Data / Rankings / Imprisonment rate (sentenced prisoners) / US states

US states by imprisonment rate (sentenced prisoners)

Louisiana had the highest imprisonment rate (sentenced prisoners) of 50 states in 2017, at 722 per 100,000 people. Maine had the lowest, at 134 per 100,000 people. The median was 370 per 100,000 people and the figure for the United States was 441 per 100,000 people. Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics.

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Highest722Louisiana
Lowest134Maine
Median37050 states
United States441History

Map of states, 2017

Alabama: 486 per 100,000 peopleAlaska: 258 per 100,000 peopleArizona: 566 per 100,000 peopleArkansas: 599 per 100,000 peopleCalifornia: 329 per 100,000 peopleColorado: 350 per 100,000 peopleConnecticut: 269 per 100,000 peopleDelaware: 422 per 100,000 peopleFlorida: 466 per 100,000 peopleGeorgia: 507 per 100,000 peopleHawaii: 241 per 100,000 peopleIdaho: 446 per 100,000 peopleIllinois: 325 per 100,000 peopleIndiana: 389 per 100,000 peopleIowa: 286 per 100,000 peopleKansas: 334 per 100,000 peopleKentucky: 528 per 100,000 peopleLouisiana: 722 per 100,000 peopleMaine: 134 per 100,000 peopleMaryland: 319 per 100,000 peopleMassachusetts: 151 per 100,000 peopleMichigan: 397 per 100,000 peopleMinnesota: 192 per 100,000 peopleMississippi: 618 per 100,000 peopleMissouri: 533 per 100,000 peopleMontana: 350 per 100,000 peopleNebraska: 273 per 100,000 peopleNevada: 457 per 100,000 peopleNew Hampshire: 203 per 100,000 peopleNew Jersey: 220 per 100,000 peopleNew Mexico: 343 per 100,000 peopleNew York: 252 per 100,000 peopleNorth Carolina: 342 per 100,000 peopleNorth Dakota: 226 per 100,000 peopleOhio: 441 per 100,000 peopleOklahoma: 704 per 100,000 peopleOregon: 365 per 100,000 peoplePennsylvania: 376 per 100,000 peopleRhode Island: 171 per 100,000 peopleSouth Carolina: 387 per 100,000 peopleSouth Dakota: 451 per 100,000 peopleTennessee: 430 per 100,000 peopleTexas: 553 per 100,000 peopleUtah: 205 per 100,000 peopleVermont: 180 per 100,000 peopleVirginia: 438 per 100,000 peopleWashington: 261 per 100,000 peopleWest Virginia: 391 per 100,000 peopleWisconsin: 391 per 100,000 peopleWyoming: 428 per 100,000 people
  • Under 230
  • 230 to 320
  • 320 to 370
  • 370 to 430
  • 430 to 500
  • 500 and over
  • No data
per 100,000 people, 2017. Hatched areas have no value for this period. 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). Boundaries: U.S. Census Bureau cartographic boundary files.

