 12,794 112 158
Mainej,k 744 974 230 30.9 353 490 391 477 0 7
Marylandl 7,443 5,933 -1,510 -20.3 2,303 1,216 5,076 4,652 60 62
Massachusetts 2,312 2,212 -100 -4.3 1,649 1,258 633 917 30 37
Michigan 11,470 10,478 -992 -8.6 465 410 8,654 8,630 36 36
Minnesota 7,032 5,876 -1,156 -16.4 748 426 6,216 5,350 68 100
Mississippi 7,047 6,655 -392 -5.6 405 406 6,566 6,123 76 106
Missouri 18,617 14,643 -3,974 -21.3 1,098 839 17,393 13,647 88 129
Montana 2,487 2,517 30 1.2 252 206 2,223 2,277 12 33
Nebraska 2,317 2,453 136 5.9 486 528 1,774 1,885 17 29
Nevada 6,689 5,753 -936 -14.0 2,181 1,610 4,465 4,061 43 82
New Hampshire 1,339 1,246 -93 -6.9 130 159 1,199 1,087 10 0
New Jersey 8,115 9,711 1,596 19.7 4,577 6,439 3,413 3,141 46 90
New Mexicok 3,508 3,090 -418 -11.9 945 767 2,337 2,271 18 50
New York 20,637 16,249 -4,388 -21.3 1,945 1,216 18,182 14,665 112 120
North Carolina 17,215 15,960 -1,255 -7.3 2,325 1,848 14,781 13,980 109 132

TablE 9 (continued)
Releases of sentenced prisoners under the jurisdiction of state or federal correctional authorities, 2019 and 2020
Percent
Change, change, 2019 2020 2019 2020 2019 2020
Jurisdiction 2019 total 2020 total 2019–2020 2019–2020 unconditionala unconditionala conditionalb conditionalb deathsc deathsc
North Dakota 1,318 1,220 -98 -7.4 110 94 1,200 1,119 1 7
Ohiok 20,409 20,052 -357 -1.7 7,167 6,394 13,106 13,408 135 250
Oklahoma 9,332 8,100 -1,232 -13.2 2,496 1,814 6,758 6,175 78 111
Oregonj 5,885 5,139 : : 37 15 5,623 5,074 30 50
Pennsylvania 17,838 15,591 -2,247 -12.6 3,006 2,827 14,653 12,522 159 220
Rhode Islandg 699 660 -39 -5.6 460 412 235 236 0 3
South Carolina 6,276 5,659 -617 -9.8 1,939 1,662 4,262 3,877 71 119
South Dakota 4,549 3,873 -676 -14.9 300 190 2,303 2,264 17 7
Tennessee 14,165 13,484 -681 -4.8 5,523 4,834 8,543 8,532 99 118
Texas 78,532 66,726 -11,806 -15.0 9,651 8,552 65,054 56,028 413 674
Utah 4,038 4,156 118 2.9 629 627 3,388 3,492 21 37
Vermontg,j,m 2,470 1,182 : : 395 / 2,065 / 9 /
Virginian 12,695 12,904 209 1.6 1,068 1,007 11,522 11,752 95 140
Washingtonk 24,487 17,014 -7,473 -30.5 2,031 2,097 22,415 14,853 36 51
West Virginia 4,143 3,429 -714 -17.2 884 629 3,029 2,648 28 46
Wisconsin 5,859 6,023 164 2.8 236 239 5,569 5,703 44 67
Wyoming 1,013 1,094 81 8.0 231 300 768 787 14 7
jurisdiction-level information, see Jurisdiction notes on the BJS website. Counts exclude transfers, escapes, and absences without leave (AWOLs).
Counts include deaths, releases to appeal or bond, and other releases. See Methodology. Counts cover January 1 through December 31 for each year
and are based on prisoners admitted to or released from state or federal correctional authorities with a sentence of more than 1 year. As of December
31, 2001, sentenced felons from the District of Columbia were the responsibility of the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Multiple states reported large
changes in prison populations, admissions, and releases between 2019 and 2020 due to criminal justice reforms enacted to address the COVID-19
pandemic. Because these differences were not the result of changes in reporting methods, BJS made direct comparisons of 2019 and 2020 data,
understanding that the criminal justice reforms may be temporary.
/Not reported.
:Not calculated. Counts and rates for 2019 and 2020 are not comparable.
aIncludes expirations of sentence, commutations, and other unconditional releases.
bIncludes releases to probation, supervised mandatory releases, and other unspecified conditional releases.
cIncludes all deaths of prisoners under state and federal jurisdiction with sentences of more than 1 year. Counts of deaths in state and federal prisons
may differ from previously published statistics due to differences in definitions. All causes of death are included in this count, including executions.
dU.S. and state total estimates for 2019 include imputed counts for Maine, Oregon, and Vermont, which did not submit 2019 National Prisoner
Statistics (NPS) data on releases. See Methodology in this report and in Prisoners in 2019 (NCJ 255115, BJS, October 2020).
eIncludes adult prisoners held in nonsecure community corrections facilities and adults and persons age 17 or younger held in privately operated
facilities. The 261 conditional releases from federal correctional facilities are persons who were sentenced before the 1984 Sentencing Reform Act,
which eliminated federal parole.
fMay include releases of prisoners with sentences of 1 year or less.
gPrisons and jails form one integrated system. Data include total jail and prison populations.
hReleases include offenders who received a combined sentence of prison and probation or parole of more than 1 year.
iIncludes an undetermined number of prisoners with sentences of 1 year.
jState did not submit 2019 NPS data on releases. Total and detailed types of releases were imputed. Estimates of releases in 2019 are not comparable
to data for previous years or to 2020. See Methodology in this report and Jurisdiction notes on the BJS website.
kIncludes all releases from state prison, regardless of sentence length. See Jurisdiction notes on the BJS website.
lCounts of releases for 2019 and 2020 are estimates.
mState did not provide release breakdown by type in 2020.
nRelease data are based on calendar year 2020 and include persons sentenced to 1 year or more.

Age, sex, and race or ethnicity of Fourteen percent of male prisoners and 9% of female

sentenced prisoners prisoners were age 55 or older at yearend 2020,
At yearend 2020, almost 39% of males and 43% of
totaling 165,700 persons.
females sentenced to more than 1 year in state or Among male prisoners age 55 or older, 19% were

federal prison were ages 18 to 34 years (table 10). white, 13% American Indian and Alaska Native, 13%
Forty-three percent of black males and 42% of
Asian/NHOPI, 13% black, and 10% Hispanic.
Hispanic males in prison in 2020 were ages 18 to 34,
compared to 39% of American Indian and Alaska
Native males; 36% of Asian, Native Hawaiian,
and Other Pacific Islander males; and 32% of
white males.

TablE 10
Percent of sentenced prisoners under the jurisdiction of state or federal correctional authorities, by sex, race or ethnicity, and age, December 31, 2020
Male Female
American American
Indian/Alaska Indian/Alaska
Age Total All male Whitea Blacka Hispanic Nativea Asiana,b Othera,c All female Whitea Blacka Hispanic Nativea Asiana,b Othera,c
Totald 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100%
18–19 0.6 0.6 0.3 0.9 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.5 0.4 0.3 0.7 0.7 0 0 0.9
20–24 7.5 7.6 5.1 9.4 8.5 7.1 5.6 5.7 6.9 5.3 9.2 9.5 5.0 # 9.4
25–29 14.5 14.4 11.3 16.2 16.0 14.1 14.0 12.1 15.8 14.4 17.7 17.6 15.0 16.7 13.2
30–34 16.3 16.0 15.0 16.2 17.1 17.6 16.1 13.9 19.5 19.5 17.7 20.9 20.0 16.7 13.2
35–39 15.8 15.6 15.9 14.6 16.9 17.1 17.5 14.2 18.5 19.3 14.9 18.9 20.0 16.7 13.2
40–44 13.0 13.0 13.3 12.5 13.9 13.5 14.0 12.5 13.3 13.9 12.1 13.5 15.0 16.7 12.3
45–49 10.1 10.1 10.9 9.6 10.0 9.4 11.9 10.6 9.7 10.4 9.2 8.1 10.0 16.7 9.4
50–54 8.1 8.2 9.5 7.9 6.9 8.2 8.4 8.1 7.0 7.2 7.8 5.4 5.0 # 7.5
55–59 6.5 6.6 8.2 6.3 4.9 5.9 5.6 6.4 4.8 5.1 5.7 3.4 5.0 # 5.7
60–64 4.0 4.1 5.2 3.7 2.8 3.5 3.5 4.6 2.4 2.4 2.8 1.4 # # 2.8
65 or older 3.5 3.7 5.4 2.6 2.5 3.5 3.5 4.3 1.8 1.9 1.4 0.7 # # 1.9
Number of
sentenced prisonerse 1,182,166 1,102,651 321,500 375,400 260,500 17,000 14,300 114,000 79,515 37,400 14,100 14,800 2,000 600 10,600
Note: Jurisdiction refers to the legal authority of state or federal correctional officials over a prisoner, regardless of where the prisoner is held. Counts and percentages are based on prisoners with a sentence of
more than 1 year under the jurisdiction of state or federal correctional officials. Federal data include adult prisoners held in nonsecure community corrections facilities and adults and persons age 17 or younger
held in privately operated facilities. Details may not sum to totals due to rounding. See Methodology.
#Rounds to zero.
aExcludes persons of Hispanic origin (e.g., “white” refers to non-Hispanic whites and “black” refers to non-Hispanic blacks). See Methodology.
bIncludes Asians, Native Hawaiians, and Other Pacific Islanders.
cIncludes persons of two or more races and other races that are not broken out.
dIncludes persons of all ages, including those age 17 or younger.
eEstimates are rounded to the nearest 100. Includes prisoners age 17 or younger.
Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Federal Justice Statistics Program, 2020 (preliminary); National Corrections Reporting Program, 2019; National Prisoner Statistics, 2020; and Survey of Prison Inmates, 2016.

Imprisonment rates of sentenced males by age FIGURES 4A AND 4B
and race or ethnicity Imprisonment rates of U.S. residents, based on
At yearend 2020, more than 1% of the U.S. male
sentenced prisoners under the jurisdictions of state
population ages 25 to 49 was serving a sentence of and federal correctional authorities, by demographic
more than 1 year in state or federal prison (table 11). characteristics, December 31, 2020
Males
An estimated 2% of all black male U.S. residents and
Rate per 100,000 (in thousands)
1% of all American Indian and Alaska Native male 5
U.S. residents were serving time in state or federal Blacka
prison on December 31, 2020. 4
American Indian/Alaska Nativea
Asian, Native Hawaiian, and Other Pacific Islander
3
males had the lowest imprisonment rate at yearend 2
Hispanic
2020 (149 per 100,000), less than half the rate of Asiana,b
white males (332 per 100,000). 1 Whitea
Among male U.S. residents, more than 1% of blacks

0
18–19 20–24 25–29 30–34 35–39 40–44 45–49 50–54 55–59 60–64 65 or
ages 20 to 64 and American Indians or Alaska older
Natives ages 20 to 59 were in prison on December
31, 2020 (figure 4a). Females
Rate per 100,000 (in hundreds)
5
Black males were 5.7 times as likely to be imprisoned
American Indian/Alaska Nativea
in 2020 as white males; black males ages 18 to 19 4
were 12.5 times as likely to be imprisoned as white
males of the same age. 3
Hispanic
Imprisonment rates of sentenced females by age 2 Blacka Asiana,b
and race or ethnicity 1
Black females (65 per 100,000) and Hispanic females
Whitea
(48 per 100,000) were imprisoned at higher rates 0
18–19 20–24 25–29 30–34 35–39 40–44 45–49 50–54 55–59 60–64 65 or
than white females (38 per 100,000) in 2020. older

In 2020, the imprisonment rate for Native American
correctional officials over a prisoner, regardless of where the prisoner
and Alaska Native females ages 30 to 39 was more is held. Rates and counts are based on sentenced prisoners under
than 430 per 100,000, the highest among all females the jurisdiction of state or federal correctional officials. Imprisonment
rate is the number of sentenced prisoners under state or federal
(figure 4b). jurisdiction per 100,000 U.S. residents or per 100,000 U.S. residents
in a given category. Resident population estimates are from the U.S.
Native American and Alaska Native females were
Census Bureau for January 1, 2020. Totals include imputed counts for
Oregon, which did not submit 2019 National Prisoner Statistics data. See
4.3 times as likely as white females to be in prison at Methodology. See table 11 for rates.
yearend 2020. aExcludes persons of Hispanic origin (e.g., “white” refers to non-Hispanic
whites and “black” refers to non-Hispanic blacks). See Methodology.
Females ages 18 to 19 had the highest imprisonment

rate disparity between whites and other races in Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Federal Justice Statistics Program,
2020 (preliminary), National Corrections Reporting Program, 2019,
2020: Native American and Alaska Native females National Prisoner Statistics, 2020, and Survey of Prison Inmates, 2016;
ages 18 to 19 were 5.1 times more likely than White and U.S. Census Bureau, postcensal resident population estimates for
January 1 of the following calendar year.
females of the same age to be in state or federal
prison, while the ratio was 4.1 for black females,
1.8 for Hispanic females, and 0.2 for Asians, Native
Hawaiians, and Other Pacific Islanders.

