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United States incarceration rate

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United States incarceration rate

According to the World Prison Brief (WPB) the United States had the world's highest incarceration rate from 2001 (when the US overtook Russia) through October 4, 2022 (US rate of 629 per 100,000 population at that time). That was except for periods when the Seychelles (population around 121,000) had the highest rate. According to the WPB as of September 3, 2025 the United States had the fifth highest incarceration rate in the world, at 541 per 100,000 population, using the latest available solid US numbers (2022) from the Bureau of Justice Statistics. Between 2019 and 2020, the United States saw a significant drop in the total number of incarcerations. State and federal prison, and local jail, incarcerations dropped from 2.1 million in 2019 to 1.7 million in 2020. The US incarceration total has risen since 2020. See the Bureau of Justice Statistics timeline table to the right below the map. As of their March 2023 publication, the Prison Policy Initiative, a non-profit organization for decarceration, estimated that in the United States, about 1.9 million people were or are currently incarcerated. Of those who were incarcerated, 1,047,000 people were in state prison, 514,000 in local jails, 209,000 in federal prisons, 36,000 in youth correctional facilities, 34,000 in immigration detention camps, 22,000 in involuntary commitment, 8,000 in territorial prisons, 2,000 in Indian Country jails, and 1,000 in United States military prisons. The data is from various years depending on what is the latest available data. Corrections (which includes prisons, jails, probation, and parole) cost around $74 billion in 2007 according to the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS). According to the Justice Expenditures and Employment in the United States, 2017 report release by BJS, it is estimated that county and municipal governments spent roughly US$30 billion on corrections in 2017.

Tables

US incarceration count, and rate per 100,000 population. Jails, state and federal prisons. No juvenile facilities. World Prison Brief.[7][4] · Growth and subsequent decline
1940
1940
Year
1940
Count
264,834
Rate
201
1950
1950
Year
1950
Count
264,620
Rate
176
1960
1960
Year
1960
Count
346,015
Rate
193
1970
1970
Year
1970
Count
328,020
Rate
161
1980
1980
Year
1980
Count
503,586
Rate
220
1985
1985
Year
1985
Count
744,208
Rate
311
1990
1990
Year
1990
Count
1,148,702
Rate
457
1995
1995
Year
1995
Count
1,585,586
Rate
592
2000
2000
Year
2000
Count
1,937,482
Rate
683
2002
2002
Year
2002
Count
2,033,022
Rate
703
2004
2004
Year
2004
Count
2,135,335
Rate
725
2006
2006
Year
2006
Count
2,258,792
Rate
752
2008
2008
Year
2008
Count
2,307,504
Rate
755
2010
2010
Year
2010
Count
2,270,142
Rate
731
2012
2012
Year
2012
Count
2,228,424
Rate
707
2014
2014
Year
2014
Count
2,217,947
Rate
693
2016
2016
Year
2016
Count
2,157,800
Rate
666
2018
2018
Year
2018
Count
2,102,400
Rate
642
2020
2020
Year
2020
Count
1,675,400
Rate
505
2021
2021
Year
2021
Count
1,767,200
Rate
531
2022
2022
Year
2022
Count
1,808,100
Rate
541
Year
Count
Rate
1940
264,834
201
1950
264,620
176
1960
346,015
193
1970
328,020
161
1980
503,586
220
1985
744,208
311
1990
1,148,702
457
1995
1,585,586
592
2000
1,937,482
683
2002
2,033,022
703
2004
2,135,335
725
2006
2,258,792
752
2008
2,307,504
755
2010
2,270,142
731
2012
2,228,424
707
2014
2,217,947
693
2016
2,157,800
666
2018
2,102,400
642
2020
1,675,400
505
2021
1,767,200
531
2022
1,808,100
541

References

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