Data / Rankings / Female imprisonment rate (sentenced prisoners) / US states

US states by female imprisonment rate (sentenced prisoners)

Oklahoma had the highest female imprisonment rate (sentenced prisoners) of 50 states in 2015, at 152 per 100,000 people. Rhode Island had the lowest, at 11 per 100,000 people. The median was 55 per 100,000 people and the figure for the United States was 64 per 100,000 people. Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics.

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Highest152Oklahoma
Lowest11Rhode Island
Median5550 states
United States64History

Map of states, 2015

Alabama: 97 per 100,000 peopleAlaska: 50 per 100,000 peopleArizona: 105 per 100,000 peopleArkansas: 91 per 100,000 peopleCalifornia: 29 per 100,000 peopleColorado: 67 per 100,000 peopleConnecticut: 31 per 100,000 peopleDelaware: 46 per 100,000 peopleFlorida: 66 per 100,000 peopleGeorgia: 68 per 100,000 peopleHawaii: 50 per 100,000 peopleIdaho: 112 per 100,000 peopleIllinois: 41 per 100,000 peopleIndiana: 76 per 100,000 peopleIowa: 51 per 100,000 peopleKansas: 53 per 100,000 peopleKentucky: 115 per 100,000 peopleLouisiana: 86 per 100,000 peopleMaine: 19 per 100,000 peopleMaryland: 28 per 100,000 peopleMassachusetts: 15 per 100,000 peopleMichigan: 45 per 100,000 peopleMinnesota: 28 per 100,000 peopleMississippi: 78 per 100,000 peopleMissouri: 105 per 100,000 peopleMontana: 76 per 100,000 peopleNebraska: 44 per 100,000 peopleNevada: 80 per 100,000 peopleNew Hampshire: 35 per 100,000 peopleNew Jersey: 20 per 100,000 peopleNew Mexico: 66 per 100,000 peopleNew York: 23 per 100,000 peopleNorth Carolina: 48 per 100,000 peopleNorth Dakota: 56 per 100,000 peopleOhio: 75 per 100,000 peopleOklahoma: 152 per 100,000 peopleOregon: 64 per 100,000 peoplePennsylvania: 42 per 100,000 peopleRhode Island: 11 per 100,000 peopleSouth Carolina: 50 per 100,000 peopleSouth Dakota: 97 per 100,000 peopleTennessee: 78 per 100,000 peopleTexas: 92 per 100,000 peopleUtah: 34 per 100,000 peopleVermont: 26 per 100,000 peopleVirginia: 76 per 100,000 peopleWashington: 40 per 100,000 peopleWest Virginia: 93 per 100,000 peopleWisconsin: 46 per 100,000 peopleWyoming: 93 per 100,000 people
  • Under 29
  • 29 to 45
  • 45 to 55
  • 55 to 76
  • 76 to 93
  • 93 and over
  • No data
per 100,000 people, 2015. Hatched areas have no value for this period. Source: BJS, National Prisoner Statistics: imprisonment rate of sentenced female prisoners per 100,000 female U.S. residents (CSAT quick table and Prisoners in YYYY statistical tables). Boundaries: U.S. Census Bureau cartographic boundary files.

