Data / Imprisonment rate (sentenced prisoners) / Kentucky

Imprisonment rate (sentenced prisoners) in Kentucky

Imprisonment rate (sentenced prisoners) in Kentucky was 423 per 100,000 people in 2023, according to Bureau of Justice Statistics. That is down 14 pts from 2022. That is the 10th highest of 50 states in 2023.

2023, per 100,000 people423
Change on 2022-14 pts
Rank10th of 50US states ranked
Series high5282017
Series low941978

Next release: Saturday, 20 February 2027, estimated by Invokely from past publication dates (low confidence), not announced by the publisher. Release calendar

Get an email when a new figure is out or this one is revised.

Imprisonment rate (sentenced prisoners) in Kentucky, 1978 to 2023

010020030040050060019781985199219992006201320231978: 94 per 100,000 people1979: 101 per 100,000 people1980: 98 per 100,000 people1981: 109 per 100,000 people1982: 109 per 100,000 people1983: 129 per 100,000 people1984: 130 per 100,000 people1985: 135 per 100,000 people1986: 143 per 100,000 people1987: 175 per 100,000 people1988: 193 per 100,000 people1989: 225 per 100,000 people1990: 244 per 100,000 people1991: 263 per 100,000 people1992: 275 per 100,000 people1993: 274 per 100,000 people1994: 288 per 100,000 people1995: 310 per 100,000 people1996: 329 per 100,000 people1997: 369 per 100,000 people1998: 376 per 100,000 people1999: 381 per 100,000 people2000: 368 per 100,000 people2001: 371 per 100,000 people2002: 381 per 100,000 people2003: 393 per 100,000 people2004: 413 per 100,000 people2005: 459 per 100,000 people2006: 462 per 100,000 people2007: 513 per 100,000 people2008: 491 per 100,000 people2009: 479 per 100,000 people2010: 459 per 100,000 people2011: 479 per 100,000 people2012: 489 per 100,000 people2013: 461 per 100,000 people2014: 474 per 100,000 people2015: 490 per 100,000 people2016: 518 per 100,000 people2017: 528 per 100,000 people2018: 525 per 100,000 people2019: 515 per 100,000 people2020: 412 per 100,000 people2021: 412 per 100,000 people2022: 437 per 100,000 people2023: 423 per 100,000 people
per 100,000 people. Source: BJS, National Prisoner Statistics: imprisonment rate of sentenced prisoners per 100,000 U.S. residents, total (CSAT quick table and Prisoners in YYYY statistical tables). Retrieved 2026-10-12, published 2026-02-20.
All 46 values
Periodper 100,000 people
2023423
2022437
2021412
2020412
2019515
2018525
2017528
2016518
2015490
2014474
2013461
2012489
2011479
2010459
2009479
2008491
2007513
2006462
2005459
2004413
2003393
2002381
2001371
2000368
1999381
1998376
1997369
1996329
1995310
1994288
1993274
1992275
1991263
1990244
1989225
1988193
1987175
1986143
1985135
1984130
1983129
1982109
1981109
198098
1979101
197894

Compared with United States

Place2023
Kentucky423
United States360

Rankings

Definition

Sentenced prisoners (sentence of more than 1 year) under the jurisdiction of state or federal correctional authorities on December 31, per 100,000 residents of all ages. Bureau of Justice Statistics, National Prisoner Statistics, with Census Bureau resident population estimates for January 1 of the following year.

Counts only prisoners sentenced to more than 1 year, so it differs from the prison population rate used for other countries (prison_population_rate), which counts everyone held in prison, pre-trial detainees included. Prisoners are counted by the jurisdiction with legal authority over them, wherever they are held, on December 31. The national figure adds the federal system to the states. Local jails are not included, except in Alaska, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Rhode Island and Vermont, which run one combined prison and jail system. Felons sentenced in the District of Columbia have been the responsibility of the Federal Bureau of Prisons since 2001, so the District has values only up to 2000.

How to cite

Bureau of Justice Statistics, National Prisoner Statistics. National Prisoner Statistics: imprisonment rate of sentenced prisoners per 100,000 U.S. residents, total (CSAT quick table and Prisoners in YYYY statistical tables). https://bjs.ojp.gov/library/publications/prisoners-2023-statistical-tables. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Citation styles

The publisher is the author. Invokely is named only as the place the figures were read, where a style asks for it.

