0.36%
2023 (latest)
IMPRISONMENT RATE
percent of US residents in state or federal prison · 1978–2023 · lower is better · BJS National Prisoner Statistics
0.13%
1978
0.51%
high · 2007
0.13%
low · 1978
+0.23 pts
since 1978
┊ dashed lines mark 1979 Oil shock & inflation peak · 1987 Black Monday crash · 1991 Gulf War recession · 2001 Dot-com bust & 9/11 · 2008 Global financial crisis · 2020 COVID-19 pandemic
Method & caveats. State and federal prisoners serving sentences of more than a year, as a percent of US residents of all ages (BJS publishes the rate per 100,000; this is that rate divided by 1,000). Prisons only — local jails, which hold several hundred thousand more people, are counted separately by BJS. History from Prisoners in 2020 (Appendix Table 1), recent years from Prisoners in 2023 (Table 5); the overlapping years agree.
Sources
Every value on this page is read from the publisher below. Current and historical source documents:
- https://bjs.ojp.gov/library/publications/prisoners-2023-statistical-tables
- https://bjs.ojp.gov/library/publications/prisoners-2020-statistical-tables
- https://github.com/danielmiessler/substrate/tree/main/Data/US-Long-Run-Indicators
Data
| Year | Imprisonment Rate | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 0.36% | +0.01 pts |
| 2022 | 0.35% | +0.01 pts |
| 2021 | 0.35% | −0.01 pts |
| 2020 | 0.36% | −0.06 pts |
| 2019 | 0.42% | −0.01 pts |
| 2018 | 0.43% | −0.01 pts |
| 2017 | 0.44% | −0.01 pts |
| 2016 | 0.45% | −0.01 pts |
| 2015 | 0.46% | −0.01 pts |
| 2014 | 0.47% | −0.01 pts |
| 2013 | 0.48% | −0.00 pts |
| 2012 | 0.48% | −0.01 pts |
| 2011 | 0.49% | −0.01 pts |
| 2010 | 0.50% | −0.00 pts |
| 2009 | 0.50% | −0.00 pts |
| 2008 | 0.51% | +0.00 pts |
| 2007 | 0.51% | +0.01 pts |
| 2006 | 0.50% | +0.01 pts |
| 2005 | 0.49% | +0.01 pts |
| 2004 | 0.49% | +0.00 pts |
| 2003 | 0.48% | +0.01 pts |
| 2002 | 0.48% | +0.01 pts |
| 2001 | 0.47% | +0.00 pts |
| 2000 | 0.47% | −0.01 pts |
| 1999 | 0.48% | +0.01 pts |
| 1998 | 0.46% | +0.02 pts |
| 1997 | 0.44% | +0.02 pts |
| 1996 | 0.43% | +0.02 pts |
| 1995 | 0.41% | +0.02 pts |
| 1994 | 0.39% | +0.03 pts |
| 1993 | 0.36% | +0.03 pts |
| 1992 | 0.33% | +0.02 pts |
| 1991 | 0.31% | +0.02 pts |
| 1990 | 0.29% | +0.02 pts |
| 1989 | 0.27% | +0.03 pts |
| 1988 | 0.25% | +0.02 pts |
| 1987 | 0.23% | +0.01 pts |
| 1986 | 0.22% | +0.01 pts |
| 1985 | 0.20% | +0.01 pts |
| 1984 | 0.19% | +0.01 pts |
| 1983 | 0.18% | +0.01 pts |
| 1982 | 0.17% | +0.02 pts |
| 1981 | 0.15% | +0.01 pts |
| 1980 | 0.14% | +0.01 pts |
| 1979 | 0.13% | +0.00 pts |
| 1978 | 0.13% | — |
Also in Crime & Justice