All states, 2017

Louisiana: 722 per 100,000 peopleLouisiana722Oklahoma: 704 per 100,000 peopleOklahoma704Mississippi: 618 per 100,000 peopleMississippi618Arkansas: 599 per 100,000 peopleArkansas599Arizona: 566 per 100,000 peopleArizona566Texas: 553 per 100,000 peopleTexas553Missouri: 533 per 100,000 peopleMissouri533Kentucky: 528 per 100,000 peopleKentucky528Georgia: 507 per 100,000 peopleGeorgia507Alabama: 486 per 100,000 peopleAlabama486Florida: 466 per 100,000 peopleFlorida466Nevada: 457 per 100,000 peopleNevada457South Dakota: 451 per 100,000 peopleSouth Dakota451Idaho: 446 per 100,000 peopleIdaho446Ohio: 441 per 100,000 peopleOhio441Virginia: 438 per 100,000 peopleVirginia438Tennessee: 430 per 100,000 peopleTennessee430Wyoming: 428 per 100,000 peopleWyoming428Delaware: 422 per 100,000 peopleDelaware422Michigan: 397 per 100,000 peopleMichigan397West Virginia: 391 per 100,000 peopleWest Virginia391Wisconsin: 391 per 100,000 peopleWisconsin391Indiana: 389 per 100,000 peopleIndiana389South Carolina: 387 per 100,000 peopleSouth Carolina387Pennsylvania: 376 per 100,000 peoplePennsylvania376Oregon: 365 per 100,000 peopleOregon365Colorado: 350 per 100,000 peopleColorado350Montana: 350 per 100,000 peopleMontana350New Mexico: 343 per 100,000 peopleNew Mexico343North Carolina: 342 per 100,000 peopleNorth Carolina342Kansas: 334 per 100,000 peopleKansas334California: 329 per 100,000 peopleCalifornia329Illinois: 325 per 100,000 peopleIllinois325Maryland: 319 per 100,000 peopleMaryland319Iowa: 286 per 100,000 peopleIowa286Nebraska: 273 per 100,000 peopleNebraska273Connecticut: 269 per 100,000 peopleConnecticut269Washington: 261 per 100,000 peopleWashington261Alaska: 258 per 100,000 peopleAlaska258New York: 252 per 100,000 peopleNew York252Hawaii: 241 per 100,000 peopleHawaii241North Dakota: 226 per 100,000 peopleNorth Dakota226New Jersey: 220 per 100,000 peopleNew Jersey220Utah: 205 per 100,000 peopleUtah205New Hampshire: 203 per 100,000 peopleNew Hampshire203Minnesota: 192 per 100,000 peopleMinnesota192Vermont: 180 per 100,000 peopleVermont180Rhode Island: 171 per 100,000 peopleRhode Island171Massachusetts: 151 per 100,000 peopleMassachusetts151Maine: 134 per 100,000 peopleMaine134Louisiana: 722 per 100,000 peopleLouisiana722Oklahoma: 704 per 100,000 peopleOklahoma704Mississippi: 618 per 100,000 peopleMississippi618Arkansas: 599 per 100,000 peopleArkansas599Arizona: 566 per 100,000 peopleArizona566Texas: 553 per 100,000 peopleTexas553Missouri: 533 per 100,000 peopleMissouri533Kentucky: 528 per 100,000 peopleKentucky528Georgia: 507 per 100,000 peopleGeorgia507Alabama: 486 per 100,000 peopleAlabama486Florida: 466 per 100,000 peopleFlorida466Nevada: 457 per 100,000 peopleNevada457South Dakota: 451 per 100,000 peopleSouth Dakota451Idaho: 446 per 100,000 peopleIdaho446Ohio: 441 per 100,000 peopleOhio441Virginia: 438 per 100,000 peopleVirginia438Tennessee: 430 per 100,000 peopleTennessee430Wyoming: 428 per 100,000 peopleWyoming428Delaware: 422 per 100,000 peopleDelaware422Michigan: 397 per 100,000 peopleMichigan397West Virginia: 391 per 100,000 peopleWest Virginia391Wisconsin: 391 per 100,000 peopleWisconsin391Indiana: 389 per 100,000 peopleIndiana389South Carolina: 387 per 100,000 peopleSouth Carolina387Pennsylvania: 376 per 100,000 peoplePennsylvania376Oregon: 365 per 100,000 peopleOregon365Colorado: 350 per 100,000 peopleColorado350Montana: 350 per 100,000 peopleMontana350New Mexico: 343 per 100,000 peopleNew Mexico343North Carolina: 342 per 100,000 peopleNorth Carolina342Kansas: 334 per 100,000 peopleKansas334California: 329 per 100,000 peopleCalifornia329Illinois: 325 per 100,000 peopleIllinois325Maryland: 319 per 100,000 peopleMaryland319Iowa: 286 per 100,000 peopleIowa286Nebraska: 273 per 100,000 peopleNebraska273Connecticut: 269 per 100,000 peopleConnecticut269Washington: 261 per 100,000 peopleWashington261Alaska: 258 per 100,000 peopleAlaska258New York: 252 per 100,000 peopleNew York252Hawaii: 241 per 100,000 peopleHawaii241North Dakota: 226 per 100,000 peopleNorth Dakota226New Jersey: 220 per 100,000 peopleNew Jersey220Utah: 205 per 100,000 peopleUtah205New Hampshire: 203 per 100,000 peopleNew Hampshire203Minnesota: 192 per 100,000 peopleMinnesota192Vermont: 180 per 100,000 peopleVermont180Rhode Island: 171 per 100,000 peopleRhode Island171Massachusetts: 151 per 100,000 peopleMassachusetts151Maine: 134 per 100,000 peopleMaine134
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.