TablE 11
Imprisonment rates of U.S. residents, based on sentenced prisoners under the jurisdictions of state and federal correctional authorities, by demographic
characteristics, December 31, 2020
Per 100,000 U.S. residents within each demographic group
Male Female
American American
Totald 358 678 332 1,890 837 1,418 149 3,012 47 38 65 48 160 6 274
18–19 84 157 47 585 138 154 24 387 7 4 18 8 22 1 51
20–24 412 757 278 2,294 877 1,296 132 1,824 52 35 88 57 153 7 295
25–29 748 1,356 576 3,547 1,638 2,407 253 4,484 113 90 152 110 365 10 462
30–34 835 1,515 747 3,827 1,807 3,180 267 6,777 136 117 154 138 435 10 579
35–39 853 1,567 824 4,080 1,869 3,584 312 8,790 135 119 147 131 488 12 692
40–44 751 1,404 729 3,753 1,643 3,099 279 9,106 103 89 126 94 371 10 735
45–49 605 1,145 609 3,105 1,333 2,414 251 9,346 77 68 99 62 229 8 695
50–54 470 898 481 2,509 1,044 1,969 190 7,783 54 43 81 48 160 6 585
55–59 361 703 376 1,991 860 1,407 150 6,618 35 26 56 34 95 5 521
60–64 224 448 235 1,267 631 872 100 5,200 17 12 29 17 56 2 264
65 or older 74 160 90 449 288 414 39 2,322 4 3 8 5 14 1 87
Number of sentenced
prisonerse 1,182,166 1,102,651 321,500 375,400 260,500 17,000 14,300 114,000 79,515 37,400 14,100 14,800 2,000 600 10,600
Note: Jurisdiction refers to the legal authority of state or federal correctional officials over a prisoner, regardless of where the prisoner is held. Rates and counts are based on sentenced prisoners under the
jurisdiction of state or federal correctional officials. Imprisonment rate is the number of sentenced prisoners under state or federal jurisdiction per 100,000 U.S. residents or per 100,000 U.S. residents in a given
category. Resident population estimates are from the U.S. Census Bureau for January 1, 2020. See Methodology.
eEstimates of race or ethnicity are rounded to the nearest 100. Includes prisoners age 17 or younger.
Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Federal Justice Statistics Program, 2020 (preliminary), National Corrections Reporting Program, 2019, National Prisoner Statistics, 2020, and Survey of Prison Inmates, 2016;
and U.S. Census Bureau, postcensal resident population estimates for January 1 of the following calendar year.

Prisoners held in privately operated prisons Prisoners held in local jails
At yearend 2020, about 15,800 fewer persons
At yearend 2020, about 73,300 prisoners were held

were held in private prisons contracted to state in the custody of local jails, a 7% decrease from 2019
governments or the federal government than in 2019 (down 5,300).
(table 12).
Thirteen states and the BOP had an increase in

After removing all prisoners from out-of-state private
the number of prisoners held in local jails in 2020
facilities in 2019, California reduced its in-state because some jurisdictions limited transfers between
private prison population to zero in 2020. (See jails and prisons to mitigate spread of COVID-19.
Prisoners in 2019, NCJ 255115, BJS, October 2020.)
Despite a 21% decrease in the number of prisoners

Texas held 3,300 fewer prisoners in private prisons
held in Louisiana local jails from 2019 to 2020, these
in 2020 than in 2019, the largest absolute decline facilities had custody of more than 48% of the state’s
among jurisdictions. prison population on December 31, 2020.
From 2019 to 2020, four states (Alabama,

Four states more than doubled the number of

Mississippi, New Mexico, and North Carolina) and prisoners held in local jails from 2019 to 2020:
the BOP had an increase in the number of prisoners Colorado (up 358%), Indiana (up 331%), New Jersey
held in privately operated facilities in 2020, while 26 (up 231%), and West Virginia (up 130%).
states had a decrease.
States with high percentages of prisoners in the

On December 31, 2020, private prisons
custody of local jails on behalf of the state in
housed at least 20% of the jurisdictional prison 2020 included Kentucky (47% of the jurisdiction
populations of five states: Montana (50%), population), West Virginia (34%), Mississippi (33%),
New Mexico (45%), Tennessee (31%), Hawaii (24%), Utah (24%), Virginia (23%), and Tennessee (23%).
and Oklahoma (21%).
TablE 12
Prisoners held in the custody of private prisons or local jails under the jurisdiction of state or federal correctional
authorities, by jurisdiction, 2019 and 2020
Prisoners held in private prisonsa Prisoners held in local jails
Percent Percent of total Percent Percent of total
Change, change, jurisdiction Change, change, jurisdiction
Jurisdiction 2019 2020 2019–2020 2019–2020 population, 2020 2019 2020 2019–2020 2019–2020 population, 2020
U.S. total 115,962 100,151 -15,811 -13.6% 8.2% 78,625 73,321 -5,304 -6.7% 6.0%
Federalb 27,409 27,810 401 1.5% 18.3% 698 843 145 20.8% 0.6%
State 88,553 72,341 -16,212 -18.3% 6.8% 77,927 72,478 -5,449 -7.0% 6.8%
Alabama 122 254 132 108.2 1.0 2,569 3,846 1,277 49.7 15.2
Alaskac 221 206 -15 -6.8 4.5 38 21 -17 -44.7 0.5
Arizonad 8,299 7,185 -1,114 -13.4 19.0 0 0 0 0.0 0
Arkansas 0 0 0 0.0 0 1,667 2,256 589 35.3 14.0
Californiae 1,134 0 -1,134 -100.0 0 1,599 375 -1,224 -76.5 0.4
Colorado 3,858 2,784 -1,074 -27.8 17.2 238 1,091 853 358.4 6.7
Connecticutc 526 397 -129 -24.5 4.2 ~ ~ : : :
Delawarec ~ ~ : : : ~ ~ : : :
Florida 11,915 10,810 -1,105 -9.3 13.3 1,109 805 -304 -27.4 1.0
Georgia 7,883 6,525 -1,358 -17.2 13.8 4,867 3,999 -868 -17.8 8.5
Hawaiic 1,248 999 -249 -20.0 24.0 ~ ~ : : :
Idaho 1,048 727 -321 -30.6 8.9 1,015 682 -333 -32.8 8.3
Illinois 513 95 -418 -81.5 0.3 0 0 0 0.0 0
Indianaf 4,093 3,719 -374 -9.1 15.5 316 1,361 1,045 330.7 5.7
Iowa 0 0 0 0.0 0 0 67 67 0.0 0.8
Kansas 0 0 0 0.0 0 208 65 -143 -68.8 0.7
Kentucky 895 725 -170 -19.0 3.9 10,862 8,750 -2,112 -19.4 47.2
Louisiana 0 0 0 0.0 0 16,567 13,061 -3,506 -21.2 48.4

TablE 12 (continued)
Prisoners held in the custody of private prisons or local jails under the jurisdiction of state or federal correctional
authorities, by jurisdiction, 2019 and 2020
Prisoners held in private prisonsa Prisoners held in local jails
Percent Percent of total Percent Percent of total
Change, change, jurisdiction Change, change, jurisdiction
Jurisdiction 2019 2020 2019–2020 2019–2020 population, 2020 2019 2020 2019–2020 2019–2020 population, 2020
Maine 0 0 0 0.0 0 11 1 -10 -90.9 0.1
Maryland 29 0 -29 -100.0 0 109 143 34 31.2 0.9
Massachusetts ~ ~ : : : 277 193 -84 -30.3 2.9
Michigan 0 0 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0.0 0
Minnesota 0 0 0 0.0 0 894 645 -249 -27.9 7.9
Mississippi 3,139 3,240 101 3.2 18.4 5,442 5,838 396 7.3 33.2
Missouri 0 0 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0.0 0
Montana 2,222 1,962 -260 -11.7 50.0 295 279 -16 -5.4 7.1
Nebraska 0 0 0 0.0 0 131 57 -74 -56.5 1.1
Nevada 100 0 -100 -100.0 0 16 9 -7 -43.8 0.1
New Hampshire 0 0 0 0.0 0 52 53 1 1.9 2.3
New Jersey 2,297 553 -1,744 -75.9 4.3 227 751 524 230.8 5.9
New Mexico 2,445 2,457 12 0.5 44.7 0 0 0 0.0 0
New York 0 0 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0.0 0
North Carolina 30 33 3 10.0 0.1 ~ ~ : : :
North Dakota 308 255 -53 -17.2 18.2 4 6 2 50.0 0.4
Ohio 6,766 6,204 -562 -8.3 13.8 0 0 0 0.0 0
Oklahoma 6,474 4,616 -1,858 -28.7 20.6 9 11 2 22.2 0
Oregong / 0 : : 0 / 0 : : 0
Pennsylvania 511 315 -196 -38.4 0.8 0 0 0 0.0 0
Rhode Islandc ~ ~ : : : ~ ~ : : :
South Carolina 84 84 0 0.0 0.5 346 300 -46 -13.3 1.9
South Dakota 33 27 -6 -18.2 0.8 1 0 -1 -100.0 0
Tennessee 7,635 6,984 -651 -8.5 30.8 7,048 5,298 -1,750 -24.8 23.4
Texas 12,516 9,249 -3,267 -26.1 6.8 12,055 11,210 -845 -7.0 8.2
Utah 0 0 0 0.0 0 1,506 1,320 -186 -12.4 24.2
Vermontc 268 194 -74 -27.6 15.1 ~ ~ : : :
Virginia 1,540 1,483 -57 -3.7 4.7 6,750 7,474 724 10.7 23.5
Washington 0 0 0 0.0 0 196 132 -64 -32.7 0.8
West Virginia 0 0 0 0.0 0 890 2,051 1,161 130.4 33.9
Wisconsin ~ ~ : : : 511 322 -189 -37.0 1.6
Wyoming 401 259 -142 -35.4 12.4 81 6 -75 -92.6 0.3
Note: For jurisdiction-level information, see Jurisdiction notes on the BJS website. Counts are for December 31 of each year. As of December 31, 2001,
sentenced felons from the District of Columbia were the responsibility of the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Multiple states reported large changes in prison
populations, admissions, and releases between 2019 and 2020 due to criminal justice reforms enacted to address the COVID-19 pandemic. Because these
differences were not the result of changes in reporting methods, BJS made direct comparisons of 2019 and 2020 data, understanding that the criminal
justice reforms may be temporary.
:Not calculated.
~Not applicable.
/Not reported.
aIncludes prisoners held in private facilities in the jurisdiction of another state.
bIncludes federal prisoners held in nonsecure privately operated facilities (7,993) and prisoners on home confinement (5,741). Excludes persons held in
immigration detention facilities pending adjudication.
dState submitted updated 2019 population counts for prisoners held in private prisons.
eCalifornia stopped housing prisoners in out-of-state private facilities in 2019 and in-state private facilities in 2020.
fIncludes prisoners in facilities owned by the state but staffed by employees of a private correctional company.
gTotals for 2019 include imputed counts for Oregon, which did not submit 2019 National Prisoner Statistics data. BJS estimated counts of prisoners held in
local jails and private facilities and included these estimates in the U.S. and state totals. See Methodology in this report and in Prisoners in 2019 (NCJ 255115,
BJS, October 2020).

