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

US states by male imprisonment rate (sentenced prisoners)

Louisiana had the highest male imprisonment rate (sentenced prisoners) of 50 states in 2012, at 1,673 per 100,000 people. Maine had the lowest, at 276 per 100,000 people. The median was 708 per 100,000 people and the figure for the United States was 909 per 100,000 people. Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics.

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Highest1,673Louisiana
Lowest276Maine
Median70850 states
United States909History

Map of states, 2012

Alabama: 1,234 per 100,000 peopleAlaska: 702 per 100,000 peopleArizona: 1,070 per 100,000 peopleArkansas: 934 per 100,000 peopleCalifornia: 674 per 100,000 peopleColorado: 715 per 100,000 peopleConnecticut: 645 per 100,000 peopleDelaware: 877 per 100,000 peopleFlorida: 999 per 100,000 peopleGeorgia: 1,037 per 100,000 peopleHawaii: 487 per 100,000 peopleIdaho: 871 per 100,000 peopleIllinois: 736 per 100,000 peopleIndiana: 814 per 100,000 peopleIowa: 518 per 100,000 peopleKansas: 606 per 100,000 peopleKentucky: 875 per 100,000 peopleLouisiana: 1,673 per 100,000 peopleMaine: 276 per 100,000 peopleMaryland: 713 per 100,000 peopleMassachusetts: 395 per 100,000 peopleMichigan: 857 per 100,000 peopleMinnesota: 344 per 100,000 peopleMississippi: 1,370 per 100,000 peopleMissouri: 965 per 100,000 peopleMontana: 633 per 100,000 peopleNebraska: 459 per 100,000 peopleNevada: 838 per 100,000 peopleNew Hampshire: 396 per 100,000 peopleNew Jersey: 511 per 100,000 peopleNew Mexico: 576 per 100,000 peopleNew York: 545 per 100,000 peopleNorth Carolina: 688 per 100,000 peopleNorth Dakota: 372 per 100,000 peopleOhio: 832 per 100,000 peopleOklahoma: 1,178 per 100,000 peopleOregon: 700 per 100,000 peoplePennsylvania: 772 per 100,000 peopleRhode Island: 376 per 100,000 peopleSouth Carolina: 888 per 100,000 peopleSouth Dakota: 765 per 100,000 peopleTennessee: 824 per 100,000 peopleTexas: 1,121 per 100,000 peopleUtah: 437 per 100,000 peopleVermont: 468 per 100,000 peopleVirginia: 845 per 100,000 peopleWashington: 460 per 100,000 peopleWest Virginia: 681 per 100,000 peopleWisconsin: 680 per 100,000 peopleWyoming: 663 per 100,000 people
  • Under 460
  • 460 to 640
  • 640 to 710
  • 710 to 840
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  • 960 and over
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per 100,000 people, 2012. Hatched areas have no value for this period. Source: BJS, National Prisoner Statistics: imprisonment rate of sentenced male prisoners per 100,000 male U.S. residents (CSAT quick table and Prisoners in YYYY statistical tables). Boundaries: U.S. Census Bureau cartographic boundary files.

