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

US states by imprisonment rate (sentenced prisoners)

Mississippi had the highest imprisonment rate (sentenced prisoners) of 50 states in 2020, at 586 per 100,000 people. Massachusetts had the lowest, at 101 per 100,000 people. The median was 306 per 100,000 people and the figure for the United States was 357 per 100,000 people. Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics.

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Highest586Mississippi
Lowest101Massachusetts
Median30650 states
United States357History

Map of states, 2020

Alabama: 390 per 100,000 peopleAlaska: 245 per 100,000 peopleArizona: 513 per 100,000 peopleArkansas: 532 per 100,000 peopleCalifornia: 255 per 100,000 peopleColorado: 279 per 100,000 peopleConnecticut: 176 per 100,000 peopleDelaware: 313 per 100,000 peopleFlorida: 374 per 100,000 peopleGeorgia: 433 per 100,000 peopleHawaii: 189 per 100,000 peopleIdaho: 392 per 100,000 peopleIllinois: 234 per 100,000 peopleIndiana: 361 per 100,000 peopleIowa: 260 per 100,000 peopleKansas: 296 per 100,000 peopleKentucky: 412 per 100,000 peopleLouisiana: 581 per 100,000 peopleMaine: 118 per 100,000 peopleMaryland: 253 per 100,000 peopleMassachusetts: 101 per 100,000 peopleMichigan: 334 per 100,000 peopleMinnesota: 144 per 100,000 peopleMississippi: 586 per 100,000 peopleMissouri: 374 per 100,000 peopleMontana: 359 per 100,000 peopleNebraska: 266 per 100,000 peopleNevada: 359 per 100,000 peopleNew Hampshire: 170 per 100,000 peopleNew Jersey: 138 per 100,000 peopleNew Mexico: 257 per 100,000 peopleNew York: 171 per 100,000 peopleNorth Carolina: 275 per 100,000 peopleNorth Dakota: 180 per 100,000 peopleOhio: 382 per 100,000 peopleOklahoma: 561 per 100,000 peopleOregon: 300 per 100,000 peoplePennsylvania: 303 per 100,000 peopleRhode Island: 126 per 100,000 peopleSouth Carolina: 310 per 100,000 peopleSouth Dakota: 364 per 100,000 peopleTennessee: 327 per 100,000 peopleTexas: 457 per 100,000 peopleUtah: 164 per 100,000 peopleVermont: 141 per 100,000 peopleVirginia: 369 per 100,000 peopleWashington: 203 per 100,000 peopleWest Virginia: 338 per 100,000 peopleWisconsin: 317 per 100,000 peopleWyoming: 361 per 100,000 people
  • Under 170
  • 170 to 260
  • 260 to 310
  • 310 to 360
  • 360 to 390
  • 390 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 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, 2020

