Mass Incarceration In America: Prison Statistics Series

Mass Incarceration: Prison Statistics

The table of contents will include every state so users can quickly jump to the data for a particular state.

This is an Antifa HQ series focusing on mass incarceration and the harrowing prison statistics for the United States of America. To bring to light how we over-incarcerate in this country, we’ll compare rates between the U.S. and ally countries.

We’ll also look at the number of people incarcerated by state. This is a work in progress with states added daily. Feel free to browse through all states, or use the table of contents to jump to the state you’re interested in.

Table Of Contents

Prison Statistics
Prison Statistics by State

Arkansas by itself beats the entire U.S. and every NATO country.

Graph showing incarceration rates in Arkansas compared to other countries — In the U.S., incarceration extends beyond prisons and local jails to include other systems of confinement. The U.S. and state incarceration rates in this graph include people held by these other parts of the justice system, so they may be slightly higher than the commonly reported incarceration rates that only include prisons and jails.

Prison Statistics

We will begin by looking at prison statistics for the United States as a whole. From there, we will break down statistics by state.

This project is using the amazing work and graphics by the Prison Policy Initiative.

The United States has the highest incarceration rate globally, with nearly two million people in prisons and jails. In 2023, the U.S. prison population was 1,254,200, with a 2% increase from 2022. A significant portion, 96%, of this population is comprised of individuals sentenced to more than one year in state or federal prison. Furthermore, the U.S. spends approximately $182 billion annually on incarceration, not including the social costs.