194
2024 (latest)
JAIL INCARCERATION RATE
persons held in local jail per 100,000 U.S. residents · 2012–2024 · neither direction is "better" · Bureau of Justice Statistics, Annual Survey of Jails / Census of Jails
237
2012
237
high · 2012
166
low · 2020
−18%
since 2012
┊ dashed lines mark 2020 COVID-19 pandemic
Method & caveats. Midyear persons held in local jail per 100,000 U.S. residents. 13 annual points, 2012–2024, the rate history BJS publishes in its Jail Inmates tables: the 2024 edition (Table 1, 2014–2024) is taken first, the 2023 edition adds 2013, and the 2022 edition adds 2012=237. On overlapping years the newest edition wins; the 2024 edition revised 2021–2023 down by one point each (192→191, 199→198, 198→197). BJS no longer serves the 2017–2021 edition files. 2019 and 2024 are Census of Jails complete enumerations; 2020–2021 declines reflect pandemic-era population changes. Breaks: 2019 Census of Jails (complete enumeration) replaces the sample-based Annual Survey of Jails for that year only; 2020-2021 COVID-era population decline is a real population shift, not a methodology break.
Sources
Every value on this page is read from the publisher below. Current and historical source documents:
- https://bjs.ojp.gov/document/ji24st.zip
- https://bjs.ojp.gov/document/ji23st.zip
- https://bjs.ojp.gov/document/ji22st.zip
- https://github.com/danielmiessler/substrate/tree/main/Data/US-Crime-And-Justice
Data
| Year | Jail incarceration rate | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 194 | −2% |
| 2023 | 197 | −1% |
| 2022 | 198 | +4% |
| 2021 | 191 | +15% |
| 2020 | 166 | −26% |
| 2019 | 224 | −1% |
| 2018 | 226 | −1% |
| 2017 | 229 | +0% |
| 2016 | 229 | +1% |
| 2015 | 227 | −3% |
| 2014 | 234 | +1% |
| 2013 | 231 | −3% |
| 2012 | 237 | — |
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