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The main source for annual prisoner counts is the National Prisoner Statistics (NPS), data collection, which began in 1926 under a mandate from Congress to collect statistics on prisoners. The NPS distinguishes between four prison population counts: prisoners under jurisdiction, inmates held in custody, total inmates in custody, and the total incarcerated population (See Terms and Definitions for more information). NPS also gathers data on the number of prisoners admitted to and released from prison each year; imprisonment rates for prisoners sentenced to more than 1 year; age, race, and sex distributions; offense distributions; and the number of non-U.S. citizens and inmates under age 18 held in custody.
Data Collections & Surveys |
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Press Releases
Prisoners in 2010 (Revised) Presents data on prisoners under the jurisdiction of federal and state correctional authorities on December 31, 2010, collected from the National Prisoner Statistics series. | |
Press Release | PDF (1.7M) | ASCII file (44K) | Spreadsheets (Zip format 40K)
Part of the Prisoners Series |
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Prisoners in 2009 (Revised) This annual report presents data on prisoners under jurisdiction of federal or state correctional authorities on December 31, 2009, collected from the National Prisoner Statistics series. | |
Press Release | PDF (722K) | ASCII file (46K) | Spreadsheets (Zip format 54K)
Part of the Prisoners Series |
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Correctional Populations in the United States, 2010 Presents statistics on the number of offenders under the supervision of adult correctional authorities in the United States at yearend 2010. | |
Press Release | PDF (595K) | ASCII file (33K) | Spreadsheet (Zip format 26K)
Part of the Correctional Populations in the United States Series |
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Prisoners at Yearend 2009 - Advance Counts Presents data on prisoners under jurisdiction of federal or state correctional authorities on December 31, 2009, collected from the National Prisoner Statistics series | |
Press Release | PDF (149K) | ASCII file (12K) | Spreadsheets (Zip format 5K)
Part of the Prisoners Series |
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Prisoners in 2008 Presents data on prisoners under jurisdiction of federal or state correctional authorities on December 31, 2008, collected from the National Prisoner Statistics series. | |
Press Release | Acrobat file (PDF 1.6M) | ASCII file (47K) | Zip format (Spreadsheet 51K)
Part of the Prisoners Series |
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Prisoners in 2007 Presents data on prisoners under jurisdiction of federal or state correctional authorities on December 31, 2007, collected from the National Prisoner Statistics series. | |
Press Release | PDF (194K) | ASCII file (34K) | Spreadsheet (Zip format 39K) | To order paper version
Part of the Prisoners Series |
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Prison Inmates at Midyear 2007 Presents data on prisoners under jurisdiction of federal or state correctional authorities on June 30, 2007, collected from the National Prisoner Statistics series. | |
Press Release | PDF (456K) | ASCII file (31K) | Spreadsheet (Zip format 37K) | To order paper version
Part of the Prison and Jail Inmates at Midyear Series |
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Prisoners in 2006 Reports the number of persons in State and Federal prisons at yearend, compares the increase in the prison population during 2006 with the previous year, and presents prison growth rates since 2000. | |
Press Release | PDF (268K) | ASCII file (20K) | Spreadsheet (Zip format 22K) | To order paper version
Part of the Prisoners Series |
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Prison and Jail Inmates at Midyear 2006 Presents data on prison and jail inmates collected from National Prisoner Statistics counts and the Annual Survey of Jails, 2006. | |
Press Release | PDF (274K) | ASCII file (29K) | Spreadsheet (Zip format 34K) | To order paper version
Part of the Prison and Jail Inmates at Midyear Series |
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Prisoners in 2005 Reports the number of persons in State and Federal prisons at yearend, compares the increase in the prison population during 2005 with the previous year, and presents prison growth rates since 1995. | |
Press Release | PDF (229K) | ASCII file (32K) | Spreadsheet (Zip format 23K) | To order paper version
Part of the Prisoners Series |
Jail Inmates at Midyear 2011 - Statistical Tables Presents number of jails and jail inmates at midyear 2011. This report describes annual change in jail populations and patterns of change from 2000 through 2011. | |
Press Release | PDF (757K) | ASCII file (27K) | Spreadsheet (Zip format 59K) |
