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 2016, at 1,469 per 100,000 people. Maine had the lowest, at 256 per 100,000 people. The median was 688 per 100,000 people and the figure for the United States was 847 per 100,000 people. Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics.

Keep it in a collection in your library.
Highest1,469Louisiana
Lowest256Maine
Median68850 states
United States847History

Map of states, 2016

Alabama: 1,085 per 100,000 peopleAlaska: 511 per 100,000 peopleArizona: 1,072 per 100,000 peopleArkansas: 1,094 per 100,000 peopleCalifornia: 629 per 100,000 peopleColorado: 641 per 100,000 peopleConnecticut: 560 per 100,000 peopleDelaware: 839 per 100,000 peopleFlorida: 914 per 100,000 peopleGeorgia: 977 per 100,000 peopleHawaii: 456 per 100,000 peopleIdaho: 754 per 100,000 peopleIllinois: 651 per 100,000 peopleIndiana: 711 per 100,000 peopleIowa: 524 per 100,000 peopleKansas: 609 per 100,000 peopleKentucky: 917 per 100,000 peopleLouisiana: 1,469 per 100,000 peopleMaine: 256 per 100,000 peopleMaryland: 649 per 100,000 peopleMassachusetts: 307 per 100,000 peopleMichigan: 794 per 100,000 peopleMinnesota: 355 per 100,000 peopleMississippi: 1,202 per 100,000 peopleMissouri: 972 per 100,000 peopleMontana: 647 per 100,000 peopleNebraska: 505 per 100,000 peopleNevada: 832 per 100,000 peopleNew Hampshire: 391 per 100,000 peopleNew Jersey: 432 per 100,000 peopleNew Mexico: 607 per 100,000 peopleNew York: 502 per 100,000 peopleNorth Carolina: 645 per 100,000 peopleNorth Dakota: 404 per 100,000 peopleOhio: 834 per 100,000 peopleOklahoma: 1,344 per 100,000 peopleOregon: 679 per 100,000 peoplePennsylvania: 737 per 100,000 peopleRhode Island: 381 per 100,000 peopleSouth Carolina: 783 per 100,000 peopleSouth Dakota: 761 per 100,000 peopleTennessee: 782 per 100,000 peopleTexas: 1,038 per 100,000 peopleUtah: 373 per 100,000 peopleVermont: 372 per 100,000 peopleVirginia: 835 per 100,000 peopleWashington: 473 per 100,000 peopleWest Virginia: 697 per 100,000 peopleWisconsin: 721 per 100,000 peopleWyoming: 703 per 100,000 people
  • Under 440
  • 440 to 610
  • 610 to 690
  • 690 to 780
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  • 960 and over
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per 100,000 people, 2016. 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, 2016

