How large is the prison population in the United States?

The United States maintains the largest known prison population in the world, holding over 1.2 million people under state and federal jurisdiction by year-end 2023. Local jails held an additional preliminary 657,500 people at midyear 2024. While overall prison numbers grew dramatically beginning in the 1970s, they have experienced a steady decline since peaking around 2009.

What we know

• At year-end 2023, 1,254,200 people were under the jurisdiction of state or federal correctional authorities, representing a 2 percent increase from 2022. [2]
• Local jails held 657,500 people in custody at midyear 2024 according to preliminary figures, showing little change from 664,200 at midyear 2023. [2]
• Violent offenses account for over 3 in 5 people in state prisons, while drug offenses account for about 1 in 5 people in U.S. prisons. [2]
• Since reaching its peak level of imprisonment in 2009, the U.S. prison population has dropped by 25 percent through year-end 2021, a trend also noted in general descriptions of the U.S. criminal justice system. [1, 2]

Where to go next

• what caused itWhat drove the dramatic growth of US prisons in the 1970s?
• whenHow did the COVID-19 pandemic affect US prison populations?
• compared withWhich states have reduced their prison populations the most?
• how it workedHow do prison phone and bail bond fees impact inmates?
• the bigger pictureWhat is the role of local and county jails in the US?
• an unexpected connectionHow does fighting game media intersect with criminal justice topics?The source package includes popular culture entries like fighting video games alongside serious statistical data on state and federal correctional authorities.

Sources

• [1]incarceration in the United States (Wikidata Q1459937) · CC0 1.0
• [2]Incarceration in the United States · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [3]United States · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [4]Injustice: Gods Among Us · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [5]Israel · CC BY-SA 4.0