Mississippi: 586 per 100,000 peopleMississippi586Louisiana: 581 per 100,000 peopleLouisiana581Oklahoma: 561 per 100,000 peopleOklahoma561Arkansas: 532 per 100,000 peopleArkansas532Arizona: 513 per 100,000 peopleArizona513Texas: 457 per 100,000 peopleTexas457Georgia: 433 per 100,000 peopleGeorgia433Kentucky: 412 per 100,000 peopleKentucky412Idaho: 392 per 100,000 peopleIdaho392Alabama: 390 per 100,000 peopleAlabama390Ohio: 382 per 100,000 peopleOhio382Missouri: 374 per 100,000 peopleMissouri374Florida: 374 per 100,000 peopleFlorida374Virginia: 369 per 100,000 peopleVirginia369South Dakota: 364 per 100,000 peopleSouth Dakota364Wyoming: 361 per 100,000 peopleWyoming361Indiana: 361 per 100,000 peopleIndiana361Nevada: 359 per 100,000 peopleNevada359Montana: 359 per 100,000 peopleMontana359West Virginia: 338 per 100,000 peopleWest Virginia338Michigan: 334 per 100,000 peopleMichigan334Tennessee: 327 per 100,000 peopleTennessee327Wisconsin: 317 per 100,000 peopleWisconsin317Delaware: 313 per 100,000 peopleDelaware313South Carolina: 310 per 100,000 peopleSouth Carolina310Pennsylvania: 303 per 100,000 peoplePennsylvania303Oregon: 300 per 100,000 peopleOregon300Kansas: 296 per 100,000 peopleKansas296Colorado: 279 per 100,000 peopleColorado279North Carolina: 275 per 100,000 peopleNorth Carolina275Nebraska: 266 per 100,000 peopleNebraska266Iowa: 260 per 100,000 peopleIowa260New Mexico: 257 per 100,000 peopleNew Mexico257California: 255 per 100,000 peopleCalifornia255Maryland: 253 per 100,000 peopleMaryland253Alaska: 245 per 100,000 peopleAlaska245Illinois: 234 per 100,000 peopleIllinois234Washington: 203 per 100,000 peopleWashington203Hawaii: 189 per 100,000 peopleHawaii189North Dakota: 180 per 100,000 peopleNorth Dakota180Connecticut: 176 per 100,000 peopleConnecticut176New York: 171 per 100,000 peopleNew York171New Hampshire: 170 per 100,000 peopleNew Hampshire170Utah: 164 per 100,000 peopleUtah164Minnesota: 144 per 100,000 peopleMinnesota144Vermont: 141 per 100,000 peopleVermont141New Jersey: 138 per 100,000 peopleNew Jersey138Rhode Island: 126 per 100,000 peopleRhode Island126Maine: 118 per 100,000 peopleMaine118Massachusetts: 101 per 100,000 peopleMassachusetts101Mississippi: 586 per 100,000 peopleMississippi586Louisiana: 581 per 100,000 peopleLouisiana581Oklahoma: 561 per 100,000 peopleOklahoma561Arkansas: 532 per 100,000 peopleArkansas532Arizona: 513 per 100,000 peopleArizona513Texas: 457 per 100,000 peopleTexas457Georgia: 433 per 100,000 peopleGeorgia433Kentucky: 412 per 100,000 peopleKentucky412Idaho: 392 per 100,000 peopleIdaho392Alabama: 390 per 100,000 peopleAlabama390Ohio: 382 per 100,000 peopleOhio382Missouri: 374 per 100,000 peopleMissouri374Florida: 374 per 100,000 peopleFlorida374Virginia: 369 per 100,000 peopleVirginia369South Dakota: 364 per 100,000 peopleSouth Dakota364Wyoming: 361 per 100,000 peopleWyoming361Indiana: 361 per 100,000 peopleIndiana361Nevada: 359 per 100,000 peopleNevada359Montana: 359 per 100,000 peopleMontana359West Virginia: 338 per 100,000 peopleWest Virginia338Michigan: 334 per 100,000 peopleMichigan334Tennessee: 327 per 100,000 peopleTennessee327Wisconsin: 317 per 100,000 peopleWisconsin317Delaware: 313 per 100,000 peopleDelaware313South Carolina: 310 per 100,000 peopleSouth Carolina310Pennsylvania: 303 per 100,000 peoplePennsylvania303Oregon: 300 per 100,000 peopleOregon300Kansas: 296 per 100,000 peopleKansas296Colorado: 279 per 100,000 peopleColorado279North Carolina: 275 per 100,000 peopleNorth Carolina275Nebraska: 266 per 100,000 peopleNebraska266Iowa: 260 per 100,000 peopleIowa260New Mexico: 257 per 100,000 peopleNew Mexico257California: 255 per 100,000 peopleCalifornia255Maryland: 253 per 100,000 peopleMaryland253Alaska: 245 per 100,000 peopleAlaska245Illinois: 234 per 100,000 peopleIllinois234Washington: 203 per 100,000 peopleWashington203Hawaii: 189 per 100,000 peopleHawaii189North Dakota: 180 per 100,000 peopleNorth Dakota180Connecticut: 176 per 100,000 peopleConnecticut176New York: 171 per 100,000 peopleNew York171New Hampshire: 170 per 100,000 peopleNew Hampshire170Utah: 164 per 100,000 peopleUtah164Minnesota: 144 per 100,000 peopleMinnesota144Vermont: 141 per 100,000 peopleVermont141New Jersey: 138 per 100,000 peopleNew Jersey138Rhode Island: 126 per 100,000 peopleRhode Island126Maine: 118 per 100,000 peopleMaine118Massachusetts: 101 per 100,000 peopleMassachusetts101
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

RankStates2020
per 100,000 people		Change on 2019
1Mississippi586-49.7 pts
2Louisiana581-97 pts
3Oklahoma561-60.1 pts
4Arkansas532-53.3 pts
5Arizona513-42.9 pts
6Texas457-71.8 pts
7Georgia433-74.1 pts
8Kentucky412-103.8 pts
9Idaho392-82 pts
10Alabama390-29.1 pts
11Ohio382-48 pts
12Missouri374-49.1 pts
13Florida374-70 pts
14Virginia369-52 pts
15South Dakota364-62.6 pts
16Wyoming361-65.2 pts
17Indiana361-38.9 pts
18Nevada359-52.4 pts
19Montana359-80.3 pts
20West Virginia338-41.2 pts
21Michigan334-47 pts
22Tennessee327-57.4 pts
23Wisconsin317-61 pts
24Delaware313-67.6 pts
25South Carolina310-42.6 pts
26Pennsylvania303-52.2 pts
27Oregon300-52.7 pts
28Kansas296-46.2 pts
29Colorado279-63 pts
30North Carolina275-38 pts
31Nebraska266-23 pts
32Iowa260-33.2 pts
33New Mexico257-58.6 pts
34California255-55.6 pts
35Maryland253-52 pts
36Alaska245+1.7 pts
37Illinois234-69.2 pts
38Washington203-47.5 pts
39Hawaii189-25.6 pts
40North Dakota180-51.3 pts
41Connecticut176-69 pts
42New York171-53.1 pts
43New Hampshire170-27.2 pts
44Utah164-42.1 pts
45Minnesota144-32.3 pts
46Vermont141-41.3 pts
47New Jersey138-70.9 pts
48Rhode Island126-30.3 pts
49Maine118-27.4 pts
50Massachusetts101-32.1 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 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 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), 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 prisoners per 100,000 U.S. residents, total (CSAT quick table and Prisoners in YYYY statistical tables), US states by 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/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 prisoners per 100,000 U.S. residents, total (CSAT quick table and Prisoners in YYYY statistical tables). US states by 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/imprisonment-rate/us-states?period=2020.

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), 2020 [Dataset]. Available at: https://bjs.ojp.gov/library/publications/prisoners-2023-statistical-tables, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/imprisonment-rate/us-states?period=2020 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{bureau_us_states_by_imprisonment_2020,
  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), 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/imprisonment-rate/us-states?period=2020. 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), 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/imprisonment-rate/us-states?period=2020
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/imprisonment-rate/us-states?period=2020.
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)?

Mississippi, with 586 per 100,000 people in 2020, according to Bureau of Justice Statistics.

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

Massachusetts, with 101 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 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 2020 and are not ranked.

US states: more rankings