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 2020, at 1,134 per 100,000 people. Massachusetts had the lowest, at 200 per 100,000 people. The median was 586 per 100,000 people and the figure for the United States was 673 per 100,000 people. Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics.

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Highest1,134Louisiana
Lowest200Massachusetts
Median58650 states
United States673History

Map of states, 2020

Alabama: 751 per 100,000 peopleAlaska: 441 per 100,000 peopleArizona: 930 per 100,000 peopleArkansas: 990 per 100,000 peopleCalifornia: 490 per 100,000 peopleColorado: 506 per 100,000 peopleConnecticut: 343 per 100,000 peopleDelaware: 624 per 100,000 peopleFlorida: 713 per 100,000 peopleGeorgia: 828 per 100,000 peopleHawaii: 342 per 100,000 peopleIdaho: 670 per 100,000 peopleIllinois: 450 per 100,000 peopleIndiana: 656 per 100,000 peopleIowa: 475 per 100,000 peopleKansas: 540 per 100,000 peopleKentucky: 740 per 100,000 peopleLouisiana: 1,134 per 100,000 peopleMaine: 223 per 100,000 peopleMaryland: 502 per 100,000 peopleMassachusetts: 200 per 100,000 peopleMichigan: 640 per 100,000 peopleMinnesota: 271 per 100,000 peopleMississippi: 1,125 per 100,000 peopleMissouri: 696 per 100,000 peopleMontana: 623 per 100,000 peopleNebraska: 493 per 100,000 peopleNevada: 652 per 100,000 peopleNew Hampshire: 314 per 100,000 peopleNew Jersey: 271 per 100,000 peopleNew Mexico: 465 per 100,000 peopleNew York: 336 per 100,000 peopleNorth Carolina: 524 per 100,000 peopleNorth Dakota: 309 per 100,000 peopleOhio: 712 per 100,000 peopleOklahoma: 1,019 per 100,000 peopleOregon: 559 per 100,000 peoplePennsylvania: 579 per 100,000 peopleRhode Island: 250 per 100,000 peopleSouth Carolina: 598 per 100,000 peopleSouth Dakota: 622 per 100,000 peopleTennessee: 599 per 100,000 peopleTexas: 848 per 100,000 peopleUtah: 302 per 100,000 peopleVermont: 268 per 100,000 peopleVirginia: 689 per 100,000 peopleWashington: 376 per 100,000 peopleWest Virginia: 605 per 100,000 peopleWisconsin: 593 per 100,000 peopleWyoming: 617 per 100,000 people
  • Under 320
  • 320 to 480
  • 480 to 590
  • 590 to 630
  • 630 to 740
  • 740 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 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, 2020