Louisiana: 1,469 per 100,000 peopleLouisiana1,469Oklahoma: 1,344 per 100,000 peopleOklahoma1,344Mississippi: 1,202 per 100,000 peopleMississippi1,202Arkansas: 1,094 per 100,000 peopleArkansas1,094Alabama: 1,085 per 100,000 peopleAlabama1,085Arizona: 1,072 per 100,000 peopleArizona1,072Texas: 1,038 per 100,000 peopleTexas1,038Georgia: 977 per 100,000 peopleGeorgia977Missouri: 972 per 100,000 peopleMissouri972Kentucky: 917 per 100,000 peopleKentucky917Florida: 914 per 100,000 peopleFlorida914Delaware: 839 per 100,000 peopleDelaware839Virginia: 835 per 100,000 peopleVirginia835Ohio: 834 per 100,000 peopleOhio834Nevada: 832 per 100,000 peopleNevada832Michigan: 794 per 100,000 peopleMichigan794South Carolina: 783 per 100,000 peopleSouth Carolina783Tennessee: 782 per 100,000 peopleTennessee782South Dakota: 761 per 100,000 peopleSouth Dakota761Idaho: 754 per 100,000 peopleIdaho754Pennsylvania: 737 per 100,000 peoplePennsylvania737Wisconsin: 721 per 100,000 peopleWisconsin721Indiana: 711 per 100,000 peopleIndiana711Wyoming: 703 per 100,000 peopleWyoming703West Virginia: 697 per 100,000 peopleWest Virginia697Oregon: 679 per 100,000 peopleOregon679Illinois: 651 per 100,000 peopleIllinois651Maryland: 649 per 100,000 peopleMaryland649Montana: 647 per 100,000 peopleMontana647North Carolina: 645 per 100,000 peopleNorth Carolina645Colorado: 641 per 100,000 peopleColorado641California: 629 per 100,000 peopleCalifornia629Kansas: 609 per 100,000 peopleKansas609New Mexico: 607 per 100,000 peopleNew Mexico607Connecticut: 560 per 100,000 peopleConnecticut560Iowa: 524 per 100,000 peopleIowa524Alaska: 511 per 100,000 peopleAlaska511Nebraska: 505 per 100,000 peopleNebraska505New York: 502 per 100,000 peopleNew York502Washington: 473 per 100,000 peopleWashington473Hawaii: 456 per 100,000 peopleHawaii456New Jersey: 432 per 100,000 peopleNew Jersey432North Dakota: 404 per 100,000 peopleNorth Dakota404New Hampshire: 391 per 100,000 peopleNew Hampshire391Rhode Island: 381 per 100,000 peopleRhode Island381Utah: 373 per 100,000 peopleUtah373Vermont: 372 per 100,000 peopleVermont372Minnesota: 355 per 100,000 peopleMinnesota355Massachusetts: 307 per 100,000 peopleMassachusetts307Maine: 256 per 100,000 peopleMaine256Louisiana: 1,469 per 100,000 peopleLouisiana1,469Oklahoma: 1,344 per 100,000 peopleOklahoma1,344Mississippi: 1,202 per 100,000 peopleMississippi1,202Arkansas: 1,094 per 100,000 peopleArkansas1,094Alabama: 1,085 per 100,000 peopleAlabama1,085Arizona: 1,072 per 100,000 peopleArizona1,072Texas: 1,038 per 100,000 peopleTexas1,038Georgia: 977 per 100,000 peopleGeorgia977Missouri: 972 per 100,000 peopleMissouri972Kentucky: 917 per 100,000 peopleKentucky917Florida: 914 per 100,000 peopleFlorida914Delaware: 839 per 100,000 peopleDelaware839Virginia: 835 per 100,000 peopleVirginia835Ohio: 834 per 100,000 peopleOhio834Nevada: 832 per 100,000 peopleNevada832Michigan: 794 per 100,000 peopleMichigan794South Carolina: 783 per 100,000 peopleSouth Carolina783Tennessee: 782 per 100,000 peopleTennessee782South Dakota: 761 per 100,000 peopleSouth Dakota761Idaho: 754 per 100,000 peopleIdaho754Pennsylvania: 737 per 100,000 peoplePennsylvania737Wisconsin: 721 per 100,000 peopleWisconsin721Indiana: 711 per 100,000 peopleIndiana711Wyoming: 703 per 100,000 peopleWyoming703West Virginia: 697 per 100,000 peopleWest Virginia697Oregon: 679 per 100,000 peopleOregon679Illinois: 651 per 100,000 peopleIllinois651Maryland: 649 per 100,000 peopleMaryland649Montana: 647 per 100,000 peopleMontana647North Carolina: 645 per 100,000 peopleNorth Carolina645Colorado: 641 per 100,000 peopleColorado641California: 629 per 100,000 peopleCalifornia629Kansas: 609 per 100,000 peopleKansas609New Mexico: 607 per 100,000 peopleNew Mexico607Connecticut: 560 per 100,000 peopleConnecticut560Iowa: 524 per 100,000 peopleIowa524Alaska: 511 per 100,000 peopleAlaska511Nebraska: 505 per 100,000 peopleNebraska505New York: 502 per 100,000 peopleNew York502Washington: 473 per 100,000 peopleWashington473Hawaii: 456 per 100,000 peopleHawaii456New Jersey: 432 per 100,000 peopleNew Jersey432North Dakota: 404 per 100,000 peopleNorth Dakota404New Hampshire: 391 per 100,000 peopleNew Hampshire391Rhode Island: 381 per 100,000 peopleRhode Island381Utah: 373 per 100,000 peopleUtah373Vermont: 372 per 100,000 peopleVermont372Minnesota: 355 per 100,000 peopleMinnesota355Massachusetts: 307 per 100,000 peopleMassachusetts307Maine: 256 per 100,000 peopleMaine256
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

RankStates2016
per 100,000 people		Change on 2015
1Louisiana1,469-30.5 pts
2Oklahoma1,344+49.1 pts
3Mississippi1,202+27.2 pts
4Arkansas1,094-15.9 pts
5Alabama1,085-75.3 pts
6Arizona1,072-20 pts
7Texas1,038-15.1 pts
8Georgia977+13.3 pts
9Missouri972-1 pts
10Kentucky917+41.5 pts
11Florida914-31.8 pts
12Delaware839-24.3 pts
13Virginia835-16.7 pts
14Ohio834-6.3 pts
15Nevada832+26.2 pts
16Michigan794-32.8 pts
17South Carolina783-16.3 pts
18Tennessee782-9.1 pts
19South Dakota761+36.6 pts
20Idaho754-3.1 pts
21Pennsylvania737-10.8 pts
22Wisconsin721+8.8 pts
23Indiana711-48.3 pts
24Wyoming703-17.8 pts
25West Virginia697+8.7 pts
26Oregon679-13.7 pts
27Illinois651-40.1 pts
28Maryland649-22.4 pts
29Montana647+16 pts
30North Carolina645-28.2 pts
31Colorado641-18 pts
32California629-6.2 pts
33Kansas609+0.8 pts
34New Mexico607-4.4 pts
35Connecticut560-49.3 pts
36Iowa524+8.8 pts
37Alaska511-27.4 pts
38Nebraska505-11.3 pts
39New York502-12.1 pts
40Washington473+8.9 pts
41Hawaii456-20.2 pts
42New Jersey432-16.9 pts
43North Dakota404-1.1 pts
44New Hampshire391-12.7 pts
45Rhode Island381-27.1 pts
46Utah373-20.2 pts
47Vermont372-19 pts
48Minnesota355-11.1 pts
49Massachusetts307-29 pts
50Maine256+7.7 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 2016 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), 2016) [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), 2016. 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=2016. 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), 2016. 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=2016.

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), 2016 [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=2016 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{bureau_us_states_by_male_2016,
  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), 2016}},
  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=2016. 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), 2016
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=2016
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/male-imprisonment-rate/us-states?period=2016.
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 1,469 per 100,000 people in 2016, according to Bureau of Justice Statistics.

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

Maine, with 256 per 100,000 people in 2016.

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 2016 and are not ranked.

US states: more rankings