Full ranking

RankStates2017
per 100,000 people		Change on 2016
1Louisiana722-38.3 pts
2Oklahoma704-47.9 pts
3Mississippi618-7.2 pts
4Arkansas599+16.1 pts
5Arizona566-20.4 pts
6Texas553-9.1 pts
7Missouri533+0.9 pts
8Kentucky528+9.9 pts
9Georgia507-4.3 pts
10Alabama486-85 pts
11Florida466-14.1 pts
12Nevada457-2.5 pts
13South Dakota451+9.8 pts
14Idaho446+12.2 pts
15Ohio441-7.3 pts
16Virginia438-10.3 pts
17Tennessee430+8 pts
18Wyoming428+19.8 pts
19Delaware422-4.6 pts
20Michigan397-16.1 pts
21West Virginia391-1.5 pts
22Wisconsin391+8.1 pts
23Indiana389+5.6 pts
24South Carolina387-21.3 pts
25Pennsylvania376-7.3 pts
26Oregon365-3.6 pts
27Colorado350-6.1 pts
28Montana350-15.4 pts
29New Mexico343+9.2 pts
30North Carolina342+3 pts
31Kansas334+3.5 pts
32California329+1.6 pts
33Illinois325-16 pts
34Maryland319-9.5 pts
35Iowa286-1 pts
36Nebraska273-0.2 pts
37Connecticut269-19.5 pts
38Washington261+2.2 pts
39Alaska258-24.1 pts
40New York252-2.8 pts
41Hawaii241-13.3 pts
42North Dakota226-9.6 pts
43New Jersey220+0.1 pts
44Utah205+3.9 pts
45New Hampshire203-7.2 pts
46Minnesota192+0.8 pts
47Vermont180-17 pts
48Rhode Island171-20.7 pts
49Massachusetts151-4.2 pts
50Maine134-2.8 pts

Other periods

About this ranking

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.

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 2017 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 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) (US states by imprisonment rate (sentenced prisoners), 2017) [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), US states by imprisonment rate (sentenced prisoners), 2017. Bureau of Justice Statistics, 20 Feb. 2026, https://bjs.ojp.gov/library/publications/prisoners-2023-statistical-tables. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/imprisonment-rate/us-states?period=2017. 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). US states by imprisonment rate (sentenced prisoners), 2017. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://bjs.ojp.gov/library/publications/prisoners-2023-statistical-tables. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/imprisonment-rate/us-states?period=2017.

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), US states by imprisonment rate (sentenced prisoners), 2017 [Dataset]. Available at: https://bjs.ojp.gov/library/publications/prisoners-2023-statistical-tables, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/imprisonment-rate/us-states?period=2017 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{bureau_us_states_by_imprisonment_2017,
  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): US states by imprisonment rate (sentenced prisoners), 2017}},
  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/imprisonment-rate/us-states?period=2017. 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): US states by imprisonment rate (sentenced prisoners), 2017
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/imprisonment-rate/us-states?period=2017
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/imprisonment-rate/us-states?period=2017.
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  -
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Questions

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

Louisiana, with 722 per 100,000 people in 2017, according to Bureau of Justice Statistics.

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

Maine, with 134 per 100,000 people in 2017.

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 prisoners per 100,000 U.S. residents, total (CSAT quick table and Prisoners in YYYY statistical tables). Retrieved 2026-10-12. 1 states have no value for 2017 and are not ranked.

US states: more rankings