Prisoners age 17 or younger At yearend 2020, New York prisons held no persons

State and federal correctional authorities held 352
17 or younger (down 100% from 2019).
persons age 17 or younger at yearend 2020, a 46% Large decreases in the number of prisoners age 17 or

decline from 2019 (down 301 persons) (table 13). younger also occurred in Florida (down 37 persons
The number of persons age 17 or younger
or 46%), North Carolina (down 32 persons or 52%),
declined from 81 in 2019 to 44 in 2020 in Florida and Georgia (down 23 persons or 74%).
state‑operated prisons or private prison facilities
contracted to the state of Florida.
TablE 13
Prisoners age 17 or younger in the custody of publicly or privately operated state or federal prisons, by sex and
jurisdiction, 2019 and 2020
2020 2020
Jurisdiction 2019 total Total Male Female Jurisdiction 2019 total Total Male Female
U.S. total 653 352 339 13 Missouri 4 4 4 0
Federala 27 14 13 1 Montana 0 0 0 0
State 626 338 326 12 Nebraska 7 14 14 0
Alabama 2 1 1 0 Nevada 11 11 11 0
Alaskab 5 8 8 0 New Hampshirec / 0 0 0
Arizona 55 36 34 2 New Jersey 0 0 0 0
Arkansas 8 6 6 0 New Mexico 0 0 0 0
California 0 0 0 0 New York 36 0 0 0
Colorado 7 5 4 1 North Carolina 61 29 28 1
Connecticutb 52 31 30 1 North Dakota 0 0 0 0
Delawareb 5 1 1 0 Ohio 36 24 23 1
Florida 81 44 44 0 Oklahoma 9 3 3 0
Georgia 31 8 8 0 Oregonc 0 0 0 0
Hawaiib 0 0 0 0 Pennsylvania 9 11 10 1
Idaho 0 0 0 0 Rhode Island 0 0 0 0
Illinois 0 0 0 0 South Carolina 23 6 6 0
Indiana 31 13 12 1 South Dakota 0 0 0 0
Iowa 0 6 6 0 Tennessee 9 10 10 0
Kansas 0 0 0 0 Texas 38 16 13 3
Kentucky 0 0 0 0 Utah 3 0 0 0
Louisiana 18 10 10 0 Vermontb 1 0 0 0
Maine 0 0 0 0 Virginia 12 2 2 0
Maryland 16 4 4 0 Washington 5 4 4 0
Massachusetts 0 0 0 0 West Virginia 0 0 0 0
Michigan 26 18 18 0 Wisconsin 0 0 0 0
Minnesota 4 3 3 0 Wyoming 0 0 0 0
Mississippi 21 10 9 1
Note: In 2017, BJS began requesting that National Prisoner Statistics (NPS) respondents include data on all persons age 17 or younger held in the
physical custody of state and federal correctional authorities and in private prisons, excluding prisoners held in local jails and in the custody of other
jurisdictions. For jurisdiction-level information, see Jurisdiction notes on the BJS website. Data collected after 2016 should not be compared to data
for previous years. See Methodology. As of December 31, 2001, sentenced felons from the District of Columbia were the responsibility of the Federal
Bureau of Prisons (BOP). Multiple states reported large changes in prison populations, admissions, and releases between 2019 and 2020 due to
criminal justice reforms enacted to address the COVID-19 pandemic. Because these differences were not the result of changes in reporting methods,
BJS made direct comparisons of 2019 and 2020 data, understanding that the criminal justice reforms may be temporary.
/Not reported.
aThe BOP holds prisoners age 17 or younger in privately operated facilities.
bPrisons and jails form one integrated system. Data include total jail and prison populations.
cState did not submit 2019 NPS data on prisoners age 17 or younger.

Offense characteristics of state prisoners About 66% of Hispanics in state prison were serving

At yearend 2019 (the most recent year for which
time for a violent offense in 2019, compared to 64%
state prison offense data are available), 58% of all of blacks; 62% of Asians, Native Hawaiians, and
persons imprisoned by states had been sentenced Other Pacific Islanders; 56% of American Indians
for violent offenses (710,800 prisoners), including and Alaska Natives; and 50% of whites.
almost 14% each for rape or sexual assault and for American Indian and Alaska Native state prisoners

aggravated or simple assault, 13% for murder or had the largest portion serving time for public order
nonnegligent manslaughter, and 12% for robbery offenses (almost 18%), of which nearly 5% were for
(tables 14 and 15). driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol, and
In 2019, approximately 10,400 females and 152,600
4% were for weapons.
males were serving sentences in state prison for Twenty-six percent of female state prisoners (23,400)

murder or nonnegligent manslaughter. were serving sentences for drug-related offenses
in 2019, compared to 13% of male state prisoners
(147,800).
TablE 14
Percent of sentenced prisoners under the jurisdiction of state correctional authorities, by sex, race or ethnicity, and
most serious offense, December 31, 2019
American
Indian/Alaska
Most serious offense All prisonersa Male Female Whiteb Blackb Hispanic Nativeb Asianb,c
Total 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100%
Violent 58.2% 59.7% 39.6% 49.8% 63.9% 66.1% 56.2% 62.0%
Murderd 13.3 13.5 11.5 10.0 16.3 12.8 12.5 15.5
Negligent manslaughter 1.6 1.5 3.0 1.4 0.9 1.2 1.4 1.3
Rape/sexual assault 13.7 14.6 2.5 17.1 8.7 16.0 12.8 14.2
Robbery 12.4 12.8 7.4 6.7 18.9 12.4 7.5 9.8
Aggravated/simple assault 13.6 13.8 10.7 11.0 15.1 19.9 16.7 15.6
Other 3.6 3.6 4.4 3.5 3.9 3.7 5.3 5.7
Property 15.3% 14.7% 22.6% 20.5% 12.4% 10.1% 14.6% 15.3%
Burglary 8.2 8.4 6.4 9.9 7.5 6.1 7.8 6.6
Larceny/theft 3.0 2.7 7.2 4.8 2.4 1.4 2.4 3.2
Motor vehicle theft 0.8 0.8 1.1 0.9 0.5 0.9 1.2 2.0
Fraud 1.6 1.2 5.6 2.5 1.0 0.7 1.7 1.8
Other 1.6 1.6 2.3 2.3 0.9 1.0 1.6 1.6
Drug 14.0% 13.1% 26.0% 16.6% 12.2% 11.7% 10.9% 11.0%
Possession 3.8 3.4 8.8 5.3 2.8 3.3 2.4 1.5
Othere 10.2 9.6 17.2 11.3 9.3 8.4 8.5 9.5
Public order 11.9% 12.0% 10.9% 12.3% 11.1% 11.7% 17.8% 11.3%
Weapons 4.0 4.2 1.3 2.3 5.3 3.8 4.1 4.8
DUI/DWI 1.7 1.6 2.4 2.4 0.7 2.4 4.6 1.3
Otherf 6.2 6.1 7.1 7.5 5.1 5.5 9.0 5.2
Other/unspecifiedg 0.6% 0.6% 1.0% 0.8% 0.4% 0.4% 0.5% 0.5%
Total number of
sentenced prisonersh 1,221,288 1,131,100 90,200 386,700 399,000 266,500 18,300 15,100
Estimates are based on sentenced state prisoners. Details may not sum to totals due to rounding and missing offense data. See Methodology.
aIncludes persons of two or more races and other races that are not broken out.
bExcludes persons of Hispanic origin (e.g., “white” refers to non-Hispanic whites and “black” refers to non-Hispanic blacks). See Methodology.
cIncludes Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islanders.
dIncludes nonnegligent manslaughter.
eIncludes trafficking, other drug offenses, and unspecified drug offenses.
fIncludes court offenses; commercialized vice, morals, and decency offenses; liquor law violations; probation and parole violations; and other public
order offenses.
gIncludes juvenile offenses and other unspecified offense categories.
hEstimates are rounded to the nearest 100.
Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, National Corrections Reporting Program, 2019; National Prisoner Statistics, 2019; and Survey of Prison Inmates, 2016.
TablE 15
Number of sentenced prisoners under the jurisdiction of state correctional authorities, by sex, race or ethnicity,
and most serious offense, December 31, 2019
American
Indian/Alaska
Most serious offense All prisonersa Male Female Whiteb Blackb Hispanic Nativeb Asianb,c
Total 1,221,288 1,131,100 90,200 386,700 399,000 266,500 18,300 15,100
Violent 710,800 675,200 35,700 192,600 255,000 176,000 10,300 9,400
Murderd 162,900 152,600 10,400 38,700 65,200 34,100 2,300 2,300
Negligent manslaughter 19,200 16,500 2,700 5,600 3,400 3,300 300 200
Rape/sexual assault 167,800 165,500 2,300 66,100 34,900 42,600 2,300 2,100
Robbery 151,000 144,300 6,700 26,000 75,500 33,200 1,400 1,500
Aggravated/simple assault 165,700 156,000 9,700 42,600 60,200 53,000 3,100 2,400
Other 44,200 40,300 4,000 13,600 15,700 9,800 1,000 900
Property 186,700 166,300 20,400 79,200 49,300 27,000 2,700 2,300
Burglary 100,500 94,700 5,800 38,500 29,800 16,200 1,400 1,000
Larceny/theft 37,000 30,500 6,500 18,600 9,700 3,900 400 500
Motor vehicle theft 10,300 9,300 1,000 3,500 2,200 2,500 200 300
Fraud 19,100 14,000 5,000 9,800 4,000 1,900 300 300
Other 19,800 17,700 2,000 8,800 3,600 2,600 300 200
Drug 171,300 147,800 23,400 64,300 48,600 31,100 2,000 1,700
Possession 46,700 38,800 7,900 20,600 11,400 8,800 400 200
Othere 124,600 109,000 15,500 43,700 37,300 22,300 1,600 1,400
Public order 145,000 135,200 9,800 47,600 44,400 31,300 3,300 1,700
Weapons 48,900 47,700 1,200 9,100 21,100 10,200 800 700
DUI/DWI 20,800 18,600 2,200 9,400 2,900 6,400 800 200
Otherf 75,300 68,900 6,400 29,100 20,500 14,700 1,700 800
Other/unspecifiedg 7,500 6,600 900 3,100 1,700 1,000 100 100
Estimates are based on sentenced state prisoners. Estimates are rounded to the nearest 100. Details may not sum to totals due to rounding and
missing offense data. See Methodology.
aIncludes persons of two or more races and other races that are not broken out.
cIncludes Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islanders.
dIncludes nonnegligent manslaughter.
eIncludes trafficking, other drug offenses, and unspecified drug offenses.
fIncludes court offenses; commercialized vice, morals, and decency offenses; liquor law violations; probation and parole violations; and other public
order offenses.
gIncludes juvenile offenses and other unspecified offense categories.

