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 2018, at 695 per 100,000 people. Maine had the lowest, at 135 per 100,000 people. The median was 364 per 100,000 people and the figure for the United States was 432 per 100,000 people. Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics.

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Highest695Louisiana
Lowest135Maine
Median36450 states
United States432History

Map of states, 2018

Alabama: 418 per 100,000 peopleAlaska: 264 per 100,000 peopleArizona: 560 per 100,000 peopleArkansas: 590 per 100,000 peopleCalifornia: 323 per 100,000 peopleColorado: 354 per 100,000 peopleConnecticut: 252 per 100,000 peopleDelaware: 411 per 100,000 peopleFlorida: 456 per 100,000 peopleGeorgia: 502 per 100,000 peopleHawaii: 230 per 100,000 peopleIdaho: 444 per 100,000 peopleIllinois: 314 per 100,000 peopleIndiana: 400 per 100,000 peopleIowa: 298 per 100,000 peopleKansas: 342 per 100,000 peopleKentucky: 525 per 100,000 peopleLouisiana: 695 per 100,000 peopleMaine: 135 per 100,000 peopleMaryland: 310 per 100,000 peopleMassachusetts: 146 per 100,000 peopleMichigan: 388 per 100,000 peopleMinnesota: 180 per 100,000 peopleMississippi: 627 per 100,000 peopleMissouri: 495 per 100,000 peopleMontana: 354 per 100,000 peopleNebraska: 280 per 100,000 peopleNevada: 447 per 100,000 peopleNew Hampshire: 201 per 100,000 peopleNew Jersey: 218 per 100,000 peopleNew Mexico: 331 per 100,000 peopleNew York: 239 per 100,000 peopleNorth Carolina: 325 per 100,000 peopleNorth Dakota: 219 per 100,000 peopleOhio: 432 per 100,000 peopleOklahoma: 674 per 100,000 peopleOregon: 363 per 100,000 peoplePennsylvania: 367 per 100,000 peopleRhode Island: 158 per 100,000 peopleSouth Carolina: 366 per 100,000 peopleSouth Dakota: 447 per 100,000 peopleTennessee: 387 per 100,000 peopleTexas: 550 per 100,000 peopleUtah: 209 per 100,000 peopleVermont: 188 per 100,000 peopleVirginia: 430 per 100,000 peopleWashington: 256 per 100,000 peopleWest Virginia: 377 per 100,000 peopleWisconsin: 392 per 100,000 peopleWyoming: 440 per 100,000 people
  • Under 220
  • 220 to 310
  • 310 to 360
  • 360 to 420
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  • 490 and over
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per 100,000 people, 2018. 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, 2018