APA 7

Bureau of Justice Statistics. (2026). National Prisoner Statistics: imprisonment rate of sentenced prisoners per 100,000 U.S. residents, total (CSAT quick table and Prisoners in YYYY statistical tables) (Imprisonment rate (sentenced prisoners), Kentucky, 1978 to 2023) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://bjs.ojp.gov/library/publications/prisoners-2023-statistical-tables

MLA 9

National Prisoner Statistics: imprisonment rate of sentenced prisoners per 100,000 U.S. residents, total (CSAT quick table and Prisoners in YYYY statistical tables), Imprisonment rate (sentenced prisoners), Kentucky, 1978 to 2023. Bureau of Justice Statistics, 20 Feb. 2026, https://bjs.ojp.gov/library/publications/prisoners-2023-statistical-tables. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/en/imprisonment-rate/kentucky. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

Bureau of Justice Statistics. 2026. National Prisoner Statistics: imprisonment rate of sentenced prisoners per 100,000 U.S. residents, total (CSAT quick table and Prisoners in YYYY statistical tables). Imprisonment rate (sentenced prisoners), Kentucky, 1978 to 2023. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://bjs.ojp.gov/library/publications/prisoners-2023-statistical-tables. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/en/imprisonment-rate/kentucky.

Harvard

Bureau of Justice Statistics (2026) National Prisoner Statistics: imprisonment rate of sentenced prisoners per 100,000 U.S. residents, total (CSAT quick table and Prisoners in YYYY statistical tables), Imprisonment rate (sentenced prisoners), Kentucky, 1978 to 2023 [Dataset]. Available at: https://bjs.ojp.gov/library/publications/prisoners-2023-statistical-tables, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/en/imprisonment-rate/kentucky (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{bureau_imprisonment_rate_sentenced_prisoners_2023,
  author = {{Bureau of Justice Statistics}},
  title = {{National Prisoner Statistics: imprisonment rate of sentenced prisoners per 100,000 U.S. residents, total (CSAT quick table and Prisoners in YYYY statistical tables): Imprisonment rate (sentenced prisoners), Kentucky, 1978 to 2023}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://bjs.ojp.gov/library/publications/prisoners-2023-statistical-tables},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/en/imprisonment-rate/kentucky. Publisher attribution: Bureau of Justice Statistics, National Prisoner Statistics. National Prisoner Statistics: imprisonment rate of sentenced prisoners per 100,000 U.S. residents, total (CSAT quick table and Prisoners in YYYY statistical tables). https://bjs.ojp.gov/library/publications/prisoners-2023-statistical-tables. Retrieved 2026-10-12.},
}
RIS
TY  - DATA
AU  - Bureau of Justice Statistics
TI  - National Prisoner Statistics: imprisonment rate of sentenced prisoners per 100,000 U.S. residents, total (CSAT quick table and Prisoners in YYYY statistical tables): Imprisonment rate (sentenced prisoners), Kentucky, 1978 to 2023
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/02/20
PB  - Bureau of Justice Statistics
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://bjs.ojp.gov/library/publications/prisoners-2023-statistical-tables
L2  - https://invokely.ai/en/imprisonment-rate/kentucky
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/en/imprisonment-rate/kentucky.
N1  - Publisher attribution: Bureau of Justice Statistics, National Prisoner Statistics. National Prisoner Statistics: imprisonment rate of sentenced prisoners per 100,000 U.S. residents, total (CSAT quick table and Prisoners in YYYY statistical tables). https://bjs.ojp.gov/library/publications/prisoners-2023-statistical-tables. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -
Embed this chart

Paste this code into a web page or a blog post. The chart shows the latest figures as they are published, with the source and a link back to this page.

Sites that read oEmbed links, such as WordPress, can show the chart when you paste the link to this page.

Use this data in your AI agent

Invokely serves this figure to AI assistants through MCP and to code through a REST API, with the source and citation attached. Ask your assistant:

What is the latest imprisonment rate (sentenced prisoners) in Kentucky? Cite the source.
get_value {"indicator":"imprisonment_rate","place":"us-state-21"}
GET https://invokely.ai/api/v1/value?indicator=imprisonment_rate&place=us-state-21

Connect Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor in one step. The trial answers 25 calls a day without an account.

Questions

What is the imprisonment rate (sentenced prisoners) in Kentucky?

Imprisonment rate (sentenced prisoners) in Kentucky was 423 per 100,000 people in 2023, according to Bureau of Justice Statistics. That is down 14 pts from 2022. That is the 10th highest of 50 states in 2023.

Where does this figure come from?

Bureau of Justice Statistics. National Prisoner Statistics: imprisonment rate of sentenced prisoners per 100,000 U.S. residents, total (CSAT quick table and Prisoners in YYYY statistical tables). Retrieved by Invokely on 2026-10-12.

What was the highest imprisonment rate (sentenced prisoners) in Kentucky?

528 per 100,000 people in 2017, the highest value since 1978 in this series.

Imprisonment rate (sentenced prisoners) elsewhere in United States

Related statistics for Kentucky

All statistics for Kentucky | Kentucky in figures