At yearend 2019, an estimated 10,3000 American
In 35 states, at least half of all prisoners were serving

Indians and Alaska Natives and 9,400 Asians, Native time for a violent offense in 2019, and in 4 states
Hawaiians, and Other Pacific Islanders were serving (Alaska, California, Maryland, and Massachusetts),
state prison sentences for violent offenses. at least two-thirds of prisoners were sentenced for a
violent crime.
State-specific offense distributions
Persons sentenced to prison for a drug offense made

Prisoner offense distributions varied by state in
up less than 10% of the prison populations in eight
2019, with persons sentenced for violent offenses states in 2019: Michigan, Nevada, Washington,
contributing from 27% of the Idaho prison Oregon, Vermont, Colorado, California, and Alaska.
population to 81% of the Alaska prison population
(table 16).
TablE 16
Sentenced prisoners in the custody of state correctional authorities and privately operated facilities contracted to
states, by most serious offense and jurisdiction, December 31, 2019
Total number of
sentenced prisoners
Jurisdiction in custody Totala Violent Property Drug Public order Other/unspecified
Alabama 24,276 100% 54.3% 19.0% 17.6% 8.5% 0.5%
Alaskab 2,282 100% 81.0 12.1 2.2 4.7 0
Arizonac 40,753 100% 43.8 20.8 23.1 12.0 0.2
Arkansas 16,246 100% 49.4 15.6 23.5 8.7 2.6
California 124,445 100% 76.0 10.0 3.5 9.8 0.1
Colorado 19,789 100% 57.6 18.8 7.8 15.7 0.2
Connecticutb 8,396 100% 45.3 12.2 10.3 24.7 7.6
Delawareb 3,215 100% 44.3 6.8 12.4 36.0 0.5
Florida 94,079 100% 56.4 20.3 12.8 10.1 0.4
Georgia 54,557 100% 65.1 14.5 10.9 9.0 0.2
Hawaiib 2,332 100% 50.0 26.1 12.1 11.8 0.1
Idaho 9,434 100% 27.4 22.6 33.2 16.6 0.1
Illinois 38,244 100% 56.5 12.6 14.1 16.7 #
Indiana 29,378 100% 43.5 15.7 25.2 14.1 1.5
Iowa 9,864 100% 34.2 21.5 16.4 12.8 13.6
Kansas 9,853 100% 60.5 8.4 23.8 7.2 0
Kentucky 23,236 100% 38.7 22.1 26.1 12.5 0.1
Louisiana 31,369 100% 52.6 14.8 16.8 15.1 #
Maine 2,087 100% 51.4 18.6 21.3 6.2 1.4
Maryland 17,934 100% 69.9 10.4 11.8 7.4 0.1
Massachusetts 8,353 100% 68.8 7.3 15.9 7.4 0.5
Michiganc 39,670 100% 61.2 15.8 9.5 13.1 0.1
Minnesota 9,480 100% 51.9 9.9 18.7 19.4 0.2
Mississippi 19,142 100% 53.7 20.2 18.4 6.4 1.3
Missouri 26,101 100% 57.0 17.5 16.7 8.1 0
Montana 2,834 100% 63.2 14.2 11.0 11.5 0.1
Nebraska 5,338 100% 52.5 14.1 16.1 16.7 0.2
Nevada 11,947 100% 42.3 18.9 9.1 26.6 1.8
New Hampshired 2,651 100% 50.6 21.2 14.6 10.2 0.1
New Jerseyc 22,057 100% 50.8 8.2 14.9 8.4 2.5
New Mexicoe 7,086 100% 52.6 20.1 16.2 11.1 0.1
New York 43,321 100% 56.8 14.7 13.8 14.1 0.7
North Carolina 34,082 100% 49.8 13.6 14.6 21.9 0.1
North Dakota 1,885 100% 46.3 16.9 27.6 8.8 0.1
Ohio 49,561 100% 56.6 14.5 15.2 12.5 1.2
Oklahoma 24,780 100% 56.1 18.2 16.0 9.3 0.4
Oregon 14,532 100% 65.3 18.7 8.0 7.2 0.5
Pennsylvania 46,889 100% 59.0 13.8 11.9 12.9 0.4
Sentenced prisoners in the custody of state correctional authorities and privately operated facilities contracted to
states, by most serious offense and jurisdiction, December 31, 2019
Total number of
sentenced prisoners
Jurisdiction in custody Totala Violent Property Drug Public order Other/unspecified
Rhode Islandb 1,710 100% 66.3 10.9 12.6 9.0 1.3
South Carolina 18,754 100% 56.5 21.3 17.0 4.4 0.8
South Dakota 3,708 100% 45.3 15.2 30.0 6.8 0.6
Tennessee 31,557 100% 48.3 20.5 21.5 6.9 2.1
Texas 136,345 100% 60.0 12.1 15.0 12.9 0
Utah 6,605 100% 58.5 18.0 14.7 8.8 0.1
Vermontb 1,280 100% 60.6 18.7 7.0 12.8 1.0
Virginia 34,333 100% 54.2 15.5 12.5 3.4 0.1
Washington 17,650 100% 56.0 18.6 8.6 16.3 0.3
West Virginia 6,773 100% 47.4 23.3 11.6 13.7 4.0
Wisconsin 23,792 100% 56.7 13.1 14.5 15.6 #
Wyoming 2,478 100% 51.1 15.0 24.3 9.0 #
Note: Details may not sum to totals due to rounding and missing offense data. Unless otherwise noted, data represent prisoners in the physical
custody of state correctional authorities, or those held for the state in privately operated prison facilities on December 31, 2019. Analysis limited to
prisoners sentenced to more than 1 year. For prisoners convicted of more than one offense, BJS defines the most serious offense as the offense with
the longest sentence. States can report up to three offenses in the National Corrections Reporting Program (NCRP) and are asked to single out the
offense with the longest sentence. If they do not identify the offense with the longest sentence, BJS assumes an order of sentencing that prioritizes
violent offenses, followed by property, drug, and public order crimes. See table 13 for a breakdown of crimes included in each major type of offense.
#Rounds to zero.
aIncludes prisoners with unknown offenses.
bPrisons and jails form one integrated system. Data include total jail and prison populations.
cNCRP data are from December 31, 2018.
dNCRP data are from December 31, 2016.
eNCRP data are from December 31, 2017.
Sources: Bureau of Justice Statistics, National Corrections Reporting Program, 2019.

Offense characteristics of federal prisoners On September 30, 2020, 58% of American Indians

Almost 20% of all persons in federal prison (28,200
and Alaska Natives in federal prison were serving
prisoners) were serving time for a weapons offense a sentence for a violent offense compared to 10%
on September 30, 2020 (the most recent date for of blacks; 6% of whites; 5% of Asians, Native
which federal prison offense data are available) Hawaiians, and Other Pacific Islanders; and 3%
(tables 17 and 18). of Hispanics.
More than 8 in 10 persons in federal prison on

Almost two-thirds (62%) of Hispanics imprisoned

September 30, 2020 had been convicted of drug or by the BOP at fiscal yearend 2020 were serving a
public order offenses (87%). sentence for a drug offense, compared to 46% of
Asian, Native Hawaiian, and Other Pacific Islander;
At fiscal yearend 2020, there were 11,300 persons
42% of black; 39% of white; and 16% of American
in federal prison for a violent offense (almost 8% Indian and Alaska Native prisoners.
of the total federal prison population), compared
to 67,400 prisoners serving time for a drug More than 10% of females at the end of the fiscal

offense (47%). year 2020 were serving time in federal prison for
fraud (1,000 females), more than three times the
number sentenced for violent offenses (300).
TablE 17
Percent of sentenced federal prisoners held in BOP or privately operated correctional facilities, by sex, race or
ethnicity, and most serious offense, September 30, 2020
American Indian/
Most serious offense All prisonersa Male Female Whiteb,c Blackb,c Hispanicc Alaska Nativeb,c Asianb,c,d
Total 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100%
Violent 7.8% 8.1% 4.5% 6.2% 10.2% 2.9% 58.2% 5.0%
Homicidee 1.8 1.8 1.3 0.7 2.7 0.5 18.1 1.4
Robbery 3.4 3.6 1.5 3.6 5.3 1.2 2.1 1.7
Sexual abuse 0.9 0.9 0.2 0.7 0.4 0.3 19.6 0.3
Other 1.7 1.8 1.5 1.2 1.8 1.1 18.4 1.6
Property 4.7% 4.2% 12.4% 6.4% 4.8% 2.7% 3.5% 12.5%
Burglary 0.2 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.3 0.0 1.0 0
Fraudf 3.7 3.2 10.6 4.9 3.7 2.3 0.8 11.0
Otherg 0.9 0.8 1.7 1.4 0.8 0.4 1.6 1.5
Drugh 46.7% 45.6% 61.6% 39.2% 42.1% 62.0% 16.3% 45.7%
Public order 40.5% 41.9% 21.2% 47.7% 42.7% 32.2% 21.6% 36.2%
Immigrationi 4.0 4.1 2.1 0.4 0.2 12.7 0.4 0.3
Weapons 19.5 20.6 5.2 14.8 31.8 10.0 12.2 11.9
Otherj 17.0 17.2 13.9 32.5 10.7 9.5 9.0 24.0
Other/unspecifiedk 0.3% 0.3% 0.4% 0.5% 0.3% 0.2% 0.5% 0.7%
Total number of
sentenced prisonersl 144,553 134,784 9,769 42,900 53,300 43,200 3,200 2,000
Note: Counts and percentages are based on prisoners who were convicted, sentenced to 1 year or more, and in the custody of BOP facilities or private
prisons under contract with the BOP on September 30, 2020. Details may not sum to totals due to rounding. See Methodology. As of December 31,
2001, sentenced felons from the District of Columbia were the responsibility of the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
aIncludes persons of two or more races or other races that are not broken out.
cData on race or ethnicity are based on administrative data and self-reports from BJS surveys.
dIncludes Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islanders.
eIncludes murder and both negligent and nonnegligent manslaughter.
fIncludes embezzlement, fraud, forgery, and counterfeiting.
gIncludes larceny, motor vehicle theft, arson and explosives, transportation of stolen property, and other property offenses.
hIncludes trafficking, possession, and other drug offenses.
iIncludes illegal entry, smuggling and importing non-U.S. citizens, and holds for immigration officials.
jIncludes regulatory offenses; tax law violations; bribery; perjury, contempt, and intimidation in U.S. courts; national defense offenses; escape;
racketeering and extortion; gambling; sexual offenses, excluding sexual abuse; offenses involving liquor, traffic, wildlife, and environmental matters;
and all other public order offenses.
kIncludes offenses not classified.
lEstimates of race or ethnicity are rounded to the nearest 100.
Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Federal Justice Statistics Program, 2020 (preliminary).
TablE 18
Number of sentenced federal prisoners held in BOP or privately operated correctional facilities, by sex, race or
ethnicity, and most serious offense, September 30, 2020
American Indian/
Most serious offense All prisonersa Male Female Whiteb,c Blackb,c Hispanicc Alaska Nativeb,c Asianb,c,d
Totale 144,553 134,784 9,769 42,900 53,300 43,200 3,200 2,000
Violent 11,303 10,900 300 2,700 5,300 1,300 1,900 #
Homicidef 2,551 2,400 100 300 1,400 200 600 #
Robbery 4,958 4,800 100 1,600 2,800 500 100 #
Sexual abuse 1,278 1,300 # 300 200 100 600 #
Other 2,516 2,400 100 500 900 500 600 #
Property 6,819 5,600 1,200 2,700 2,600 1,200 100 200
Burglary 254 200 # # 200 # # 0
Fraudg 5,295 4,300 1,000 2,100 2,000 1,000 # 200
Otherh 1,270 1,100 200 600 400 200 100 #
Drugi 67,438 61,400 6,000 16,800 22,400 26,800 500 900
Public order 58,503 56,500 2,100 20,500 22,700 13,900 700 700
Immigrationj 5,764 5,600 200 200 100 5,500 # #
Weapons 28,210 27,700 500 6,300 16,900 4,300 400 200
Otherk 24,529 23,200 1,400 14,000 5,700 4,100 300 500
Other/unspecifiedl 490 500 # 200 100 100 # #
Note: Counts are based on prisoners who were convicted, sentenced to 1 year or more, and in the custody of publicly or BOP facilities or private
prisons under contract with the BOP on September 30, 2020. Estimates are rounded to the nearest 100. Details may not sum to totals due to rounding.
See Methodology. As of December 31, 2001, sentenced felons from the District of Columbia were the responsibility of the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
#Rounds to zero.
aAlso includes persons of two or more races or other races that are not broken out.
cData on race or ethnicity are not adjusted to self-reported data.
dIncludes Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islanders.
eTotals for race or ethnicity are rounded to the nearest 100.
fIncludes murder and both negligent and nonnegligent manslaughter.
gIncludes embezzlement, fraud, forgery, and counterfeiting.
hIncludes larceny, motor vehicle theft, arson and explosives, transportation of stolen property, and other property offenses.
iIncludes trafficking, possession, and other drug offenses.
jIncludes illegal entry, smuggling and importing non-U.S. citizens, and holds for immigration officials.
kIncludes regulatory offenses; tax law violations; bribery; perjury, contempt, and intimidation in U.S. courts; national defense offenses; escape;
racketeering and extortion; gambling; sexual offenses, excluding sexual abuse; offenses involving liquor, traffic, wildlife, and environmental matters;
and all other public order offenses.
lIncludes offenses not classified.
Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Federal Justice Statistics Program, 2020 (preliminary).