All states, 2015

Oklahoma: 152 per 100,000 peopleOklahoma152Kentucky: 115 per 100,000 peopleKentucky115Idaho: 112 per 100,000 peopleIdaho112Missouri: 105 per 100,000 peopleMissouri105Arizona: 105 per 100,000 peopleArizona105Alabama: 97 per 100,000 peopleAlabama97South Dakota: 97 per 100,000 peopleSouth Dakota97West Virginia: 93 per 100,000 peopleWest Virginia93Wyoming: 93 per 100,000 peopleWyoming93Texas: 92 per 100,000 peopleTexas92Arkansas: 91 per 100,000 peopleArkansas91Louisiana: 86 per 100,000 peopleLouisiana86Nevada: 80 per 100,000 peopleNevada80Mississippi: 78 per 100,000 peopleMississippi78Tennessee: 78 per 100,000 peopleTennessee78Virginia: 76 per 100,000 peopleVirginia76Montana: 76 per 100,000 peopleMontana76Indiana: 76 per 100,000 peopleIndiana76Ohio: 75 per 100,000 peopleOhio75Georgia: 68 per 100,000 peopleGeorgia68Colorado: 67 per 100,000 peopleColorado67Florida: 66 per 100,000 peopleFlorida66New Mexico: 66 per 100,000 peopleNew Mexico66Oregon: 64 per 100,000 peopleOregon64North Dakota: 56 per 100,000 peopleNorth Dakota56Kansas: 53 per 100,000 peopleKansas53Iowa: 51 per 100,000 peopleIowa51Hawaii: 50 per 100,000 peopleHawaii50South Carolina: 50 per 100,000 peopleSouth Carolina50Alaska: 50 per 100,000 peopleAlaska50North Carolina: 48 per 100,000 peopleNorth Carolina48Delaware: 46 per 100,000 peopleDelaware46Wisconsin: 46 per 100,000 peopleWisconsin46Michigan: 45 per 100,000 peopleMichigan45Nebraska: 44 per 100,000 peopleNebraska44Pennsylvania: 42 per 100,000 peoplePennsylvania42Illinois: 41 per 100,000 peopleIllinois41Washington: 40 per 100,000 peopleWashington40New Hampshire: 35 per 100,000 peopleNew Hampshire35Utah: 34 per 100,000 peopleUtah34Connecticut: 31 per 100,000 peopleConnecticut31California: 29 per 100,000 peopleCalifornia29Maryland: 28 per 100,000 peopleMaryland28Minnesota: 28 per 100,000 peopleMinnesota28Vermont: 26 per 100,000 peopleVermont26New York: 23 per 100,000 peopleNew York23New Jersey: 20 per 100,000 peopleNew Jersey20Maine: 19 per 100,000 peopleMaine19Massachusetts: 15 per 100,000 peopleMassachusetts15Rhode Island: 11 per 100,000 peopleRhode Island11Oklahoma: 152 per 100,000 peopleOklahoma152Kentucky: 115 per 100,000 peopleKentucky115Idaho: 112 per 100,000 peopleIdaho112Missouri: 105 per 100,000 peopleMissouri105Arizona: 105 per 100,000 peopleArizona105Alabama: 97 per 100,000 peopleAlabama97South Dakota: 97 per 100,000 peopleSouth Dakota97West Virginia: 93 per 100,000 peopleWest Virginia93Wyoming: 93 per 100,000 peopleWyoming93Texas: 92 per 100,000 peopleTexas92Arkansas: 91 per 100,000 peopleArkansas91Louisiana: 86 per 100,000 peopleLouisiana86Nevada: 80 per 100,000 peopleNevada80Mississippi: 78 per 100,000 peopleMississippi78Tennessee: 78 per 100,000 peopleTennessee78Virginia: 76 per 100,000 peopleVirginia76Montana: 76 per 100,000 peopleMontana76Indiana: 76 per 100,000 peopleIndiana76Ohio: 75 per 100,000 peopleOhio75Georgia: 68 per 100,000 peopleGeorgia68Colorado: 67 per 100,000 peopleColorado67Florida: 66 per 100,000 peopleFlorida66New Mexico: 66 per 100,000 peopleNew Mexico66Oregon: 64 per 100,000 peopleOregon64North Dakota: 56 per 100,000 peopleNorth Dakota56Kansas: 53 per 100,000 peopleKansas53Iowa: 51 per 100,000 peopleIowa51Hawaii: 50 per 100,000 peopleHawaii50South Carolina: 50 per 100,000 peopleSouth Carolina50Alaska: 50 per 100,000 peopleAlaska50North Carolina: 48 per 100,000 peopleNorth Carolina48Delaware: 46 per 100,000 peopleDelaware46Wisconsin: 46 per 100,000 peopleWisconsin46Michigan: 45 per 100,000 peopleMichigan45Nebraska: 44 per 100,000 peopleNebraska44Pennsylvania: 42 per 100,000 peoplePennsylvania42Illinois: 41 per 100,000 peopleIllinois41Washington: 40 per 100,000 peopleWashington40New Hampshire: 35 per 100,000 peopleNew Hampshire35Utah: 34 per 100,000 peopleUtah34Connecticut: 31 per 100,000 peopleConnecticut31California: 29 per 100,000 peopleCalifornia29Maryland: 28 per 100,000 peopleMaryland28Minnesota: 28 per 100,000 peopleMinnesota28Vermont: 26 per 100,000 peopleVermont26New York: 23 per 100,000 peopleNew York23New Jersey: 20 per 100,000 peopleNew Jersey20Maine: 19 per 100,000 peopleMaine19Massachusetts: 15 per 100,000 peopleMassachusetts15Rhode Island: 11 per 100,000 peopleRhode Island11
per 100,000 people. Source: BJS, National Prisoner Statistics: imprisonment rate of sentenced female prisoners per 100,000 female U.S. residents (CSAT quick table and Prisoners in YYYY statistical tables). Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankStates2015
per 100,000 people		Change on 2014
1Oklahoma152+9.2 pts
2Kentucky115+7.2 pts
3Idaho112-13.4 pts
4Missouri105+5.1 pts
5Arizona105+1.1 pts
6Alabama97-0.4 pts
7South Dakota97+0.9 pts
8West Virginia93+4.6 pts
9Wyoming93-3.5 pts
10Texas92-1 pts
11Arkansas91-0.6 pts
12Louisiana86-1.5 pts
13Nevada80+4.3 pts
14Mississippi78+0.5 pts
15Tennessee78+0.4 pts
16Virginia76+4.9 pts
17Montana76-0.2 pts
18Indiana76-10.1 pts
19Ohio75+3.8 pts
20Georgia68+1.2 pts
21Colorado67-3.5 pts
22Florida66-4.6 pts
23New Mexico66+3.3 pts
24Oregon64+0.7 pts
25North Dakota56+4.6 pts
26Kansas53+3.1 pts
27Iowa51+3.7 pts
28Hawaii50+6.1 pts
29South Carolina50-1.6 pts
30Alaska50+5.5 pts
31North Carolina48+0.5 pts
32Delaware46+1.9 pts
33Wisconsin46+1 pts
34Michigan45+3 pts
35Nebraska44-1.2 pts
36Pennsylvania42+1 pts
37Illinois41-3 pts
38Washington40-0.4 pts
39New Hampshire35-1.2 pts
40Utah34-10.5 pts
41Connecticut31-3.1 pts
42California29-3.2 pts
43Maryland28-0.8 pts
44Minnesota28+1.2 pts
45Vermont26-6.8 pts
46New York23+0.3 pts
47New Jersey20-2.4 pts
48Maine19-1.5 pts
49Massachusetts15+0.2 pts
50Rhode Island11-1.1 pts