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Deaths in Custody: State Prison Deaths, 2001-2007 - Statistical Tables These tables provide national data on both the number and rate of prison deaths, by cause and over time, as well as specific data on each state's prisons. Tables include basic data on the number and characteristics of deaths reported each year by all 50 state prison systems. | |
Prison Inmates at Midyear 2009 - Statistical Tables Presents data on prisoners under the jurisdiction of federal or state correctional authorities on June 30, 2009, collected from the National Prisoner Statistics series. | |
Press Release | PDF (419K) | ASCII file | Spreadsheet (76K) |
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Prison Inmates at Midyear 2008 - Statistical Tables Presents data on prisoners under the jurisdiction of federal or state correctional authorities on June 30, 2008, collected from the National Prisoner Statistics series. | |
Press Release | PDF (528K) | ASCII file (17K) | Spreadsheet (Zip format 35K) |
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Number of sentenced prisoners admitted and released from state or federal jurisdiction, by region and jurisdiction, 2000, 2006, 2007 Appendix Table 4 from Prisoners in 2007 | |
Download CSV file (Data Table 6 KB) |
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Prisoners in 2006: Appendix table 4. Number of state and federal prisoners held in private facilities or local jails, yearend 2005 and 2006 Prisoners in 2006: Appendix table 4. Number of state and federal prisoners held in private facilities or local jails, yearend 2005 and 2006 | |
Spreadsheet (4K) |
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Number of sentenced prisoners admitted and released from state and federal jurisdiction, 2000-2007 Table 3 from Prisoners in 2007 | |
Download CSV file (Data Table 0 KB) |
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Persons Incarcerated Presents the number of inmates in prison, jail, on probation and parole under Local, State, or Federal correctional supervision. | |
All inmates (Spreadsheet 12K) | Male inmates (Spreadsheet 9K) | Female inmates (Spreadsheet 8K) |
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Prisoners Released Unconditionally Prisoners released unconditionally from State or Federal jurisdiction, 1977-98. | |
All prisoners (Spreadsheet 8K) | Male prisoners (Spreadsheet 8K) | Female prisoners (Spreadsheet 7K) |
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Prisoners Released Conditionally Presents the number of sentenced prisoners released conditionally from State or Federal jurisdiction, 1977-98. | |
All prisoners (Spreadsheet 9K) | Male prisoners (Spreadsheet 9K) | Female prisoners (Spreadsheet 8K) |
Terms & Definitions |
Custody count | To have custody of a prisoner, a state or the Federal Bureau of Prisons must hold that person in one of its facilities. A state may have custody of a prisoner over whom another state maintains jurisdiction. |
Federal prisons | Prison facilities run by the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Prisoners housed in these facilities are under the legal authority of the federal government. This definition excludes the private facilities that are under exclusive contract with BOP. |
Incarcerated population | Incarcerated population is the population of inmates confined in a prison or a jail. This may also include halfway-houses, bootcamps, weekend programs, and other entities in which individuals are locked up overnight. |
Jurisdiction count | Includes prisoners under legal authority of state or federal correctional authorities who are housed in prison facilities (e.g., prisons, penitentiaries and correctional institutions; boot camps; prison farms; reception, diagnostic, and classification centers; release centers, halfway houses, and road camps; forestry and conservation camps; vocational training facilities; prison hospitals; and drug and alcohol treatment facilities for prisoners), regardless of which state they are physically held in. This number also includes prisoners who are temporarily absent (less than 30 days), out to court, or on work release; housed in local jails, private facilities, and other states' or federal facilities; serving a sentence for two jurisdictions at the same time. This count excludes prisoners held in a state or federal facility for another state or the Federal Bureau of Prisons. However, prisoners housed in another state and under the legal authority of the governing state are included. |
Prisoners | Prisoners are inmates confined in long-term facilities run by the state or federal government or private agencies. They are typically felons who have received a sentence of incarceration of 1 year or more. (Sentence length may vary by state because a few states have one integrated prison system in which both prison and jail inmates are confined in the same types of facilities.) |
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