Prison capacity Nebraska was the only state with a 2020 custody

At yearend 2020, a total of 10 states had a custody
population that exceeded its maximum capacity at
population count that met or exceeded their yearend 2020.
minimum number of beds based on at least one of The BOP was operating at 92% of both its minimum

the three capacity measures (rated, operational, and and maximum capacity at yearend 2020.
design capacity), down from 21 states and the BOP
in 2019 (table 19).
TablE 19
Prison facility capacity, custody population, and percent of capacity, by jurisdiction, December 31, 2020
Type of capacity Custody population as a percent of—
Jurisdiction Rated Operational Design Custody population Lowest capacity Highest capacity
Federala 134,404 ... ... 123,529 91.9% 91.9%
State
Alabamab ... 22,896 12,388 18,103 146.1% 79.1%
Alaskac 4,838 ... 4,664 4,352 93.3 90.0
Arizonad 38,972 44,937 38,972 37,731 96.8 84.0
Arkansas 15,875 15,914 15,431 13,814 89.5 86.8
California ... 126,536 89,663 95,057 106.0 75.1
Colorado ... 15,161 14,093 12,293 87.2 81.1
Connecticutb / / / 9,097 : :
Delaware 5,514 5,566 4,062 4,365 107.5 78.4
Florida ... 84,595 ... 68,716 81.2 81.2
Georgiad 59,587 51,655 / 47,185 91.3 79.2
Hawaii 3,527 3,527 3,527 3,095 87.8 87.8
Idaho / 7,586 / 7,489 98.7 98.7
Illinoisb 44,824 48,157 / 29,070 64.9 60.4
Indianab,e / 26,209 / 23,726 90.5 90.5
Iowa 6,933 7,700 6,933 7,071 102.0 91.8
Kansas 9,784 10,640 9,858 8,574 87.6 80.6
Kentucky 13,225 13,225 13,187 9,078 68.8 68.6
Louisiana 18,006 16,344 16,764 13,903 85.1 77.2
Maine 2,603 2,603 2,603 1,715 65.9 65.9
Marylandf / 21,159 / 15,514 73.3 73.3
Massachusetts ... 10,229 7,492 6,568 87.7 64.2
Michigan 40,945 40,248 ... 33,617 83.5 82.1
Minnesota / 9,504 / 7,532 79.3 79.3
Mississippi / 11,520 / 7,834 68.0 68.0
Missourib 29,014 28,788 ... 23,031 80.0 79.4
Montana 2,309 1,935 1,382 1,627 117.7 70.5
Nebraskab / 4,419 3,535 5,250 148.5 118.8
Nevadag 13,733 12,336 9,543 11,089 116.2 80.7
New Hampshire 2,760 2,760 1,810 2,136 118.0 77.4
New Jerseyh 11,491 17,755 21,277 11,502 100.1 54.1
New Mexico 3,957 4,778 / 3,046 77.0 63.8
New York 47,596 47,778 46,964 34,143 72.7 71.5
North Carolina 35,421 36,744 38,241 29,737 84.0 77.8
North Dakota 1,463 1,463 1,463 1,111 75.9 75.9
Ohio / / / 38,832 : :
Oklahoma 18,178 20,237 18,178 17,120 94.2 84.6
Oregoni 14,712 15,612 14,712 12,753 86.7 81.7
Pennsylvania 51,453 47,247 ... 38,588 81.7 75.0
Rhode Island 3,989 3,791 4,003 2,053 54.2 51.3
South Carolina / 22,330 / 15,726 70.4 70.4
South Dakotab,d ... 3,849 ... 3,186 82.8 82.8
Tennessee 16,220 15,789 / 10,442 66.1 64.4

Prison facility capacity, custody population, and percent of capacity, by jurisdiction, December 31, 2020
Type of capacity Custody population as a percent of—
Jurisdiction Rated Operational Design Custody population Lowest capacity Highest capacity
Texas 132,983 127,733 132,983 115,235 90.2 86.7
Utah / 6,828 7,188 4,063 59.5 56.5
Vermont 1,579 1,579 1,578 1,091 69.1 69.1
Virginiaj / 29,102 / 22,881 78.6 78.6
Washington / 17,776 / 15,030 84.6 84.6
West Virginia 5,910 6,249 5,910 3,993 67.6 63.9
Wisconsin / 23,273 16,983 19,974 117.6 85.8
Wyoming 2,427 2,102 2,437 1,814 86.3 74.4
Note: Excludes prisoners held in local jails, other states, or private facilities, unless otherwise noted. Rated capacity is the number of prisoners or beds
that a facility can hold as set by a rating official. Operational capacity is the number of prisoners that a facility can hold based on staffing and services.
Design capacity is the number of prisoners that a facility can hold as set by the architect or planner. Lowest capacity represents the minimum estimate
of capacity submitted by the jurisdiction, while highest capacity represents the maximum estimate of capacity. When a jurisdiction could provide only
a single estimate of capacity, it was used as both the lowest and highest capacity. For jurisdiction-level information, see Jurisdiction notes on the BJS
website. As of December 31, 2001, sentenced felons from the District of Columbia were the responsibility of the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
...Not available. Jurisdiction does not measure this type of capacity.
:Not calculated.
/Not reported.
aDue to differences in the dates when data were extracted, the federal custody count reported for the calculation of capacity differs slightly from the
yearend custody count reported in the National Prisoner Statistics (NPS). The count includes all federal prisoners, regardless of conviction status or
sentence length.
bState defines capacity differently from BJS. Data reflect the state’s definitions. See Jurisdiction notes on the BJS website.
cAlaska’s capacity excludes nontraditional confinement, such as halfway houses and electronic monitoring.
dPrivate facilities are included in capacity and custody counts. See Jurisdiction notes on the BJS website.
eCapacity includes state-owned facilities that are staffed with employees of a private correctional company.
fOperational capacity may include some pretrial detainee beds excluded from the custody count.
gState was forced to close a prison unit and a prison camp in 2020 for an emergency.
hPrison capacity changed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. One prison facility was closed, as were all halfway houses. Prisoners in halfway houses were
either released or sent back to prison.
iState did not submit 2020 NPS data on capacity. Capacities were assumed to have not changed from the most recent year the state submitted NPS
data. See Methodology.
jState does not include Detention and Diversion center beds, or nonsex-specific hospital beds in its capacity count.
Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, National Prisoner Statistics, 2020.

Non-U.S. citizens in state and federal prisons Other states with large numbers of non-U.S. citizens

Forty-five states and the BOP reported that
in custody at yearend 2020 were Texas (7,300),
they held 58,100 non-U.S. citizens in prisons on Florida (5,100), Arizona (2,700), and Georgia (2,300).
December 31, 2020 (table 20).
The BOP had 24,000 non-U.S. citizens in custody

at yearend 2020, about 92% (22,200) of whom were
sentenced to more than 1 year in federal prison.
TablE 20
Non-U.S. citizen prisoners in the custody of publicly or privately operated state or federal prisons, excluding jails,
by sex and jurisdiction, December 31, 2020
Non-U.S. citizen prisoners Non-U.S. citizen prisoners
Non-U.S. citizen prisonersa sentenced to more than 1 year sentenced to 1 year or less
Jurisdiction Total Male Female Total Male Female Total Male Female
Federalb,c,d,e 24,013 23,041 972 22,179 21,268 911 142 138 4
State
Alabama / / / / / / / / /
Alaskaf / / / / / / / / /
Arizonac,d,e 2,734 2,633 101 2,713 2,613 100 21 20 1
Arkansas 244 237 7 244 237 7 0 0 0
California / / / / / / / / /
Coloradoc,d,e 1,178 1,125 53 1,178 1,125 53 0 0 0
Connecticutf 262 252 10 190 182 8 2 2 0
Delawarec,f 57 56 1 7 6 1 33 33 0
Floridac,d 5,050 4,910 140 5,050 4,910 140 0 0 0
Georgiac,e 2,345 2,234 111 2,343 2,232 111 2 2 0
Hawaiif 74 68 6 40 40 0 6 6 0
Idahoe 175 170 5 153 149 4 0 0 0
Illinoisc,d,e 1,147 1,120 27 1,147 1,120 27 0 0 0
Indianac,d,e 486 476 10 486 476 10 0 0 0
Iowac,d 179 173 6 177 172 5 0 0 0
Kansasc 302 295 7 302 295 7 0 0 0
Kentucky 119 118 1 119 118 1 0 0 0
Louisiana 113 112 1 113 112 1 0 0 0
Mainec,d,e 26 26 0 24 24 0 2 2 0
Marylandc,d,g 705 690 15 705 690 15 0 0 0
Massachusettsg 769 756 13 723 712 11 0 0 0
Michiganb 371 365 6 371 365 6 0 0 0
Minnesotac,d,g 467 446 21 467 446 21 0 0 0
Mississippig 8 8 0 8 8 0 0 0 0
Missouric,d,e,h 172 166 6 172 166 6 0 0 0
Montanac,d,i 17 17 0 17 17 0 0 0 0
Nebraskae,d,g 235 232 3 234 231 3 1 1 0
Nevadab,c,d 967 923 44 964 920 44 0 0 0
New Hampshireb,e 194 165 29 194 165 29 0 0 0
New Jerseyc,d,e 934 917 17 934 917 17 0 0 0
New Mexicoc,e 123 122 1 122 121 1 1 1 0
New Yorkc,d 1,554 1,530 24 1,553 1,529 24 0 0 0
North Carolinac,j 1,055 1,029 26 1,020 1,020 0 30 4 26
North Dakota 17 17 0 17 17 0 0 0 0
Ohioc,d,e 428 417 11 428 417 11 0 0 0
Oklahomab,c 391 380 11 390 379 11 1 1 0
Oregon / / / / / / / / /
Pennsylvaniad,e 419 404 15 419 404 15 0 0 0
Rhode Islandf / / / / / / / / /
Non-U.S. citizen prisoners in the custody of publicly or privately operated state or federal prisons, excluding jails,
by sex and jurisdiction, December 31, 2020
Non-U.S. citizen prisoners Non-U.S. citizen prisoners
Non-U.S. citizen prisonersa sentenced to more than 1 year sentenced to 1 year or less
Jurisdiction Total Male Female Total Male Female Total Male Female
South Carolinad,e 370 361 9 369 360 9 1 1 0
South Dakotab,d 74 71 3 74 71 3 0 0 0
Tennesseee,k 480 461 19 480 461 19 0 0 0
Texas 7,253 7,090 163 7,231 7,069 162 22 21 1
Utahb,d 197 193 4 197 193 4 0 0 0
Vermontf 6 5 1 3 2 1 0 0 0
Virginiad,e 1,218 1,193 25 1,218 1,193 25 0 0 0
Washington 668 653 15 668 653 15 0 0 0
West Virginia 13 13 0 13 13 0 0 0 0
Wisconsinc,g 452 441 11 440 430 10 8 7 1
Wyomingc,d,k 53 51 2 53 51 2 0 0 0
Note: Use caution when interpreting these statistics. Unless otherwise noted, citizenship status is based on the prisoner’s self-report upon admission
to prison and represents counts of prisoners held in the physical custody of state and federal correctional authorities and in private prisons, excluding
prisoners held in local jails and prisoners in the custody of other jurisdictions, with the exception of states with an integrated prison and jail system.
Some jurisdictions use a prisoner’s reported country of birth to determine current citizenship. For jurisdiction-level information, see Jurisdiction
notes on the BJS website. BJS changed the way it measured citizenship for the 2016 reference year, requesting that National Prisoner Statistics (NPS)
respondents include all non-U.S. citizens held in the physical custody of state and federal correctional authorities and in private prisons, excluding
prisoners held in local jails and prisoners in the custody of other jurisdictions, with the exception of states with an integrated prison and jail system.
Data collected after 2015 should not be compared to data for previous years. See Methodology. As of December 31, 2001, sentenced felons from the
District of Columbia were the responsibility of the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
/Not reported.
aIncludes unsentenced prisoners and those of all sentence lengths.
bJurisdiction does not rely on self-report citizenship data from prisoners.
cCitizenship data were based on law enforcement documents or court documents that accompanied prisoners upon admission.
dCitizenship data were subject to verification by an external data source (e.g., comparison to official records from U.S. Immigration and Customs
Enforcement (ICE) or other relevant government agencies).
eCounts of non-U.S. citizens are based on a jurisdictional count.
fPrisons and jails form one integrated system. Data include total jail and prison populations.
gCounts of non-U.S. citizens are based on the state’s reported total custody count, which may also include prisoners held in local jails and in other
state and federal facilities.
hCounts of non-U.S. citizens reflect the number of prisoners with ICE detainers.
iCounts of non-U.S. citizens excludes those in privately operated halfway houses, hospitals, and treatment or other special facilities.
jCounts of non-U.S. citizens are estimates.
kCounts of non-U.S. citizens are based on the state’s reported custody count of prisoners sentenced to more than 1 year under state correctional
authority, which may also include prisoners held in local jails and in other state and federal facilities.