Louisiana: 695 per 100,000 peopleLouisiana695Oklahoma: 674 per 100,000 peopleOklahoma674Mississippi: 627 per 100,000 peopleMississippi627Arkansas: 590 per 100,000 peopleArkansas590Arizona: 560 per 100,000 peopleArizona560Texas: 550 per 100,000 peopleTexas550Kentucky: 525 per 100,000 peopleKentucky525Georgia: 502 per 100,000 peopleGeorgia502Missouri: 495 per 100,000 peopleMissouri495Florida: 456 per 100,000 peopleFlorida456South Dakota: 447 per 100,000 peopleSouth Dakota447Nevada: 447 per 100,000 peopleNevada447Idaho: 444 per 100,000 peopleIdaho444Wyoming: 440 per 100,000 peopleWyoming440Ohio: 432 per 100,000 peopleOhio432Virginia: 430 per 100,000 peopleVirginia430Alabama: 418 per 100,000 peopleAlabama418Delaware: 411 per 100,000 peopleDelaware411Indiana: 400 per 100,000 peopleIndiana400Wisconsin: 392 per 100,000 peopleWisconsin392Michigan: 388 per 100,000 peopleMichigan388Tennessee: 387 per 100,000 peopleTennessee387West Virginia: 377 per 100,000 peopleWest Virginia377Pennsylvania: 367 per 100,000 peoplePennsylvania367South Carolina: 366 per 100,000 peopleSouth Carolina366Oregon: 363 per 100,000 peopleOregon363Colorado: 354 per 100,000 peopleColorado354Montana: 354 per 100,000 peopleMontana354Kansas: 342 per 100,000 peopleKansas342New Mexico: 331 per 100,000 peopleNew Mexico331North Carolina: 325 per 100,000 peopleNorth Carolina325California: 323 per 100,000 peopleCalifornia323Illinois: 314 per 100,000 peopleIllinois314Maryland: 310 per 100,000 peopleMaryland310Iowa: 298 per 100,000 peopleIowa298Nebraska: 280 per 100,000 peopleNebraska280Alaska: 264 per 100,000 peopleAlaska264Washington: 256 per 100,000 peopleWashington256Connecticut: 252 per 100,000 peopleConnecticut252New York: 239 per 100,000 peopleNew York239Hawaii: 230 per 100,000 peopleHawaii230North Dakota: 219 per 100,000 peopleNorth Dakota219New Jersey: 218 per 100,000 peopleNew Jersey218Utah: 209 per 100,000 peopleUtah209New Hampshire: 201 per 100,000 peopleNew Hampshire201Vermont: 188 per 100,000 peopleVermont188Minnesota: 180 per 100,000 peopleMinnesota180Rhode Island: 158 per 100,000 peopleRhode Island158Massachusetts: 146 per 100,000 peopleMassachusetts146Maine: 135 per 100,000 peopleMaine135Louisiana: 695 per 100,000 peopleLouisiana695Oklahoma: 674 per 100,000 peopleOklahoma674Mississippi: 627 per 100,000 peopleMississippi627Arkansas: 590 per 100,000 peopleArkansas590Arizona: 560 per 100,000 peopleArizona560Texas: 550 per 100,000 peopleTexas550Kentucky: 525 per 100,000 peopleKentucky525Georgia: 502 per 100,000 peopleGeorgia502Missouri: 495 per 100,000 peopleMissouri495Florida: 456 per 100,000 peopleFlorida456South Dakota: 447 per 100,000 peopleSouth Dakota447Nevada: 447 per 100,000 peopleNevada447Idaho: 444 per 100,000 peopleIdaho444Wyoming: 440 per 100,000 peopleWyoming440Ohio: 432 per 100,000 peopleOhio432Virginia: 430 per 100,000 peopleVirginia430Alabama: 418 per 100,000 peopleAlabama418Delaware: 411 per 100,000 peopleDelaware411Indiana: 400 per 100,000 peopleIndiana400Wisconsin: 392 per 100,000 peopleWisconsin392Michigan: 388 per 100,000 peopleMichigan388Tennessee: 387 per 100,000 peopleTennessee387West Virginia: 377 per 100,000 peopleWest Virginia377Pennsylvania: 367 per 100,000 peoplePennsylvania367South Carolina: 366 per 100,000 peopleSouth Carolina366Oregon: 363 per 100,000 peopleOregon363Colorado: 354 per 100,000 peopleColorado354Montana: 354 per 100,000 peopleMontana354Kansas: 342 per 100,000 peopleKansas342New Mexico: 331 per 100,000 peopleNew Mexico331North Carolina: 325 per 100,000 peopleNorth Carolina325California: 323 per 100,000 peopleCalifornia323Illinois: 314 per 100,000 peopleIllinois314Maryland: 310 per 100,000 peopleMaryland310Iowa: 298 per 100,000 peopleIowa298Nebraska: 280 per 100,000 peopleNebraska280Alaska: 264 per 100,000 peopleAlaska264Washington: 256 per 100,000 peopleWashington256Connecticut: 252 per 100,000 peopleConnecticut252New York: 239 per 100,000 peopleNew York239Hawaii: 230 per 100,000 peopleHawaii230North Dakota: 219 per 100,000 peopleNorth Dakota219New Jersey: 218 per 100,000 peopleNew Jersey218Utah: 209 per 100,000 peopleUtah209New Hampshire: 201 per 100,000 peopleNew Hampshire201Vermont: 188 per 100,000 peopleVermont188Minnesota: 180 per 100,000 peopleMinnesota180Rhode Island: 158 per 100,000 peopleRhode Island158Massachusetts: 146 per 100,000 peopleMassachusetts146Maine: 135 per 100,000 peopleMaine135
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

RankStates2018
per 100,000 people		Change on 2017
1Louisiana695-27.1 pts
2Oklahoma674-30.1 pts
3Mississippi627+8.9 pts
4Arkansas590-8.8 pts
5Arizona560-6.3 pts
6Texas550-2.2 pts
7Kentucky525-2.9 pts
8Georgia502-5.5 pts
9Missouri495-37.4 pts
10Florida456-9.4 pts
11South Dakota447-4 pts
12Nevada447-10.2 pts
13Idaho444-1.8 pts
14Wyoming440+12.2 pts
15Ohio432-9.2 pts
16Virginia430-7.3 pts
17Alabama418-67.8 pts
18Delaware411-11.6 pts
19Indiana400+10.4 pts
20Wisconsin392+1.1 pts
21Michigan388-9.1 pts
22Tennessee387-43 pts
23West Virginia377-14.8 pts
24Pennsylvania367-8.8 pts
25South Carolina366-21 pts
26Oregon363-1.5 pts
27Colorado354+3.3 pts
28Montana354+4 pts
29Kansas342+7.6 pts
30New Mexico331-12.1 pts
31North Carolina325-17 pts
32California323-6.4 pts
33Illinois314-10.2 pts
34Maryland310-8.5 pts
35Iowa298+12.5 pts
36Nebraska280+7.1 pts
37Alaska264+6.5 pts
38Washington256-4.8 pts
39Connecticut252-17 pts
40New York239-13.4 pts
41Hawaii230-10.7 pts
42North Dakota219-6.4 pts
43New Jersey218-2.2 pts
44Utah209+4.2 pts
45New Hampshire201-2.6 pts
46Vermont188+7.9 pts
47Minnesota180-11.9 pts
48Rhode Island158-13.3 pts
49Massachusetts146-5.6 pts
50Maine135+0.8 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 2018 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), 2018) [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), 2018. 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=2018. 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), 2018. 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=2018.

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), 2018 [Dataset]. Available at: https://bjs.ojp.gov/library/publications/prisoners-2023-statistical-tables, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/imprisonment-rate/us-states?period=2018 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{bureau_us_states_by_imprisonment_2018,
  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), 2018}},
  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=2018. 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), 2018
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=2018
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/imprisonment-rate/us-states?period=2018.
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 695 per 100,000 people in 2018, according to Bureau of Justice Statistics.

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

Maine, with 135 per 100,000 people in 2018.

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 2018 and are not ranked.

US states: more rankings