All states, 2012

Louisiana: 1,673 per 100,000 peopleLouisiana1,673Mississippi: 1,370 per 100,000 peopleMississippi1,370Alabama: 1,234 per 100,000 peopleAlabama1,234Oklahoma: 1,178 per 100,000 peopleOklahoma1,178Texas: 1,121 per 100,000 peopleTexas1,121Arizona: 1,070 per 100,000 peopleArizona1,070Georgia: 1,037 per 100,000 peopleGeorgia1,037Florida: 999 per 100,000 peopleFlorida999Missouri: 965 per 100,000 peopleMissouri965Arkansas: 934 per 100,000 peopleArkansas934South Carolina: 888 per 100,000 peopleSouth Carolina888Delaware: 877 per 100,000 peopleDelaware877Kentucky: 875 per 100,000 peopleKentucky875Idaho: 871 per 100,000 peopleIdaho871Michigan: 857 per 100,000 peopleMichigan857Virginia: 845 per 100,000 peopleVirginia845Nevada: 838 per 100,000 peopleNevada838Ohio: 832 per 100,000 peopleOhio832Tennessee: 824 per 100,000 peopleTennessee824Indiana: 814 per 100,000 peopleIndiana814Pennsylvania: 772 per 100,000 peoplePennsylvania772South Dakota: 765 per 100,000 peopleSouth Dakota765Illinois: 736 per 100,000 peopleIllinois736Colorado: 715 per 100,000 peopleColorado715Maryland: 713 per 100,000 peopleMaryland713Alaska: 702 per 100,000 peopleAlaska702Oregon: 700 per 100,000 peopleOregon700North Carolina: 688 per 100,000 peopleNorth Carolina688West Virginia: 681 per 100,000 peopleWest Virginia681Wisconsin: 680 per 100,000 peopleWisconsin680California: 674 per 100,000 peopleCalifornia674Wyoming: 663 per 100,000 peopleWyoming663Connecticut: 645 per 100,000 peopleConnecticut645Montana: 633 per 100,000 peopleMontana633Kansas: 606 per 100,000 peopleKansas606New Mexico: 576 per 100,000 peopleNew Mexico576New York: 545 per 100,000 peopleNew York545Iowa: 518 per 100,000 peopleIowa518New Jersey: 511 per 100,000 peopleNew Jersey511Hawaii: 487 per 100,000 peopleHawaii487Vermont: 468 per 100,000 peopleVermont468Washington: 460 per 100,000 peopleWashington460Nebraska: 459 per 100,000 peopleNebraska459Utah: 437 per 100,000 peopleUtah437New Hampshire: 396 per 100,000 peopleNew Hampshire396Massachusetts: 395 per 100,000 peopleMassachusetts395Rhode Island: 376 per 100,000 peopleRhode Island376North Dakota: 372 per 100,000 peopleNorth Dakota372Minnesota: 344 per 100,000 peopleMinnesota344Maine: 276 per 100,000 peopleMaine276Louisiana: 1,673 per 100,000 peopleLouisiana1,673Mississippi: 1,370 per 100,000 peopleMississippi1,370Alabama: 1,234 per 100,000 peopleAlabama1,234Oklahoma: 1,178 per 100,000 peopleOklahoma1,178Texas: 1,121 per 100,000 peopleTexas1,121Arizona: 1,070 per 100,000 peopleArizona1,070Georgia: 1,037 per 100,000 peopleGeorgia1,037Florida: 999 per 100,000 peopleFlorida999Missouri: 965 per 100,000 peopleMissouri965Arkansas: 934 per 100,000 peopleArkansas934South Carolina: 888 per 100,000 peopleSouth Carolina888Delaware: 877 per 100,000 peopleDelaware877Kentucky: 875 per 100,000 peopleKentucky875Idaho: 871 per 100,000 peopleIdaho871Michigan: 857 per 100,000 peopleMichigan857Virginia: 845 per 100,000 peopleVirginia845Nevada: 838 per 100,000 peopleNevada838Ohio: 832 per 100,000 peopleOhio832Tennessee: 824 per 100,000 peopleTennessee824Indiana: 814 per 100,000 peopleIndiana814Pennsylvania: 772 per 100,000 peoplePennsylvania772South Dakota: 765 per 100,000 peopleSouth Dakota765Illinois: 736 per 100,000 peopleIllinois736Colorado: 715 per 100,000 peopleColorado715Maryland: 713 per 100,000 peopleMaryland713Alaska: 702 per 100,000 peopleAlaska702Oregon: 700 per 100,000 peopleOregon700North Carolina: 688 per 100,000 peopleNorth Carolina688West Virginia: 681 per 100,000 peopleWest Virginia681Wisconsin: 680 per 100,000 peopleWisconsin680California: 674 per 100,000 peopleCalifornia674Wyoming: 663 per 100,000 peopleWyoming663Connecticut: 645 per 100,000 peopleConnecticut645Montana: 633 per 100,000 peopleMontana633Kansas: 606 per 100,000 peopleKansas606New Mexico: 576 per 100,000 peopleNew Mexico576New York: 545 per 100,000 peopleNew York545Iowa: 518 per 100,000 peopleIowa518New Jersey: 511 per 100,000 peopleNew Jersey511Hawaii: 487 per 100,000 peopleHawaii487Vermont: 468 per 100,000 peopleVermont468Washington: 460 per 100,000 peopleWashington460Nebraska: 459 per 100,000 peopleNebraska459Utah: 437 per 100,000 peopleUtah437New Hampshire: 396 per 100,000 peopleNew Hampshire396Massachusetts: 395 per 100,000 peopleMassachusetts395Rhode Island: 376 per 100,000 peopleRhode Island376North Dakota: 372 per 100,000 peopleNorth Dakota372Minnesota: 344 per 100,000 peopleMinnesota344Maine: 276 per 100,000 peopleMaine276
per 100,000 people. Source: BJS, National Prisoner Statistics: imprisonment rate of sentenced male prisoners per 100,000 male U.S. residents (CSAT quick table and Prisoners in YYYY statistical tables). Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankStates2012
per 100,000 people		Change on 2011
1Louisiana1,673+10.7 pts
2Mississippi1,370+49.7 pts
3Alabama1,234-0.7 pts
4Oklahoma1,178+25.4 pts
5Texas1,121-58.4 pts
6Arizona1,070-14 pts
7Georgia1,037-3.6 pts
8Florida999-22.3 pts
9Missouri965+7.1 pts
10Arkansas934-98.7 pts
11South Carolina888-28 pts
12Delaware877+14.5 pts
13Kentucky875+12.7 pts
14Idaho871+10 pts
15Michigan857+11.7 pts
16Virginia845-37.3 pts
17Nevada838-6.6 pts
18Ohio832-1.8 pts
19Tennessee824-8 pts
20Indiana814-7.2 pts
21Pennsylvania772-9.3 pts
22South Dakota765+21.1 pts
23Illinois736+15 pts
24Colorado715-56.5 pts
25Maryland713-37.2 pts
26Alaska702+18.4 pts
27Oregon700+6.6 pts
28North Carolina688-10.6 pts
29West Virginia681+19 pts
30Wisconsin680-54.2 pts
31California674-74.2 pts
32Wyoming663-3 pts
33Connecticut645-33 pts
34Montana633-17.4 pts
35Kansas606+1.2 pts
36New Mexico576-28.9 pts
37New York545-14.5 pts
38Iowa518-29.9 pts
39New Jersey511-16.2 pts
40Hawaii487-18.8 pts
41Vermont468-16.7 pts
42Washington460-19.1 pts
43Nebraska459+6.7 pts
44Utah437-2.4 pts
45New Hampshire396+20.8 pts
46Massachusetts395-10.6 pts
47Rhode Island376-13.8 pts
48North Dakota372+8.7 pts
49Minnesota344+0.6 pts
50Maine276-1.9 pts

