BJS: Bureau of Justice Statistics

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Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS)
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Home | Corrections | State and federal prisoners and prison facilities | Prison inmate characteristics
Prison inmate characteristics
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Characteristics of prison inmates are collected through administrative data and inmate self-reports from interviews conducted in facilities (see Corrections Data Collections for more information). Note: BJS publishes similar characteristic information for jail inmates and tables that detail age, sex, race, and Hispanic origin estimates of persons in prisons and jails. See table names and notes to verify the population of reference.

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Data Collections & Surveys

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Publications & Products


Prisoners in 2019 This report is the 94th in a series that began in 1926. It provides counts of prisoners under the jurisdiction of state and federal correctional authorities in 2019 and includes findings on admissions, releases, and imprisonment rates.
  Press Release (203K) | Summary (PDF 176K) | Full report (PDF 796K) | Data tables (Zip format 46K) | Jurisdiction notes (PDF 86K)
Part of the Prisoners Series

Correctional Populations in the United States, 2017-2018 This report is the 23rd in a series that began in 1985. It provides statistics on populations supervised by adult correctional systems in the United States, including persons held in prisons or jails and those supervised in the community on probation or parole.
  Full report (PDF 701K) | Data tables (Zip format 17K)
Part of the Correctional Populations in the United States Series

Prisoners in 2018 This report is the 93rd in a series that began in 1926. It provides counts of prisoners under the jurisdiction of state and federal correctional authorities in 2018 and includes findings on admissions, releases, and imprisonment rates.
  Press Release (221K) | Summary (PDF 579K) | Full report (PDF 2M) | Data tables (Zip format 48K) | Jurisdiction notes (PDF 166K)
Part of the Prisoners Series

Data Collected Under the First Step Act, 2019 This is the first report as required under the First Step Act of 2018 (FSA, P.L. 115-391 ยง 610). It includes data on federal prisoners provided to BJS by the Federal Bureau of Prisons for calendar year 2018, which is prior to the enactment of the FSA.
  Full report (PDF 583K) | Data tables (Zip format 12K)

Methodology: Survey of Prison Inmates, 2016 Describes the survey methods used to carry out the Survey of Prison Inmates, 2016.
  Full report (PDF 428K) | Data tables (Zip format 5K)

Prisoners in 2017 Presents final counts of prisoners under the jurisdiction of state and federal correctional authorities at year-end 2017 and includes findings on admissions, releases, and imprisonment rates.
  Press Release (213K) | Summary (PDF 207K) | Full report (PDF 596K) | Data Tables (Zip format 100K)
Part of the Prisoners Series

Source and Use of Firearms Involved in Crimes: Survey of Prison Inmates, 2016 Presents statistics that describe firearm possession of state and federal prisoners who were serving a sentence in 2016.
  Summary (PDF 222K) | Full report (PDF 431K) | Data tables (Zip format 7K)

Time Served in State Prison, 2016 Presents findings on the time served by prisoners released from state prison in 2016.
  Press Release (189K) | Full report (PDF 575K) | Data Tables (Zip format 7K)

Correctional Populations in the United States, 2016 Presents statistics on persons supervised by U.S. adult correctional systems at year-end 2016, including persons supervised in the community on probation or parole and those incarcerated in state or federal prison or local jail.
  Press Release (71K) | Full report (PDF 635K) | Data tables (Spreadsheet 14K)
Part of the Correctional Populations in the United States Series

Prisoners in 2016 Presents final counts of prisoners under the jurisdiction of state and federal correctional authorities at yearend 2016, including admissions, releases, noncitizen inmates, and inmates age 17 or younger.
  Press Release (74K) | Summary (PDF 205K) | Full report (PDF 1M) | Comma-delimited format (CSV) (Zip format 40K)
Part of the Prisoners Series

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Terms & Definitions

Custody To have custody of a prisoner, a state or the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) must physically hold that person in one of its facilities. A locality, state, or the BOP may hold inmates over whom a different government maintains jurisdiction.
 
Custody count The number of offenders in custody. To have custody of a prisoner, a state or the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) must physically hold that person in one of its facilities. A locality, state, or the BOP may have custody of a prisoner over whom a different government maintains jurisdiction.
 
Design capacity The number of inmates that planners or architects intended for the facility.
 
Federal prisons Prison facilities run by the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP). Prisoners housed in these facilities are under the legal authority of the federal government. This excludes private facilities under exclusive contract with BOP.
 
Imprisoned population The population of inmates confined in prison or other facilities under the jurisdiction of the state or Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP).
 
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