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

US states by female imprisonment rate (sentenced prisoners)

Idaho had the highest female imprisonment rate (sentenced prisoners) of 50 states in 2020, at 109 per 100,000 people. Massachusetts had the lowest, at 6 per 100,000 people. The median was 43 per 100,000 people and the figure for the United States was 48 per 100,000 people. Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics.

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Highest109Idaho
Lowest6Massachusetts
Median4350 states
United States48History

Map of states, 2020

Alabama: 48 per 100,000 peopleAlaska: 28 per 100,000 peopleArizona: 98 per 100,000 peopleArkansas: 85 per 100,000 peopleCalifornia: 19 per 100,000 peopleColorado: 46 per 100,000 peopleConnecticut: 16 per 100,000 peopleDelaware: 18 per 100,000 peopleFlorida: 46 per 100,000 peopleGeorgia: 56 per 100,000 peopleHawaii: 35 per 100,000 peopleIdaho: 109 per 100,000 peopleIllinois: 22 per 100,000 peopleIndiana: 70 per 100,000 peopleIowa: 43 per 100,000 peopleKansas: 50 per 100,000 peopleKentucky: 89 per 100,000 peopleLouisiana: 50 per 100,000 peopleMaine: 17 per 100,000 peopleMaryland: 16 per 100,000 peopleMassachusetts: 6 per 100,000 peopleMichigan: 34 per 100,000 peopleMinnesota: 17 per 100,000 peopleMississippi: 75 per 100,000 peopleMissouri: 61 per 100,000 peopleMontana: 87 per 100,000 peopleNebraska: 37 per 100,000 peopleNevada: 63 per 100,000 peopleNew Hampshire: 27 per 100,000 peopleNew Jersey: 10 per 100,000 peopleNew Mexico: 50 per 100,000 peopleNew York: 13 per 100,000 peopleNorth Carolina: 37 per 100,000 peopleNorth Dakota: 43 per 100,000 peopleOhio: 61 per 100,000 peopleOklahoma: 107 per 100,000 peopleOregon: 43 per 100,000 peoplePennsylvania: 34 per 100,000 peopleRhode Island: 7 per 100,000 peopleSouth Carolina: 36 per 100,000 peopleSouth Dakota: 97 per 100,000 peopleTennessee: 64 per 100,000 peopleTexas: 68 per 100,000 peopleUtah: 23 per 100,000 peopleVermont: 15 per 100,000 peopleVirginia: 54 per 100,000 peopleWashington: 27 per 100,000 peopleWest Virginia: 73 per 100,000 peopleWisconsin: 40 per 100,000 peopleWyoming: 93 per 100,000 people
  • Under 17
  • 17 to 34
  • 34 to 43
  • 43 to 55
  • 55 to 74
  • 74 and over
  • No data
per 100,000 people, 2020. 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, 2020