Other periods

About this ranking

Sentenced male prisoners (sentence of more than 1 year) under the jurisdiction of state or federal correctional authorities on December 31, per 100,000 male 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 2012 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 male prisoners per 100,000 male 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 male prisoners per 100,000 male U.S. residents (CSAT quick table and Prisoners in YYYY statistical tables) (US states by male imprisonment rate (sentenced prisoners), 2012) [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 male prisoners per 100,000 male U.S. residents (CSAT quick table and Prisoners in YYYY statistical tables), US states by male imprisonment rate (sentenced prisoners), 2012. Bureau of Justice Statistics, 20 Feb. 2026, https://bjs.ojp.gov/library/publications/prisoners-2023-statistical-tables. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/male-imprisonment-rate/us-states?period=2012. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

Bureau of Justice Statistics. 2026. National Prisoner Statistics: imprisonment rate of sentenced male prisoners per 100,000 male U.S. residents (CSAT quick table and Prisoners in YYYY statistical tables). US states by male imprisonment rate (sentenced prisoners), 2012. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://bjs.ojp.gov/library/publications/prisoners-2023-statistical-tables. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/male-imprisonment-rate/us-states?period=2012.

Harvard

Bureau of Justice Statistics (2026) National Prisoner Statistics: imprisonment rate of sentenced male prisoners per 100,000 male U.S. residents (CSAT quick table and Prisoners in YYYY statistical tables), US states by male imprisonment rate (sentenced prisoners), 2012 [Dataset]. Available at: https://bjs.ojp.gov/library/publications/prisoners-2023-statistical-tables, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/male-imprisonment-rate/us-states?period=2012 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{bureau_us_states_by_male_2012,
  author = {{Bureau of Justice Statistics}},
  title = {{National Prisoner Statistics: imprisonment rate of sentenced male prisoners per 100,000 male U.S. residents (CSAT quick table and Prisoners in YYYY statistical tables): US states by male imprisonment rate (sentenced prisoners), 2012}},
  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/male-imprisonment-rate/us-states?period=2012. Publisher attribution: Bureau of Justice Statistics, National Prisoner Statistics. National Prisoner Statistics: imprisonment rate of sentenced male prisoners per 100,000 male 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 male prisoners per 100,000 male U.S. residents (CSAT quick table and Prisoners in YYYY statistical tables): US states by male imprisonment rate (sentenced prisoners), 2012
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/male-imprisonment-rate/us-states?period=2012
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/male-imprisonment-rate/us-states?period=2012.
N1  - Publisher attribution: Bureau of Justice Statistics, National Prisoner Statistics. National Prisoner Statistics: imprisonment rate of sentenced male prisoners per 100,000 male 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 male imprisonment rate (sentenced prisoners)?

Louisiana, with 1,673 per 100,000 people in 2012, according to Bureau of Justice Statistics.

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

Maine, with 276 per 100,000 people in 2012.

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 male prisoners per 100,000 male U.S. residents (CSAT quick table and Prisoners in YYYY statistical tables). Retrieved 2026-10-12. 1 states have no value for 2012 and are not ranked.

US states: more rankings