Persons held under U.S. military jurisdiction U.S. Army personnel accounted for 52% of

At yearend 2020, there were 1,180 prisoners under
sentenced prisoners under military jurisdiction
military jurisdiction, an almost 3% decline from in 2020, and the branch had custody of 66% of all
2019 (table 21). sentenced military personnel overall.
Eighty-one percent of persons under military

jurisdiction on December 31, 2020 were sentenced
to more than 1 year of imprisonment.
TablE 21
Prisoners under military jurisdiction, by branch of service, 2019 and 2020
Total populationa Sentenced populationb
Percent change, Percent change,
Jurisdiction 2019 2020 2019–2020 2019 2020 2019–2020
All prisoners 1,214 1,180 -2.8% 1,117 951 -14.9%
Branch of service
U.S. Air Force 228 227 -0.4% 221 201 -9.0%
U.S. Army 577 557 -3.5 547 495 -9.5
U.S. Marine Corps 261 233 -10.7 164 139 -15.2
U.S. Navy 140 156 11.4 177 110 -37.9
U.S. Coast Guard 8 7 -12.5 8 6 -25.0
In custody of—
U.S. Air Force 22 21 -4.5% 3 5 66.7%
U.S. Army 742 672 -9.4 678 632 -6.8
U.S. Marine Corps 197 157 -20.3 83 74 -10.8
U.S. Navy 353 330 -6.5 253 240 -5.1
Note: Counts are for December 31 of each year.
aIncludes all prisoners under military jurisdiction, regardless of conviction status or sentence length.
bIncludes prisoners sentenced to more than 1 year under military jurisdiction.
Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, based on data from the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, U.S. Department of
Defense, 2019 and 2020.

Offense characteristics of persons held under Drug offenses accounted for 5% of all sentences of

U.S. military jurisdiction personnel under military jurisdiction at yearend 2020.
Of the 1,068 persons under military jurisdiction
The U.S. Marine Corps had the lowest percentage

in 2020 serving sentences of any length of time for of personnel serving time for sexual offenses (58%),
whom offense information was available, 41% were including violent and nonviolent sexual crimes ,
being held for violent sexual offenses and 17% for while the U.S. Air Force had the highest (74%).
other violent offenses (table 22).
Fourteen percent of U.S. Marine Corps personnel

sentenced to prison under military jurisdiction
were serving time for aggravated or simple assault,
compared to 5% for U.S. Air Force and U.S.
Army personnel each, and less than 5% for U.S.
Navy personnel.
TablE 22
Percent of prisoners under the jurisdiction of military correctional authorities with any sentence length, by branch
of service and most serious offense, December 31, 2020
Most serious offense Totala U.S. Air Force U.S. Army U.S. Marine Corps U.S. Navy
Total 100% 100% 100% 100% 100%
Violent offenses 57.9% 52.3% 61.0% 62.7% 49.6%
Nonviolent offenses 42.1% 47.7% 39.0% 37.3% 50.4%
Total 100% 100% 100% 100% 100%
Sexual 71.1% 73.6% 73.4% 58.0% 72.5%
Violent 41.1 37.7 44.0 37.9 39.7
Nonviolentb 30.0 35.9 29.4 20.1 32.8
Other violent 16.8% 14.5% 17.0% 24.9% 9.9%
Murderc 7.8 8.2 9.4 4.7 4.6
Negligent manslaughter 0.9 0.9 0.2 3.6 0.8
Robbery 0.1 0 0.2 0 0
Aggravated/simple assault 6.5 5.0 5.2 14.2 4.6
Other 1.5 0.5 2.0 2.4 0
Property 2.4% 1.8% 2.0% 3.6% 3.8%
Burglary 0.7 0.5 1.3 0 0
Larceny/theft 1.2 1.4 0.2 3.0 3.1
Motor vehicle theft 0 0 0 0 0
Fraud 0.3 0 0.4 0 0.8
Other 0.2 0 0.2 0.6 0
Drugd 5.2% 6.4% 3.0% 8.3% 9.2%
Public order 1.4% 1.8% 1.5% 1.2% 0.8%
Military 2.4% 1.4% 2.6% 2.4% 3.8%
Other/unspecified 0.7% 0.5% 0.6% 1.8% 0%
Total number of prisoners 1,068 220 541 169 131
Note: Counts and percentages are based on prisoners sentenced to any length of time under military correctional authority. Excludes pretrial
detainees. U.S. Coast Guard offense distribution is not shown due to too few cases. Details may not sum to totals due to rounding.
aIncludes prisoners who served in the U.S. Coast Guard.
bIncludes sexual harassment, indecent exposure, prostitution, stalking, and other nonviolent sexual offenses.
cIncludes nonnegligent manslaughter.
dIncludes possession, use, trafficking, and other drug offenses.
Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, based on data from the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, U.S. Department of
Defense, 2020.

Persons held in the custody of U.S. territories
U.S. territories held an estimated 9,700 persons in

custody at yearend 2020 (table 23).
TablE 23
Prisoners under the jurisdiction or in the custody of correctional authorities in U.S. territories and commonwealths,
by prison facility capacity, December 31, 2020
Jurisdiction population Type of capacity
Sentenced to Total custody
U.S. territory/U.S. commonwealth Totala more than 1 yearb population Rated Operational Design
Total 6,656 5,955 9,663 : : :
American Samoac / / 196 / / /
Guam 500 304 539 843 / 768
Northern Mariana Islandsd 175 145 175 559 325 559
Puerto Ricoe 5,610 5,506 8,561 11,909 10,290 14,632
U.S. Virgin Islandsf 371 / 192 / / /
Note: Jurisdiction refers to the legal authority of U.S. territorial or commonwealth correctional officials over a prisoner, regardless of where the
prisoner is held. Custody refers to the physical location where the prisoner is held. Rated capacity is the number of prisoners or beds a facility can
hold as set by a rating official. Operational capacity is the number of prisoners a facility can hold based on staffing and services. Design capacity is the
number of prisoners a facility can hold as set by the architect or planner.
:Not calculated.
/Not reported.
aExcludes American Samoa.
bExcludes American Samoa and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
cAmerican Samoa has not submitted National Prisoner Statistics (NPS) data since 2011. Custody data were located in the American Samoa Statistical
Yearbook 2017 (https://sdd.spc.int/digital_library/american-samoa-2017-statistical-yearbook) and represent the number of persons in custody as of
December 2017.
dThe Northern Mariana Islands did not submit NPS data in 2020. Data are from 2019.
ePuerto Rico did not submit NPS data in 2020. Jurisdiction and capacity counts are from 2019. The custody count was downloaded from http://dcr.
pr.gov/informes-estadisticos/ on June 1, 2021 and represents the custody population in July 2020.
fThe U.S. Virgin Islands has not submitted NPS data since 2013. Data are taken from the March 27, 2019 testimony of Virgin Islands Bureau of
Corrections Director-designee Wynnie Testamark to the Virgin Islands Committee on Homeland Security, Justice, and Public Safety, found at www.
legvi.org, and represent the number of prisoners in the custody and under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Virgin Islands at the end of March 2019.

Methodology Admissions in this report include new court
commitments; returned prisoners for parole,
The National Prisoner Statistics (NPS) program started probation, or other conditional release violations;
in 1926. The Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) sponsors returned prisoners from appeal or bond; and other
the survey, and Abt Associates, Inc. currently serves admissions. They exclude transfers from other
as the data collection agent. BJS depends on voluntary jurisdictions, returned prisoners who were absent
participation by state departments of corrections without leave, and returned escapees, because these
(DOCs) and the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) for persons have not officially left the jurisdiction.
NPS data.
The NPS collects data on the following types of
The NPS distinguishes between prisoners in custody releases: unconditional releases (e.g., expirations of
and prisoners under jurisdiction. To have custody of sentence and commutations), conditional releases
a prisoner, a state or the BOP must hold the person (e.g., probations, supervised mandatory releases, and
in one of its facilities. To have jurisdiction over a discretionary paroles), deaths, absences without leave
prisoner, the state or the BOP must have legal authority (AWOLs), escapes from confinement, transfers to
over that person, regardless of where the prisoner is other jurisdictions, releases to appeal or bond, and
incarcerated or supervised. Some states were unable other releases. For reporting purposes, BJS release
to provide counts that distinguished between custody counts exclude AWOLs, escapes, and transfers to other
and jurisdiction. jurisdictions, because these persons have not officially
left the jurisdiction.
The jurisdiction notes to the Prisoners series are
available separately on the BJS website for the Prisoners The NPS has historically included counts of prisoners
in 2018 and later reports. These notes detail which in the combined jail and prison systems of Alaska,
states did not distinguish between jurisdiction and Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Rhode Island, and
custody, as well as those that used alternative counting Vermont. The District of Columbia has not operated
rules or had policy changes during the year that a prison system since yearend 2001. Felons sentenced
affected the prisoner population counts. under the District of Columbia criminal code are
housed in federal facilities. Jail inmates in the District
The NPS jurisdiction counts include persons held in of Columbia are included in BJS’s Annual Survey
prisons, penitentiaries, correctional facilities, halfway of Jails. Some previously published prisoner counts
houses, boot camps, farms, training or treatment include jail inmates in the District of Columbia for
centers, and hospitals. Counts also include prisoners 2001, the last year of collection. Additional information
who were temporarily absent (less than 30 days), in about the NPS is available on the BJS website, including
court, or on work release; housed in privately operated the data collection instrument.
facilities, local jails, or other state or federal facilities;
or serving concurrent sentences for more than one Nonreporting states
correctional authority.
The Oregon DOC did not respond to the 2019 or 2020
The NPS custody counts include all prisoners held NPS surveys, although the Oregon DOC did submit
within a respondent’s facility, including prisoners 2020 data to BJS’s National Corrections Reporting
housed for other correctional authorities. The custody Program (NCRP). BJS was able to use Oregon’s NCRP
counts exclude prisoners held in local jails and data to impute counts for the 2020 NPS, with the
other jurisdictions. With a few exceptions, the NPS exception of prisoners who might have been held
custody counts exclude prisoners held in privately in local jail facilities or other state or federal prison
operated facilities. facilities. BJS assumed that no Oregon state prisoners
were held in local jails or other state or federal prisons
Respondents to NPS surveys are permitted to update in 2020. The Oregon DOC formally approved of
prior counts of prisoners held in custody and under BJS’s imputed 2020 statistics for the state. For details
jurisdiction. Some statistics on jurisdiction and on the imputation of Oregon 2019 NPS data, please
sentenced prison populations for prior years have see Methodology in the Prisoners in 2019 report
been updated in this report. All tables showing data (NCJ 255115, BJS, October 2020).
based on jurisdiction counts, including tables of
imprisonment rates, were based on the updated and
most recently available data that respondents provided.