Louisiana: 1,134 per 100,000 peopleLouisiana1,134Mississippi: 1,125 per 100,000 peopleMississippi1,125Oklahoma: 1,019 per 100,000 peopleOklahoma1,019Arkansas: 990 per 100,000 peopleArkansas990Arizona: 930 per 100,000 peopleArizona930Texas: 848 per 100,000 peopleTexas848Georgia: 828 per 100,000 peopleGeorgia828Alabama: 751 per 100,000 peopleAlabama751Kentucky: 740 per 100,000 peopleKentucky740Florida: 713 per 100,000 peopleFlorida713Ohio: 712 per 100,000 peopleOhio712Missouri: 696 per 100,000 peopleMissouri696Virginia: 689 per 100,000 peopleVirginia689Idaho: 670 per 100,000 peopleIdaho670Indiana: 656 per 100,000 peopleIndiana656Nevada: 652 per 100,000 peopleNevada652Michigan: 640 per 100,000 peopleMichigan640Delaware: 624 per 100,000 peopleDelaware624Montana: 623 per 100,000 peopleMontana623South Dakota: 622 per 100,000 peopleSouth Dakota622Wyoming: 617 per 100,000 peopleWyoming617West Virginia: 605 per 100,000 peopleWest Virginia605Tennessee: 599 per 100,000 peopleTennessee599South Carolina: 598 per 100,000 peopleSouth Carolina598Wisconsin: 593 per 100,000 peopleWisconsin593Pennsylvania: 579 per 100,000 peoplePennsylvania579Oregon: 559 per 100,000 peopleOregon559Kansas: 540 per 100,000 peopleKansas540North Carolina: 524 per 100,000 peopleNorth Carolina524Colorado: 506 per 100,000 peopleColorado506Maryland: 502 per 100,000 peopleMaryland502Nebraska: 493 per 100,000 peopleNebraska493California: 490 per 100,000 peopleCalifornia490Iowa: 475 per 100,000 peopleIowa475New Mexico: 465 per 100,000 peopleNew Mexico465Illinois: 450 per 100,000 peopleIllinois450Alaska: 441 per 100,000 peopleAlaska441Washington: 376 per 100,000 peopleWashington376Connecticut: 343 per 100,000 peopleConnecticut343Hawaii: 342 per 100,000 peopleHawaii342New York: 336 per 100,000 peopleNew York336New Hampshire: 314 per 100,000 peopleNew Hampshire314North Dakota: 309 per 100,000 peopleNorth Dakota309Utah: 302 per 100,000 peopleUtah302Minnesota: 271 per 100,000 peopleMinnesota271New Jersey: 271 per 100,000 peopleNew Jersey271Vermont: 268 per 100,000 peopleVermont268Rhode Island: 250 per 100,000 peopleRhode Island250Maine: 223 per 100,000 peopleMaine223Massachusetts: 200 per 100,000 peopleMassachusetts200Louisiana: 1,134 per 100,000 peopleLouisiana1,134Mississippi: 1,125 per 100,000 peopleMississippi1,125Oklahoma: 1,019 per 100,000 peopleOklahoma1,019Arkansas: 990 per 100,000 peopleArkansas990Arizona: 930 per 100,000 peopleArizona930Texas: 848 per 100,000 peopleTexas848Georgia: 828 per 100,000 peopleGeorgia828Alabama: 751 per 100,000 peopleAlabama751Kentucky: 740 per 100,000 peopleKentucky740Florida: 713 per 100,000 peopleFlorida713Ohio: 712 per 100,000 peopleOhio712Missouri: 696 per 100,000 peopleMissouri696Virginia: 689 per 100,000 peopleVirginia689Idaho: 670 per 100,000 peopleIdaho670Indiana: 656 per 100,000 peopleIndiana656Nevada: 652 per 100,000 peopleNevada652Michigan: 640 per 100,000 peopleMichigan640Delaware: 624 per 100,000 peopleDelaware624Montana: 623 per 100,000 peopleMontana623South Dakota: 622 per 100,000 peopleSouth Dakota622Wyoming: 617 per 100,000 peopleWyoming617West Virginia: 605 per 100,000 peopleWest Virginia605Tennessee: 599 per 100,000 peopleTennessee599South Carolina: 598 per 100,000 peopleSouth Carolina598Wisconsin: 593 per 100,000 peopleWisconsin593Pennsylvania: 579 per 100,000 peoplePennsylvania579Oregon: 559 per 100,000 peopleOregon559Kansas: 540 per 100,000 peopleKansas540North Carolina: 524 per 100,000 peopleNorth Carolina524Colorado: 506 per 100,000 peopleColorado506Maryland: 502 per 100,000 peopleMaryland502Nebraska: 493 per 100,000 peopleNebraska493California: 490 per 100,000 peopleCalifornia490Iowa: 475 per 100,000 peopleIowa475New Mexico: 465 per 100,000 peopleNew Mexico465Illinois: 450 per 100,000 peopleIllinois450Alaska: 441 per 100,000 peopleAlaska441Washington: 376 per 100,000 peopleWashington376Connecticut: 343 per 100,000 peopleConnecticut343Hawaii: 342 per 100,000 peopleHawaii342New York: 336 per 100,000 peopleNew York336New Hampshire: 314 per 100,000 peopleNew Hampshire314North Dakota: 309 per 100,000 peopleNorth Dakota309Utah: 302 per 100,000 peopleUtah302Minnesota: 271 per 100,000 peopleMinnesota271New Jersey: 271 per 100,000 peopleNew Jersey271Vermont: 268 per 100,000 peopleVermont268Rhode Island: 250 per 100,000 peopleRhode Island250Maine: 223 per 100,000 peopleMaine223Massachusetts: 200 per 100,000 peopleMassachusetts200
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

RankStates2020
per 100,000 people		Change on 2019
1Louisiana1,134-183 pts
2Mississippi1,125-99.2 pts
3Oklahoma1,019-106.6 pts
4Arkansas990-97.2 pts
5Arizona930-77.4 pts
6Texas848-130.1 pts
7Georgia828-138.6 pts
8Alabama751-56.2 pts
9Kentucky740-174.5 pts
10Florida713-132.3 pts
11Ohio712-90.8 pts
12Missouri696-87.4 pts
13Virginia689-94.2 pts
14Idaho670-138 pts
15Indiana656-76.7 pts
16Nevada652-90.7 pts
17Michigan640-92.4 pts
18Delaware624-127.6 pts
19Montana623-147.3 pts
20South Dakota622-97.8 pts
21Wyoming617-105.6 pts
22West Virginia605-68.3 pts
23Tennessee599-106.3 pts
24South Carolina598-80.5 pts
25Wisconsin593-116.9 pts
26Pennsylvania579-101.6 pts
27Oregon559-95.2 pts
28Kansas540-87 pts
29North Carolina524-72 pts
30Colorado506-107 pts
31Maryland502-102.8 pts
32Nebraska493-43.9 pts
33California490-105.8 pts
34Iowa475-60 pts
35New Mexico465-108.9 pts
36Illinois450-129.8 pts
37Alaska441-3.2 pts
38Washington376-81.7 pts
39Connecticut343-130.8 pts
40Hawaii342-47.1 pts
41New York336-104.4 pts
42New Hampshire314-50.2 pts
43North Dakota309-90 pts
44Utah302-71.6 pts
45Minnesota271-59.6 pts
46New Jersey271-141 pts
47Vermont268-72.9 pts
48Rhode Island250-59.7 pts
49Maine223-51.6 pts
50Massachusetts200-63.2 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 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 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), 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 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), 2020. 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=2020. 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), 2020. 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=2020.

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), 2020 [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=2020 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{bureau_us_states_by_male_2020,
  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), 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/male-imprisonment-rate/us-states?period=2020. 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), 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/male-imprisonment-rate/us-states?period=2020
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/male-imprisonment-rate/us-states?period=2020.
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 1,134 per 100,000 people in 2020, according to Bureau of Justice Statistics.

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

Massachusetts, with 200 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 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 2020 and are not ranked.

US states: more rankings