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 2019, at 1,317 per 100,000 people. Massachusetts had the lowest, at 263 per 100,000 people. The median was 676 per 100,000 people and the figure for the United States was 789 per 100,000 people. Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics.

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Highest1,317Louisiana
Lowest263Massachusetts
Median67650 states
United States789History

Map of states, 2019

Alabama: 808 per 100,000 peopleAlaska: 445 per 100,000 peopleArizona: 1,007 per 100,000 peopleArkansas: 1,087 per 100,000 peopleCalifornia: 596 per 100,000 peopleColorado: 613 per 100,000 peopleConnecticut: 474 per 100,000 peopleDelaware: 751 per 100,000 peopleFlorida: 845 per 100,000 peopleGeorgia: 967 per 100,000 peopleHawaii: 389 per 100,000 peopleIdaho: 808 per 100,000 peopleIllinois: 580 per 100,000 peopleIndiana: 733 per 100,000 peopleIowa: 535 per 100,000 peopleKansas: 627 per 100,000 peopleKentucky: 915 per 100,000 peopleLouisiana: 1,317 per 100,000 peopleMaine: 275 per 100,000 peopleMaryland: 605 per 100,000 peopleMassachusetts: 263 per 100,000 peopleMichigan: 733 per 100,000 peopleMinnesota: 331 per 100,000 peopleMississippi: 1,225 per 100,000 peopleMissouri: 783 per 100,000 peopleMontana: 771 per 100,000 peopleNebraska: 537 per 100,000 peopleNevada: 743 per 100,000 peopleNew Hampshire: 364 per 100,000 peopleNew Jersey: 412 per 100,000 peopleNew Mexico: 574 per 100,000 peopleNew York: 440 per 100,000 peopleNorth Carolina: 596 per 100,000 peopleNorth Dakota: 399 per 100,000 peopleOhio: 803 per 100,000 peopleOklahoma: 1,126 per 100,000 peopleOregon: 654 per 100,000 peoplePennsylvania: 681 per 100,000 peopleRhode Island: 310 per 100,000 peopleSouth Carolina: 679 per 100,000 peopleSouth Dakota: 720 per 100,000 peopleTennessee: 705 per 100,000 peopleTexas: 978 per 100,000 peopleUtah: 374 per 100,000 peopleVermont: 341 per 100,000 peopleVirginia: 784 per 100,000 peopleWashington: 458 per 100,000 peopleWest Virginia: 674 per 100,000 peopleWisconsin: 710 per 100,000 peopleWyoming: 722 per 100,000 people
  • Under 400
  • 400 to 580
  • 580 to 680
  • 680 to 740
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  • 840 and over
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per 100,000 people, 2019. 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, 2019