The New Hampshire DOC did not submit 2020 NPS self-reported prisoner surveys, which use OMB
data but formally approved the imputed counts BJS categories for race and ethnicity, to the distribution of
calculated for the state. BJS used the January 1, 2021 prisoners by race and ethnicity in NPS data for the year
counts from the following New Hampshire DOC closest to the fielding of the survey. BJS then multiplied
report for custody, jurisdiction, admission and release this ratio by the distribution of state prisoners’ race and
statistics: https://www.nh.gov/nhdoc/documents/ ethnicity using the current year’s NPS. The percentage
population-summary.pdf. This report does not of persons self-reporting to the NPS as non-Hispanic
provide totals for local facilities, out-of-state facilities, and as two or more races was assumed to be equal
or federal facilities, so BJS assumed the jurisdiction to that of the self-reported prisoner survey. The final
population not housed in New Hampshire-operated percentage distribution of race and ethnicity was
facilities was distributed across these three locations in multiplied by the total of sentenced state prisoners to
the same proportion as was reported in 2019. For race, obtain counts for each category.
ethnicity, citizenship, and juvenile statistics, BJS used
the January 1, 2021 counts from the following New The same adjustment methodology was used for
Hampshire DOC report: https://www.nh.gov/nhdoc/ the distribution of race and ethnicity among federal
documents/demographics-summary.pdf. BJS assumed prisoners, as BJS used data from in-person surveys
that the capacity reported by the New Hampshire DOC of federal prisoners. BJS summed state and federal
for December 31, 2019 remained the same in 2020. estimates for race and ethnicity to produce the total
counts published in table 3 and for detailed counts of
Montana Department of Corrections’ prisoners by sex, age, and offense.
methodological changes impact on NPS data Prior to the Prisoners in 2016 report, BJS used the race
reporting in 2019 and 2020 and ethnicity data from the 2004 Survey of Inmates
In 2018, the Montana Department of Corrections in State Correctional Facilities (SISCF) to calculate
transitioned to a new data management system and the ratio for the adjusted state distribution, while the
worked to identify and validate prisoner placement in federal data were not adjusted. Starting in 2016, BJS
the data. The state rewrote its data extract programs conducted the Survey of Prison Inmates (SPI), which
for NPS reporting in 2019 but continued to note permitted adjustments with more recent data from
inconsistencies in the data throughout the 2020 both state and federal prisoners. To obtain 10-year
calendar year. Data from 2020 should not be compared estimates of race and ethnicity for both state and
to any previous year. federal prisoners, BJS calculated ratio adjustments for
each year twice, once using the 2004 SISCF and once
Estimating yearend counts of the prison using the 2016 SPI. BJS then weighted the ratios to
population by sex, race or ethnicity, and age reflect the number of years between the survey and
National-level estimates of the number of persons estimate year. The ratios calculated using SISCF data
by race and ethnicity under the jurisdiction of state received higher weights for years closer to 2004, while
prisons on December 31, 2020 were based on an those calculated using SPI data had higher weights for
adjustment of NPS counts to comply with the Office years closer to 2016. BJS then used the average of these
of Management and Budget (OMB) definitions of race weighted ratios.
and ethnicity. OMB defines ethnicity (Hispanic) as
For federal estimates, the SPI-adjusted NPS data
a separate category, and race categories are defined
were multiplied by the ratio of the age category count
exclusive of ethnicity. OMB adopted guidelines for
within the sex and race or ethnicity combination in
collecting these data in 1997.
the Federal Justice Statistics Program (FJSP) to the
Not all NPS providers’ information systems categorize FJSP total count within the sex and race or ethnicity
race and ethnicity in this way. In addition, these data combination (e.g., FJSP white males ages 18 to 19
are administrative in nature and may not reflect a divided by FJSP white males). The resulting product
prisoner’s self-identification of race and ethnicity. yielded FJSP-adjusted NPS counts for each sex and race
BJS adjusted reported NPS race and ethnicity data or ethnicity combination by age group (e.g., white male
separately for state and federal prisoners. For state prisoners ages 18 to 19 in the federal prison system).
prisoners, BJS calculated the ratio of the distribution The NPS used a similar sex and race or ethnicity ratio
of state prisoners by race and ethnicity in BJS’s adjustment for age distributions in state prisons, based

on individual-level data from the National Corrections Estimating offense distribution in the state
Reporting Program (NCRP). State and federal and federal prison populations by sex, race or
estimates were added together to obtain national ethnicity, and age
estimates for yearend prison populations. BJS employed a ratio-adjustment method to weight
BJS provides the unadjusted jurisdiction-level counts the individual-level offense data from the NCRP
of prisoners by race and ethnicity. Historical adjusted to the state prison control totals for sex and the
counts of prisoners by race are archived through the estimated race or ethnicity from the NPS, which
National Archive of Criminal Justice Data.2 yielded a national offense distribution for state
prisoners. Prisoners missing offense data in the
Estimating imprisonment rates by sex, race or NCRP were excluded from the analysis prior to the
ethnicity, and age weighting. Because data submission for the NCRP
typically lags behind that of the NPS, state estimates
BJS calculated age-specific imprisonment rates for of offense distributions are published for the previous
each sex, adjusted race and ethnicity group, and age calendar year.
group by dividing the estimated number of sentenced
prisoners within each age group under jurisdiction Federal estimates presented in tables 17 and 18 are
on December 31, 2020 by the estimated number of obtained from the FJSP, and counts are based on
U.S. residents in each age group on January 1, 2021. prisoners who were convicted and sentenced to any
BJS multiplied the result by 100,000 and rounded length of time, including those sentenced to 1 year
to the nearest whole number. Totals by sex include or less, and who were under federal jurisdiction on
all prisoners and U.S. residents, regardless of race September 30, 2020. Data are limited to prisoners
or ethnicity. sentenced on U.S. district court commitments or
District of Columbia Superior Court commitments
Non-U.S. citizens in prison and to prisoners returned to federal custody following
The BOP and some DOCs reported the number of violations of probation (both federal and District of
non-U.S. citizens under their jurisdiction or in their Columbia), parole, supervised release, or mandatory
custody on December 31, 2020 to the NPS. While release. Estimates in tables 17 and 18 differ from
the intention is for jurisdictions to report based on a previously published federal offense distributions
prisoner’s current citizenship status, some jurisdictions presented in the FJSP web tool or Federal Justice
may have instead reported country of birth to the NPS. Statistics bulletins and statistical tables on the BJS
website because the FJSP publications exclude District
Starting in 2017, states and the BOP were asked to of Columbia prisoners.3 Because the FJSP is a custody
include the citizenship status of prisoners held in collection, the total count of prisoners in tables 17
private facilities. In 2017, the BOP provided counts and 18 differs from the jurisdiction count of prisoners
of non-U.S. citizens based on the country of current reported to the NPS. The distributions of race and
citizenship. In previous years, BOP counts were based ethnicity for tables 17 and 18 have not been adjusted to
on the country of birth, which led to a slightly higher self-reported distributions because the adjustment to
count of non-U.S. citizens. the total population made in earlier tables is based on
prisoners sentenced to more than 1 year.
Non-U.S. citizens held in local jails under the
jurisdiction of state correctional authorities were Prison capacities
excluded from totals, unless otherwise noted. Due to
the large correctional population decline in 2020 that State and federal correctional authorities provide
may or may not have affected non-U.S. citizens in state three measures of their facilities’ capacity: design,
and federal prison differently than U.S. citizens, BJS operational, and rated capacity. Prison population
decided not to estimate counts for the five states that estimates as a percentage of capacity are based on a
did not report counts of non-U.S. citizens to the NPS state or federal custody population. In general, state
(Alabama, Alaska, California, Oregon, and Rhode capacity and custody counts exclude prisoners held in
Island) and did not calculate U.S. or state totals. private facilities. However, four states include prisoners
held in private or local facilities as part of the capacity
2See https://www.icpsr.umich.edu/web/NACJD/studies/36281. of their prison systems: Arizona, Georgia, Idaho, and
South Dakota.
3For the FJSP web tool, see https://www.bjs.gov/fjsrc/.

Military correctional data U.S. territories
BJS obtains an annual aggregate count of service Data on prisoners under the jurisdiction of U.S.
personnel held under military jurisdiction, as well territorial correctional authorities are collected
as limited demographic and offense data from the separately from state and federal NPS data, and U.S.
Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel totals in this report exclude territorial counts. Four
and Readiness. The U.S. Department of Defense territories (American Samoa, the Northern Mariana
disaggregates these data by the military branch in Islands, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands) did
which prisoners served, by the branch having physical not provide 2020 NPS data. Data from prior years and
custody of the prisoner, and by whether the prisoner alternate sources are shown in table 23.
was an officer or was enlisted.

Appendi
Year All ages Age 18 or older Year All ages Age 18 or older
1978 131 183 2000 470 632
1979 133 185 2001 470 630
1980 138 191 2002 477 639
1981 153 211 2003 483 645
1982 170 232 2004 487 649
1983 179 243 2005 492 655
1984 187 254 2006 501 666
1985 201 272 2007 506 670
1986 216 293 2008 506 669
1987 230 311 2009 504 665
1988 246 331 2010 500 656
1989 274 369 2011 492 644
1990 295 398 2012 480 627
1991 311 420 2013 479 624
1992 330 446 2014 472 613
1993 360 486 2015 459 595
1994 389 526 2016 450 583
1995 411 556 2017 442 570
1996 427 577 2018 431 556
1997 444 599 2019 419 539
1998 463 623 2020 358 459
1999 476 640
Note: Jurisdiction refers to the legal authority of state or federal correctional officials over a prisoner, regardless
of where the prisoner is held. Imprisonment rate is the number of sentenced prisoners under state or federal
jurisdiction per 100,000 U.S. residents of all ages or age 18 or older. Rates are for December 31 of each year and
are based on prisoners with a sentence of more than 1 year. Resident population estimates are from the U.S.
Census Bureau for January 1 of the following year. As of December 31, 2001, sentenced felons from the District
of Columbia were the responsibility of the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Total and state estimates for 2019 include
imputed counts for Oregon, which did not submit 2019 National Prisoner Statistics data. See Methodology. Counts
for 2018 and earlier may have been revised from previous reports.
Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, National Prisoner Statistics, 1978–2020; and U.S. Census Bureau, postcensal
resident population estimates for January 1 of the following calendar year.