Other periods

About this ranking

Sentenced female prisoners (sentence of more than 1 year) under the jurisdiction of state or federal correctional authorities on December 31, per 100,000 female residents. 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.

Every value in the ranking comes from the same publisher and the same period, so the states are compared on one definition. 1 states with data in other periods have no value for 2015 and are left out rather than filled from another source. Equal values share a rank.

How to cite

Bureau of Justice Statistics, National Prisoner Statistics. National Prisoner Statistics: imprisonment rate of sentenced female prisoners per 100,000 female U.S. residents (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 female prisoners per 100,000 female U.S. residents (CSAT quick table and Prisoners in YYYY statistical tables) (US states by female imprisonment rate (sentenced prisoners), 2015) [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 female prisoners per 100,000 female U.S. residents (CSAT quick table and Prisoners in YYYY statistical tables), US states by female imprisonment rate (sentenced prisoners), 2015. Bureau of Justice Statistics, 20 Feb. 2026, https://bjs.ojp.gov/library/publications/prisoners-2023-statistical-tables. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/female-imprisonment-rate/us-states?period=2015. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

Bureau of Justice Statistics. 2026. National Prisoner Statistics: imprisonment rate of sentenced female prisoners per 100,000 female U.S. residents (CSAT quick table and Prisoners in YYYY statistical tables). US states by female imprisonment rate (sentenced prisoners), 2015. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://bjs.ojp.gov/library/publications/prisoners-2023-statistical-tables. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/female-imprisonment-rate/us-states?period=2015.

Harvard

Bureau of Justice Statistics (2026) National Prisoner Statistics: imprisonment rate of sentenced female prisoners per 100,000 female U.S. residents (CSAT quick table and Prisoners in YYYY statistical tables), US states by female imprisonment rate (sentenced prisoners), 2015 [Dataset]. Available at: https://bjs.ojp.gov/library/publications/prisoners-2023-statistical-tables, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/female-imprisonment-rate/us-states?period=2015 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{bureau_us_states_by_female_2015,
  author = {{Bureau of Justice Statistics}},
  title = {{National Prisoner Statistics: imprisonment rate of sentenced female prisoners per 100,000 female U.S. residents (CSAT quick table and Prisoners in YYYY statistical tables): US states by female imprisonment rate (sentenced prisoners), 2015}},
  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/rankings/female-imprisonment-rate/us-states?period=2015. Publisher attribution: Bureau of Justice Statistics, National Prisoner Statistics. National Prisoner Statistics: imprisonment rate of sentenced female prisoners per 100,000 female U.S. residents (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 female prisoners per 100,000 female U.S. residents (CSAT quick table and Prisoners in YYYY statistical tables): US states by female imprisonment rate (sentenced prisoners), 2015
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/rankings/female-imprisonment-rate/us-states?period=2015
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/female-imprisonment-rate/us-states?period=2015.
N1  - Publisher attribution: Bureau of Justice Statistics, National Prisoner Statistics. National Prisoner Statistics: imprisonment rate of sentenced female prisoners per 100,000 female U.S. residents (CSAT quick table and Prisoners in YYYY statistical tables). https://bjs.ojp.gov/library/publications/prisoners-2023-statistical-tables. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -
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Questions

Which state has the highest female imprisonment rate (sentenced prisoners)?

Oklahoma, with 152 per 100,000 people in 2015, according to Bureau of Justice Statistics.

Which state has the lowest female imprisonment rate (sentenced prisoners)?

Rhode Island, with 11 per 100,000 people in 2015.

Where does this ranking come from?

Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: Bureau of Justice Statistics, National Prisoner Statistics: imprisonment rate of sentenced female prisoners per 100,000 female U.S. residents (CSAT quick table and Prisoners in YYYY statistical tables). Retrieved 2026-10-12. 1 states have no value for 2015 and are not ranked.

US states: more rankings