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 2021, at 127 per 100,000 people. Massachusetts had the lowest, at 6 per 100,000 people. The median was 44 per 100,000 people and the figure for the United States was 47 per 100,000 people. Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics.

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Highest127Idaho
Lowest6Massachusetts
Median4450 states
United States47History

Map of states, 2021

Alabama: 47 per 100,000 peopleAlaska: 24 per 100,000 peopleArizona: 81 per 100,000 peopleArkansas: 93 per 100,000 peopleCalifornia: 20 per 100,000 peopleColorado: 44 per 100,000 peopleConnecticut: 14 per 100,000 peopleDelaware: 15 per 100,000 peopleFlorida: 45 per 100,000 peopleGeorgia: 54 per 100,000 peopleHawaii: 33 per 100,000 peopleIdaho: 127 per 100,000 peopleIllinois: 21 per 100,000 peopleIndiana: 75 per 100,000 peopleIowa: 44 per 100,000 peopleKansas: 48 per 100,000 peopleKentucky: 91 per 100,000 peopleLouisiana: 52 per 100,000 peopleMaine: 14 per 100,000 peopleMaryland: 16 per 100,000 peopleMassachusetts: 6 per 100,000 peopleMichigan: 31 per 100,000 peopleMinnesota: 16 per 100,000 peopleMississippi: 76 per 100,000 peopleMissouri: 65 per 100,000 peopleMontana: 111 per 100,000 peopleNebraska: 39 per 100,000 peopleNevada: 50 per 100,000 peopleNew Hampshire: 21 per 100,000 peopleNew Jersey: 10 per 100,000 peopleNew Mexico: 48 per 100,000 peopleNew York: 11 per 100,000 peopleNorth Carolina: 37 per 100,000 peopleNorth Dakota: 52 per 100,000 peopleOhio: 60 per 100,000 peopleOklahoma: 107 per 100,000 peopleOregon: 44 per 100,000 peoplePennsylvania: 31 per 100,000 peopleRhode Island: 8 per 100,000 peopleSouth Carolina: 37 per 100,000 peopleSouth Dakota: 104 per 100,000 peopleTennessee: 59 per 100,000 peopleTexas: 67 per 100,000 peopleUtah: 29 per 100,000 peopleVermont: 14 per 100,000 peopleVirginia: 51 per 100,000 peopleWashington: 20 per 100,000 peopleWest Virginia: 70 per 100,000 peopleWisconsin: 38 per 100,000 peopleWyoming: 94 per 100,000 people
  • Under 16
  • 16 to 31
  • 31 to 44
  • 44 to 52
  • 52 to 76
  • 76 and over
  • No data
per 100,000 people, 2021. 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, 2021