Appendi
American Native Hawaiian/ Two or

Indian/Alaska Other Pacific more Did not
Jurisdiction Total Whitea Blacka Hispanic Nativea Asiana Islandera racesa Othera Unknown report
Federalb,c 152,156 44,852 55,391 46,162 3,488 2,262 / ~ 0 0 1
State
Alabama 25,328 11,607 13,519 0 2 3 0 0 0 197 0
Alaska 4,578 1,850 464 124 1,956 46 89 ~ ~ 49 0
Arizona 37,731 14,613 5,614 14,505 2,088 186 ~ 1 681 43 0
Arkansas 16,094 8,691 6,721 549 51 50 14 0 17 1 0
California 97,328 18,819 28,578 43,435 1,114 1,066 302 ~ 4,014 ~ 0
Colorado 16,168 7,363 3,016 4,994 574 203 10 ~ 0 8 0
Connecticut 9,559 2,619 4,201 2,661 26 50 0 0 0 2 0
Delaware 4,710 1,493 2,934 277 0 5 0 0 0 1 0
Florida 81,027 31,647 38,665 10,352 81 15 8 / 253 6 0
Georgia 47,141 16,650 28,406 1,895 25 157 0 / ~ 8 0
Hawaii 4,171 949 186 98 20 697 1,837 147 0 237 0
Idaho 8,171 5,966 267 1,226 333 38 1 97 0 243 0
Illinois 29,729 9,271 15,866 3,831 45 103 0 48 ~ 60 505
Indiana 23,944 14,748 7,888 1,014 52 56 9 141 ~ 36 0
Iowa 8,307 5,350 2,129 579 181 ~ ~ ~ 68 0 0
Kansas 8,779 5,030 2,399 1,080 185 78 0 0 0 7 0
Kentucky 18,552 13,936 4,052 290 14 28 0 218 0 14 0
Louisiana 26,964 8,710 18,143 61 18 30 0 ~ ~ 2 0
Maine 1,714 1,389 178 / 47 13 1 18 / 68 0
Marylandd 15,623 3,531 11,120 694 74 45 10 / 131 18 0
Massachusetts 6,762 2,805 1,934 1,783 37 114 1 ~ 88 ~ 0
Michigand 33,617 14,194 17,231 596 302 104 9 1,101 0 80 0
Minnesota 8,148 3,744 2,994 460 727 211 / / / 12 0
Mississippi 17,577 6,345 10,998 160 30 37 0 0 0 7 0
Missouri 23,062 14,405 8,003 480 85 55 / / / 34 0
Montanae 3,927 2,778 103 127 899 ~ ~ ~ 20 ~ 0
Nebraska 5,306 2,733 1,454 776 249 46 3 / 41 4 0
Nevadad 11,422 4,830 3,555 2,477 218 330 ~ ~ 0 12 0
New Hampshire 2,352 1,978 159 128 8 5 0 ~ 37 37 0
New Jersey 12,830 2,619 7,772 2,096 9 96 0 / 0 238 0
New Mexicof 5,500 1,477 398 3,498 451 17 22 / ~ 43 0
New York 34,128 7,685 17,066 8,322 304 211 / / 445 95 0
North Carolina 29,461 11,614 15,148 1,728 736 96 21 / ~ 118 0
North Dakota 1,401 848 167 87 292 5 2 0 ~ 0 0
Ohiog 45,036 22,470 19,454 1,235 81 65 / / 360 / 1,371
Oklahoma 22,462 11,165 5,940 1,717 2,393 79 27 ~ 45 11 1,085
Oregon 12,753 9,257 1,179 1,696 404 179 35 ~ ~ 3 0
Pennsylvaniad 39,357 17,131 18,240 3,651 37 112 0 ~ 0 186 0
Rhode Islandd,h 2,227 853 661 620 20 31 / / 39 3 0
South Carolina 16,157 5,896 9,680 430 19 17 0 / 114 1 0
South Dakota 3,250 1,727 266 126 1,095 25 1 ~ 10 0 0
Tennessee 22,685 12,359 9,656 556 46 68 / / / / 0
Texas 135,906 45,596 44,760 44,766 65 525 0 0 194 0 0
Utah 5,446 3,245 400 1,078 308 39 124 0 0 252 0
Vermont 1,284 1,108 123 0 16 4 1 0 0 32 0
Virginiac,i 31,838 13,266 17,414 984 26 129 0 0 0 19 0
Washington 15,724 8,843 2,777 2,420 870 660 / / 60 94 0
West Virginia 6,044 5,144 802 42 5 3 1 47 0 0 0

A
American Native Hawaiian/ Two or

Indian/Alaska Other Pacific more Did not
Jurisdiction Total Whitea Blacka Hispanic Nativea Asiana Islandera racesa Othera Unknown report
Wisconsin 20,298 8,879 8,542 1,823 789 256 ~ / / 9 0
Wyoming 2,087 1,591 89 239 147 7 7 0 3 4 0
jurisdiction-level information, see Jurisdiction notes on the BJS website. Estimates were provided by state and federal departments of corrections’
administrative record systems and may not reflect prisoners’ self-identification of race or ethnicity. State, federal, and national totals by race or
ethnicity differ from other tables in this report due to adjustments that BJS made in other tables to correct for differences between administrative
records and prisoner self-reported data on race or ethnicity. As of December 31, 2001, sentenced felons from the District of Columbia were the
responsibility of the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP).
~Not applicable. Jurisdiction does not track this race or ethnicity.
/Not reported.
bThe BOP does not separate persons of Hispanic origin from the individual race categories when reporting to the National Prisoner Statistics. To do so,
BJS used data from the 2020 Federal Justice Statistics Program (preliminary).
cAsians, Native Hawaiians, and Other Pacific Islanders were combined into a single category and reported in the Asian category.
dPersons of Hispanic origin may be undercounted due to data collection methods.
eAsians, Native Hawaiians, and Other Pacific Islanders were combined into a single category and reported in the Other race category.
fState reported counts of prisoners by race that exceeded its jurisdiction population. Data in this table are those reported by the state.
gCounts are based on prisoners held in state custody and private prison facilities. Excludes persons under the jurisdiction of the Ohio Department of
Corrections who were held in local jails or in out-of-state prisons.
hState does not collect data on Native Hawaiians, Other Pacific Islanders, or persons of two or more races.
iData are preliminary.
Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Federal Justice Statistics Program, 2020 (preliminary); and National Prisoner Statistics, 2020.

Appendi
Male Female
American American
Totald 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100%
18–19 0.7 0.7 0.4 1.0 0.6 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.4 0.3 0.8 0.6 ^ ^ 0.8
20–24 8.1 8.1 5.5 10.1 9.3 7.5 6.6 6.1 7.2 5.6 10.0 9.6 6.8 8.6 10.6
25–29 15.1 15.0 11.8 16.7 16.8 14.1 15.1 13.1 16.4 14.8 18.6 18.8 17.8 15.0 14.7
30–34 16.3 16.1 15.2 16.1 17.2 17.5 16.4 14.9 19.8 19.9 17.9 21.5 19.8 17.1 15.0
35–39 15.5 15.2 15.8 14.1 16.5 16.3 17.7 15.3 18.6 19.5 15.0 19.5 20.0 19.3 14.7
40–44 12.5 12.5 13.0 11.7 13.2 13.1 13.3 13.4 13.0 13.6 11.8 12.6 13.8 13.6 13.4
45–49 9.7 9.7 10.7 9.1 9.4 9.6 11.4 11.5 9.4 10.2 8.8 7.4 8.0 10.1 10.6
50–54 8.0 8.1 9.4 7.9 6.7 8.3 7.3 8.7 6.7 7.1 7.7 5.0 6.0 6.0 8.0
55–59 6.6 6.7 8.1 6.6 4.9 6.1 5.5 6.9 4.6 4.9 5.4 3.0 3.8 4.7 6.7
60–64 4.0 4.1 5.1 3.9 2.8 3.5 3.0 5.0 2.2 2.3 2.5 1.2 2.2 2.1 3.1
65 or older 3.6 3.7 5.2 2.7 2.5 3.6 3.0 4.6 1.6 1.8 1.5 0.7 1.4 3.1 2.3
Number of
sentenced prisonerse 1,040,138 970,244 292,100 331,700 214,500 14,100 12,000 105,800 69,894 34,000 12,600 11,400 1,800 500 9,600
Note: Jurisdiction refers to the legal authority of state correctional officials over a prisoner, regardless of where the prisoner is held. Counts and percentages are based on prisoners with a sentence of more than
1 year under the jurisdiction of state correctional officials. Details may not sum to totals due to rounding. See Methodology.
^Estimate based on 10 or fewer prisoners.
eEstimates are rounded to the nearest 100. Includes prisoners age 17 or younger.

Appendi
Male Female
American American
Age Totala All maleb Whitec Blackc Hispanic Nativec Asianc,d All femalee Whitec Blackc Hispanic Nativec Asianc,d
Totalf 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100%
18–19 # # ^ # 0.1 ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^
20–24 3.4 3.3 1.4 3.7 4.8 4.8 1.9 4.3 1.9 3.8 7.8 7.1 ^
25–29 10.6 10.5 6.0 12.3 12.3 14.0 6.6 11.7 9.5 12.9 14.2 15.4 ^
30–34 15.7 15.6 12.0 17.4 16.8 17.8 13.2 17.0 16.4 16.2 18.3 20.9 ^
35–39 18.1 18.1 16.8 18.7 18.6 19.6 17.2 17.6 18.2 15.7 17.8 19.6 17.3
40–44 16.9 17.0 16.0 17.9 17.0 14.2 17.3 16.2 16.4 16.6 15.4 15.1 19.8
45–49 13.0 13.0 12.9 13.3 13.0 9.6 15.8 11.8 12.4 12.9 10.5 9.3 14.2
50–54 8.9 8.9 11.2 7.9 7.9 6.6 12.0 8.8 10.2 8.2 7.1 5.5 16.2
55–59 6.2 6.2 9.6 4.6 4.9 6.1 6.7 6.2 7.0 6.5 5.0 ^ ^
60–64 3.8 3.8 6.7 2.5 2.7 3.5 5.1 3.5 4.4 3.9 2.0 ^ ^
65 or older 3.4 3.4 7.2 1.7 2.0 3.4 4.2 2.8 3.5 3.2 1.7 ^ ^
Number of
sentenced prisonersg 142,028 132,407 29,400 43,600 46,000 2,900 2,200 9,621 3,400 1,600 3,400 200 100
Note: Jurisdiction refers to the legal authority of federal correctional officials over a prisoner, regardless of where the prisoner is held. Counts and percentages are based on prisoners with a sentence of more
than 1 year under the jurisdiction of federal correctional officials. Federal data include adult prisoners held in nonsecure community corrections facilities and adults and persons age 17 or younger held in
privately operated facilities. The Bureau of Prisons’ race data collection does not include two or more or other race categories. Details may not sum to totals due to rounding. See Methodology.
#Rounds to zero.
^Estimate based on 10 or fewer prisoners.
aIncludes 9,200 federal prisoners with missing race and ethnicity data.
bIncludes 8,200 male federal prisoners with missing race and ethnicity data.
cExcludes persons of Hispanic origin (e.g., “white” refers to non-Hispanic whites and “black” refers to non-Hispanic blacks). See Methodology.
dIncludes Asians, Native Hawaiians, and Other Pacific Islanders.
eIncludes 900 female federal prisoners with missing race and ethnicity data.
fIncludes persons of all ages, including those age 17 or younger.
gEstimates are rounded to the nearest 100. Includes prisoners age 17 or younger.
Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Federal Justice Statistics Program, 2020 (preliminary); National Prisoner Statistics, 2020; and Survey of Prison Inmates, 2016.

The Bureau of Justice Statistics 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. BJS collects, analyzes, and disseminates reliable
statistics on crime and justice systems in the United States, supports
improvements to state and local criminal justice information systems, and
participates with national and international organizations to develop and
recommend national standards for justice statistics. Doris J. James is the
acting director.
This report was written by E. Ann Carson. Stephanie Mueller and Erica
Grasmick verified the report.
Eric Hendrixson and Edrienne Su edited the report. Carrie Epps-Carey

produced the report.
December 2021, NCJ 302776
Office of Justice Programs

Building Solutions • Supporting Communities • Advancing Justice
www.ojp.gov

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December 2021, NCJ 302776

Prisoners in 2020 – Statistical Tables

Bureau of Justice Statistics · Statistical Tables

Prisoners in 2020 – Statistical Tables | December 2021 2

Prisoners in 2020 – Statistical Tables | December 2021 3

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List of appendix tables

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An additional 19,000 persons in state and federal

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From 2019 to 2020, imprisonment rates for state

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Among male U.S. residents, more than 1% of blacks

Note: Jurisdiction refers to the legal authority of state or federal

Prisoners in 2020 – Statistical Tables | December 2021 23

Prisoners in 2020 – Statistical Tables | December 2021 24

From 2019 to 2020, four states (Alabama,

Prisoners in 2020 – Statistical Tables | December 2021 25

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More than 8 in 10 persons in federal prison on

Prisoners in 2020 – Statistical Tables | December 2021 33

Continued on next page

Prisoners in 2020 – Statistical Tables | December 2021 35

The BOP had 24,000 non-U.S. citizens in custody

Prisoners in 2020 – Statistical Tables | December 2021 37

Eighty-one percent of persons under military

Prisoners in 2020 – Statistical Tables | December 2021 38

Fourteen percent of U.S. Marine Corps personnel

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3For the FJSP web tool, see https://www.bjs.gov/fjsrc/.

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American Native Hawaiian/ Two or

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American Native Hawaiian/ Two or

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