Louisiana: 1,317 per 100,000 peopleLouisiana1,317Mississippi: 1,225 per 100,000 peopleMississippi1,225Oklahoma: 1,126 per 100,000 peopleOklahoma1,126Arkansas: 1,087 per 100,000 peopleArkansas1,087Arizona: 1,007 per 100,000 peopleArizona1,007Texas: 978 per 100,000 peopleTexas978Georgia: 967 per 100,000 peopleGeorgia967Kentucky: 915 per 100,000 peopleKentucky915Florida: 845 per 100,000 peopleFlorida845Alabama: 808 per 100,000 peopleAlabama808Idaho: 808 per 100,000 peopleIdaho808Ohio: 803 per 100,000 peopleOhio803Virginia: 784 per 100,000 peopleVirginia784Missouri: 783 per 100,000 peopleMissouri783Montana: 771 per 100,000 peopleMontana771Delaware: 751 per 100,000 peopleDelaware751Nevada: 743 per 100,000 peopleNevada743Indiana: 733 per 100,000 peopleIndiana733Michigan: 733 per 100,000 peopleMichigan733Wyoming: 722 per 100,000 peopleWyoming722South Dakota: 720 per 100,000 peopleSouth Dakota720Wisconsin: 710 per 100,000 peopleWisconsin710Tennessee: 705 per 100,000 peopleTennessee705Pennsylvania: 681 per 100,000 peoplePennsylvania681South Carolina: 679 per 100,000 peopleSouth Carolina679West Virginia: 674 per 100,000 peopleWest Virginia674Oregon: 654 per 100,000 peopleOregon654Kansas: 627 per 100,000 peopleKansas627Colorado: 613 per 100,000 peopleColorado613Maryland: 605 per 100,000 peopleMaryland605California: 596 per 100,000 peopleCalifornia596North Carolina: 596 per 100,000 peopleNorth Carolina596Illinois: 580 per 100,000 peopleIllinois580New Mexico: 574 per 100,000 peopleNew Mexico574Nebraska: 537 per 100,000 peopleNebraska537Iowa: 535 per 100,000 peopleIowa535Connecticut: 474 per 100,000 peopleConnecticut474Washington: 458 per 100,000 peopleWashington458Alaska: 445 per 100,000 peopleAlaska445New York: 440 per 100,000 peopleNew York440New Jersey: 412 per 100,000 peopleNew Jersey412North Dakota: 399 per 100,000 peopleNorth Dakota399Hawaii: 389 per 100,000 peopleHawaii389Utah: 374 per 100,000 peopleUtah374New Hampshire: 364 per 100,000 peopleNew Hampshire364Vermont: 341 per 100,000 peopleVermont341Minnesota: 331 per 100,000 peopleMinnesota331Rhode Island: 310 per 100,000 peopleRhode Island310Maine: 275 per 100,000 peopleMaine275Massachusetts: 263 per 100,000 peopleMassachusetts263Louisiana: 1,317 per 100,000 peopleLouisiana1,317Mississippi: 1,225 per 100,000 peopleMississippi1,225Oklahoma: 1,126 per 100,000 peopleOklahoma1,126Arkansas: 1,087 per 100,000 peopleArkansas1,087Arizona: 1,007 per 100,000 peopleArizona1,007Texas: 978 per 100,000 peopleTexas978Georgia: 967 per 100,000 peopleGeorgia967Kentucky: 915 per 100,000 peopleKentucky915Florida: 845 per 100,000 peopleFlorida845Alabama: 808 per 100,000 peopleAlabama808Idaho: 808 per 100,000 peopleIdaho808Ohio: 803 per 100,000 peopleOhio803Virginia: 784 per 100,000 peopleVirginia784Missouri: 783 per 100,000 peopleMissouri783Montana: 771 per 100,000 peopleMontana771Delaware: 751 per 100,000 peopleDelaware751Nevada: 743 per 100,000 peopleNevada743Indiana: 733 per 100,000 peopleIndiana733Michigan: 733 per 100,000 peopleMichigan733Wyoming: 722 per 100,000 peopleWyoming722South Dakota: 720 per 100,000 peopleSouth Dakota720Wisconsin: 710 per 100,000 peopleWisconsin710Tennessee: 705 per 100,000 peopleTennessee705Pennsylvania: 681 per 100,000 peoplePennsylvania681South Carolina: 679 per 100,000 peopleSouth Carolina679West Virginia: 674 per 100,000 peopleWest Virginia674Oregon: 654 per 100,000 peopleOregon654Kansas: 627 per 100,000 peopleKansas627Colorado: 613 per 100,000 peopleColorado613Maryland: 605 per 100,000 peopleMaryland605California: 596 per 100,000 peopleCalifornia596North Carolina: 596 per 100,000 peopleNorth Carolina596Illinois: 580 per 100,000 peopleIllinois580New Mexico: 574 per 100,000 peopleNew Mexico574Nebraska: 537 per 100,000 peopleNebraska537Iowa: 535 per 100,000 peopleIowa535Connecticut: 474 per 100,000 peopleConnecticut474Washington: 458 per 100,000 peopleWashington458Alaska: 445 per 100,000 peopleAlaska445New York: 440 per 100,000 peopleNew York440New Jersey: 412 per 100,000 peopleNew Jersey412North Dakota: 399 per 100,000 peopleNorth Dakota399Hawaii: 389 per 100,000 peopleHawaii389Utah: 374 per 100,000 peopleUtah374New Hampshire: 364 per 100,000 peopleNew Hampshire364Vermont: 341 per 100,000 peopleVermont341Minnesota: 331 per 100,000 peopleMinnesota331Rhode Island: 310 per 100,000 peopleRhode Island310Maine: 275 per 100,000 peopleMaine275Massachusetts: 263 per 100,000 peopleMassachusetts263
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

RankStates2019
per 100,000 people		Change on 2018
1Louisiana1,317-31.1 pts
2Mississippi1,225+18.7 pts
3Oklahoma1,126-80 pts
4Arkansas1,087-20.3 pts
5Arizona1,007-11.4 pts
6Texas978-37.6 pts
7Georgia967+10.2 pts
8Kentucky915-11.6 pts
9Florida845-24.1 pts
10Alabama808+0.9 pts
11Idaho808+43.5 pts
12Ohio803-2.8 pts
13Virginia784-18.2 pts
14Missouri783-122.2 pts
15Montana771+151.7 pts
16Delaware751-58.1 pts
17Nevada743-63.5 pts
18Indiana733-0.3 pts
19Michigan733-13.1 pts
20Wyoming722-26.8 pts
21South Dakota720-37.4 pts
22Wisconsin710-25.7 pts
23Tennessee705-6.8 pts
24Pennsylvania681-21.7 pts
25South Carolina679-24.4 pts
26West Virginia674+1.4 pts
27Oregon654-18.4 pts
28Kansas627+0.7 pts
29Colorado613-19.3 pts
30Maryland605-7.5 pts
31California596-23.5 pts
32North Carolina596-21.7 pts
33Illinois580-22.5 pts
34New Mexico574-23 pts
35Nebraska537+18 pts
36Iowa535-11 pts
37Connecticut474-16.1 pts
38Washington458-9.2 pts
39Alaska445-39.6 pts
40New York440-29.5 pts
41New Jersey412-16.3 pts
42North Dakota399+18.9 pts
43Hawaii389-28.5 pts
44Utah374-4.7 pts
45New Hampshire364-6.1 pts
46Vermont341-8.1 pts
47Minnesota331-4.7 pts
48Rhode Island310-2.6 pts
49Maine275+23.6 pts
50Massachusetts263-25.8 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 2019 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), 2019) [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), 2019. 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=2019. 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), 2019. 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=2019.

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), 2019 [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=2019 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{bureau_us_states_by_male_2019,
  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), 2019}},
  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=2019. 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), 2019
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=2019
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/male-imprisonment-rate/us-states?period=2019.
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 1,317 per 100,000 people in 2019, according to Bureau of Justice Statistics.

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

Massachusetts, with 263 per 100,000 people in 2019.

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 2019 and are not ranked.

US states: more rankings