Idaho: 127 per 100,000 peopleIdaho127Montana: 111 per 100,000 peopleMontana111Oklahoma: 107 per 100,000 peopleOklahoma107South Dakota: 104 per 100,000 peopleSouth Dakota104Wyoming: 94 per 100,000 peopleWyoming94Arkansas: 93 per 100,000 peopleArkansas93Kentucky: 91 per 100,000 peopleKentucky91Arizona: 81 per 100,000 peopleArizona81Mississippi: 76 per 100,000 peopleMississippi76Indiana: 75 per 100,000 peopleIndiana75West Virginia: 70 per 100,000 peopleWest Virginia70Texas: 67 per 100,000 peopleTexas67Missouri: 65 per 100,000 peopleMissouri65Ohio: 60 per 100,000 peopleOhio60Tennessee: 59 per 100,000 peopleTennessee59Georgia: 54 per 100,000 peopleGeorgia54Louisiana: 52 per 100,000 peopleLouisiana52North Dakota: 52 per 100,000 peopleNorth Dakota52Virginia: 51 per 100,000 peopleVirginia51Nevada: 50 per 100,000 peopleNevada50Kansas: 48 per 100,000 peopleKansas48New Mexico: 48 per 100,000 peopleNew Mexico48Alabama: 47 per 100,000 peopleAlabama47Florida: 45 per 100,000 peopleFlorida45Colorado: 44 per 100,000 peopleColorado44Iowa: 44 per 100,000 peopleIowa44Oregon: 44 per 100,000 peopleOregon44Nebraska: 39 per 100,000 peopleNebraska39Wisconsin: 38 per 100,000 peopleWisconsin38North Carolina: 37 per 100,000 peopleNorth Carolina37South Carolina: 37 per 100,000 peopleSouth Carolina37Hawaii: 33 per 100,000 peopleHawaii33Michigan: 31 per 100,000 peopleMichigan31Pennsylvania: 31 per 100,000 peoplePennsylvania31Utah: 29 per 100,000 peopleUtah29Alaska: 24 per 100,000 peopleAlaska24Illinois: 21 per 100,000 peopleIllinois21New Hampshire: 21 per 100,000 peopleNew Hampshire21California: 20 per 100,000 peopleCalifornia20Washington: 20 per 100,000 peopleWashington20Maryland: 16 per 100,000 peopleMaryland16Minnesota: 16 per 100,000 peopleMinnesota16Delaware: 15 per 100,000 peopleDelaware15Connecticut: 14 per 100,000 peopleConnecticut14Maine: 14 per 100,000 peopleMaine14Vermont: 14 per 100,000 peopleVermont14New York: 11 per 100,000 peopleNew York11New Jersey: 10 per 100,000 peopleNew Jersey10Rhode Island: 8 per 100,000 peopleRhode Island8Massachusetts: 6 per 100,000 peopleMassachusetts6Idaho: 127 per 100,000 peopleIdaho127Montana: 111 per 100,000 peopleMontana111Oklahoma: 107 per 100,000 peopleOklahoma107South Dakota: 104 per 100,000 peopleSouth Dakota104Wyoming: 94 per 100,000 peopleWyoming94Arkansas: 93 per 100,000 peopleArkansas93Kentucky: 91 per 100,000 peopleKentucky91Arizona: 81 per 100,000 peopleArizona81Mississippi: 76 per 100,000 peopleMississippi76Indiana: 75 per 100,000 peopleIndiana75West Virginia: 70 per 100,000 peopleWest Virginia70Texas: 67 per 100,000 peopleTexas67Missouri: 65 per 100,000 peopleMissouri65Ohio: 60 per 100,000 peopleOhio60Tennessee: 59 per 100,000 peopleTennessee59Georgia: 54 per 100,000 peopleGeorgia54Louisiana: 52 per 100,000 peopleLouisiana52North Dakota: 52 per 100,000 peopleNorth Dakota52Virginia: 51 per 100,000 peopleVirginia51Nevada: 50 per 100,000 peopleNevada50Kansas: 48 per 100,000 peopleKansas48New Mexico: 48 per 100,000 peopleNew Mexico48Alabama: 47 per 100,000 peopleAlabama47Florida: 45 per 100,000 peopleFlorida45Colorado: 44 per 100,000 peopleColorado44Iowa: 44 per 100,000 peopleIowa44Oregon: 44 per 100,000 peopleOregon44Nebraska: 39 per 100,000 peopleNebraska39Wisconsin: 38 per 100,000 peopleWisconsin38North Carolina: 37 per 100,000 peopleNorth Carolina37South Carolina: 37 per 100,000 peopleSouth Carolina37Hawaii: 33 per 100,000 peopleHawaii33Michigan: 31 per 100,000 peopleMichigan31Pennsylvania: 31 per 100,000 peoplePennsylvania31Utah: 29 per 100,000 peopleUtah29Alaska: 24 per 100,000 peopleAlaska24Illinois: 21 per 100,000 peopleIllinois21New Hampshire: 21 per 100,000 peopleNew Hampshire21California: 20 per 100,000 peopleCalifornia20Washington: 20 per 100,000 peopleWashington20Maryland: 16 per 100,000 peopleMaryland16Minnesota: 16 per 100,000 peopleMinnesota16Delaware: 15 per 100,000 peopleDelaware15Connecticut: 14 per 100,000 peopleConnecticut14Maine: 14 per 100,000 peopleMaine14Vermont: 14 per 100,000 peopleVermont14New York: 11 per 100,000 peopleNew York11New Jersey: 10 per 100,000 peopleNew Jersey10Rhode Island: 8 per 100,000 peopleRhode Island8Massachusetts: 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

RankStates2021
per 100,000 people		Change on 2020
1Idaho127+17.8 pts
2Montana111+24.1 pts
3Oklahoma107-0.3 pts
4South Dakota104+7.1 pts
5Wyoming94+1.4 pts
6Arkansas93+7.8 pts
7Kentucky91+2 pts
8Arizona81-16.7 pts
9Mississippi76+1.3 pts
10Indiana75+5.2 pts
11West Virginia70-2.7 pts
12Texas67-0.9 pts
13Missouri65+4.3 pts
14Ohio60-0.8 pts
15Tennessee59-5.1 pts
16Georgia54-1.5 pts
17Louisiana52+1.6 pts
17North Dakota52+9.3 pts
19Virginia51-3.1 pts
20Nevada50-12.6 pts
21Kansas48-2.4 pts
21New Mexico48-2.5 pts
23Alabama47-0.7 pts
24Florida45-0.5 pts
25Colorado44-1.8 pts
25Iowa44+0.7 pts
25Oregon44+0.8 pts
28Nebraska39+1.9 pts
29Wisconsin38-1.5 pts
30North Carolina37-0.1 pts
30South Carolina37+0.7 pts
32Hawaii33-1.8 pts
33Michigan31-2.6 pts
33Pennsylvania31-3 pts
35Utah29+6.2 pts
36Alaska24-4.4 pts
37Illinois21-1 pts
37New Hampshire21-5.5 pts
39California20+0.9 pts
39Washington20-7.2 pts
41Maryland16-0.3 pts
41Minnesota16-0.8 pts
43Delaware15-3.3 pts
44Connecticut14-2.2 pts
44Maine14-2.6 pts
44Vermont14-0.8 pts
47New York11-1.6 pts
48New Jersey10+0.2 pts
49Rhode Island8+1.4 pts
50Massachusetts6+0.1 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 2021 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), 2021) [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), 2021. 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=2021. 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), 2021. 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=2021.

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), 2021 [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=2021 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{bureau_us_states_by_female_2021,
  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), 2021}},
  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=2021. 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), 2021
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=2021
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/female-imprisonment-rate/us-states?period=2021.
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 127 per 100,000 people in 2021, according to Bureau of Justice Statistics.

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

Massachusetts, with 6 per 100,000 people in 2021.

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 2021 and are not ranked.

US states: more rankings