Idaho: 109 per 100,000 peopleIdaho109Oklahoma: 107 per 100,000 peopleOklahoma107Arizona: 98 per 100,000 peopleArizona98South Dakota: 97 per 100,000 peopleSouth Dakota97Wyoming: 93 per 100,000 peopleWyoming93Kentucky: 89 per 100,000 peopleKentucky89Montana: 87 per 100,000 peopleMontana87Arkansas: 85 per 100,000 peopleArkansas85Mississippi: 75 per 100,000 peopleMississippi75West Virginia: 73 per 100,000 peopleWest Virginia73Indiana: 70 per 100,000 peopleIndiana70Texas: 68 per 100,000 peopleTexas68Tennessee: 64 per 100,000 peopleTennessee64Nevada: 63 per 100,000 peopleNevada63Ohio: 61 per 100,000 peopleOhio61Missouri: 61 per 100,000 peopleMissouri61Georgia: 56 per 100,000 peopleGeorgia56Virginia: 54 per 100,000 peopleVirginia54New Mexico: 50 per 100,000 peopleNew Mexico50Kansas: 50 per 100,000 peopleKansas50Louisiana: 50 per 100,000 peopleLouisiana50Alabama: 48 per 100,000 peopleAlabama48Colorado: 46 per 100,000 peopleColorado46Florida: 46 per 100,000 peopleFlorida46Iowa: 43 per 100,000 peopleIowa43Oregon: 43 per 100,000 peopleOregon43North Dakota: 43 per 100,000 peopleNorth Dakota43Wisconsin: 40 per 100,000 peopleWisconsin40North Carolina: 37 per 100,000 peopleNorth Carolina37Nebraska: 37 per 100,000 peopleNebraska37South Carolina: 36 per 100,000 peopleSouth Carolina36Hawaii: 35 per 100,000 peopleHawaii35Pennsylvania: 34 per 100,000 peoplePennsylvania34Michigan: 34 per 100,000 peopleMichigan34Alaska: 28 per 100,000 peopleAlaska28Washington: 27 per 100,000 peopleWashington27New Hampshire: 27 per 100,000 peopleNew Hampshire27Utah: 23 per 100,000 peopleUtah23Illinois: 22 per 100,000 peopleIllinois22California: 19 per 100,000 peopleCalifornia19Delaware: 18 per 100,000 peopleDelaware18Minnesota: 17 per 100,000 peopleMinnesota17Maine: 17 per 100,000 peopleMaine17Maryland: 16 per 100,000 peopleMaryland16Connecticut: 16 per 100,000 peopleConnecticut16Vermont: 15 per 100,000 peopleVermont15New York: 13 per 100,000 peopleNew York13New Jersey: 10 per 100,000 peopleNew Jersey10Rhode Island: 7 per 100,000 peopleRhode Island7Massachusetts: 6 per 100,000 peopleMassachusetts6Idaho: 109 per 100,000 peopleIdaho109Oklahoma: 107 per 100,000 peopleOklahoma107Arizona: 98 per 100,000 peopleArizona98South Dakota: 97 per 100,000 peopleSouth Dakota97Wyoming: 93 per 100,000 peopleWyoming93Kentucky: 89 per 100,000 peopleKentucky89Montana: 87 per 100,000 peopleMontana87Arkansas: 85 per 100,000 peopleArkansas85Mississippi: 75 per 100,000 peopleMississippi75West Virginia: 73 per 100,000 peopleWest Virginia73Indiana: 70 per 100,000 peopleIndiana70Texas: 68 per 100,000 peopleTexas68Tennessee: 64 per 100,000 peopleTennessee64Nevada: 63 per 100,000 peopleNevada63Ohio: 61 per 100,000 peopleOhio61Missouri: 61 per 100,000 peopleMissouri61Georgia: 56 per 100,000 peopleGeorgia56Virginia: 54 per 100,000 peopleVirginia54New Mexico: 50 per 100,000 peopleNew Mexico50Kansas: 50 per 100,000 peopleKansas50Louisiana: 50 per 100,000 peopleLouisiana50Alabama: 48 per 100,000 peopleAlabama48Colorado: 46 per 100,000 peopleColorado46Florida: 46 per 100,000 peopleFlorida46Iowa: 43 per 100,000 peopleIowa43Oregon: 43 per 100,000 peopleOregon43North Dakota: 43 per 100,000 peopleNorth Dakota43Wisconsin: 40 per 100,000 peopleWisconsin40North Carolina: 37 per 100,000 peopleNorth Carolina37Nebraska: 37 per 100,000 peopleNebraska37South Carolina: 36 per 100,000 peopleSouth Carolina36Hawaii: 35 per 100,000 peopleHawaii35Pennsylvania: 34 per 100,000 peoplePennsylvania34Michigan: 34 per 100,000 peopleMichigan34Alaska: 28 per 100,000 peopleAlaska28Washington: 27 per 100,000 peopleWashington27New Hampshire: 27 per 100,000 peopleNew Hampshire27Utah: 23 per 100,000 peopleUtah23Illinois: 22 per 100,000 peopleIllinois22California: 19 per 100,000 peopleCalifornia19Delaware: 18 per 100,000 peopleDelaware18Minnesota: 17 per 100,000 peopleMinnesota17Maine: 17 per 100,000 peopleMaine17Maryland: 16 per 100,000 peopleMaryland16Connecticut: 16 per 100,000 peopleConnecticut16Vermont: 15 per 100,000 peopleVermont15New York: 13 per 100,000 peopleNew York13New Jersey: 10 per 100,000 peopleNew Jersey10Rhode Island: 7 per 100,000 peopleRhode Island7Massachusetts: 6 per 100,000 peopleMassachusetts6
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

RankStates2020
per 100,000 people		Change on 2019
1Idaho109-28.8 pts
2Oklahoma107-19.2 pts
3Arizona98-13.1 pts
4South Dakota97-30.1 pts
5Wyoming93-25.6 pts
6Kentucky89-38.8 pts
7Montana87-15.6 pts
8Arkansas85-15.8 pts
9Mississippi75-8.2 pts
10West Virginia73-18.1 pts
11Indiana70-5.5 pts
12Texas68-18.1 pts
13Tennessee64-13.6 pts
14Nevada63-17.1 pts
15Ohio61-10.7 pts
16Missouri61-15.9 pts
17Georgia56-16.6 pts
18Virginia54-14.7 pts
19New Mexico50-11.5 pts
20Kansas50-8.5 pts
21Louisiana50-20.4 pts
22Alabama48-7.5 pts
23Colorado46-21 pts
24Florida46-14.4 pts
25Iowa43-9.4 pts
26Oregon43-13.8 pts
27North Dakota43-12 pts
28Wisconsin40-9.2 pts
29North Carolina37-8.3 pts
30Nebraska37-4.8 pts
31South Carolina36-9.8 pts
32Hawaii35-5.6 pts
33Pennsylvania34-8.3 pts
34Michigan34-6.5 pts
35Alaska28+5 pts
36Washington27-15.1 pts
37New Hampshire27-6.6 pts
38Utah23-13.5 pts
39Illinois22-13.2 pts
40California19-8.6 pts
41Delaware18-14.6 pts
42Minnesota17-6.7 pts
43Maine17-5.5 pts
44Maryland16-6.9 pts
45Connecticut16-12.2 pts
46Vermont15-12.1 pts
47New York13-6.6 pts
48New Jersey10-5.6 pts
49Rhode Island7-4.1 pts
50Massachusetts6-3.9 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 2020 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), 2020) [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), 2020. 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=2020. 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), 2020. 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=2020.

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), 2020 [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=2020 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{bureau_us_states_by_female_2020,
  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), 2020}},
  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=2020. 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), 2020
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=2020
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/female-imprisonment-rate/us-states?period=2020.
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)?

Idaho, with 109 per 100,000 people in 2020, according to Bureau of Justice Statistics.

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

Massachusetts, with 6 per 100,000 people in 2020.

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 2020 and are not ranked.

US states: more rankings