Site Network:Prison Policy Initiative|Prisoners of the Census

Section III: The Prison Economy

The Prison Industry

  • Number of correctional facilities, 1995438: 1500
  • Cost to run the prisons and jails in all 50 states and the federal prison system, 1999439: $49 billion
  • Average cost to incarcerate a prisoner for a year, 1996440: $20,142
  • Average cost to incarcerate a prisoner per day, 1996441: $55.18
  • Prison expenditure per prisoner per day in Alabama, 1996442: $21.88
  • Prison expenditure per prisoner per day in Minnesota, 1996443: $103.63

Captive consumers

  • Value of 1995 Dial Soap contract with the New York City jail system444: $100,000
  • Value of VitaPro meat substitute contract with the state of Texas445: $34 million
  • Value of annual market selling collect phone calls to prisoners and their families446: $1 billion
  • Income from one prison payphone per year447: $15,000
  • Income from average payphone per year outside of a prison448: $3,000

Employment

  • Percent of civilian labor force unemployed, United States, 2000449: 4.0%
  • Percent of civilian labor force unemployed, if prisoners were not in prison but unemployed: 4505.3%
  • Estimated percent of civilian labor force that is in prison, or works in corrections, private security, or in the portions of the police and courts related to crime control451: 3.9%
  • Percent of civilian labor force that works in farming, forestry or fishing, 2000452: 2.4%
  • Average starting salary for a correctional officer in 2001453: $23,627
  • Starting salary for a correctional officer in New Jersey, 2001454: $36,850
  • Starting salary for a correctional officer in Oklahoma, 2001455: $16,672
  • Starting salary for a correctional officer in New Mexico, 2001456: $15,943
  • Poverty line for a family of four, 1999457: $17,029
  • Approximate percentage of positions open in the Oklahoma Department of Corrections458: 20%

Construction

  • Number of new prisons opened in the United States, 2000459: 24
  • Number of beds in new prisons opened in the United States, 2000460: 18,526
  • Number of beds added to prisons renovated in the United States, 2000461: 10,243
  • Number of new prisons under construction on January 1, 2001462: 39
  • Number of existing prisons undergoing renovations or additions on January 1, 2001463: 62
  • Number of beds to be added by prison construction or additions underway on January 1, 2001464: 58,422

Where are prisons built?

  • Percentage of prisons built in rural counties465: 60%
  • Percentage of population that lives in rural counties466: 20%
  • Average number of new prisons built in rural areas, per year, in the 1960s and 1970s467: 4
  • Average number of new prisons built in rural areas, per year, in the 1980s468: 16
  • Average number of new prisons built in rural areas, per year, in the 1990s469: 25
  • Average number of days between new prisons opening in a rural area in the 1990s470: 15
  • On average, percent of jobs in a new prison that go to residents outside the town where the prison is built471: 80%
  • Number of jobs created by a new prison in Malone, NY472: 750
  • Due to Department of Correctional Services seniority rules, less than this number of jobs went to Malone residents473: 100

California's Prison Economy

  • Number of prisoners in California, 2001474: 159,444
  • Number of prisons built, 1984-1994475: 21
  • Average Correctional officer salary, 1996476: $44,000
  • Average public school teacher salary, 1996477: $34,000
  • Rank of the California Correctional Peace Officers Association (CCPOA), the union representing prison guards, among contributors to California political campaigns478: 1
  • Amount spent by CCPOA to pass the 3 strikes law, requiring life sentences for 3rd time felony offenders479: $101,000
  • Amount spent by the CCPOA to elect Governor Davis in 1998480: $2 million
  • Number of disease outbreaks affecting prison workers in the first four months of 2002 known to the CCPOA and Department of Corrections481: 0
  • Percent increase in guards calling in sick in the four months after Governor Davis approved a new labor agreement with the guard union restricting wardens from disciplining officers who abuse the process of calling in sick482: 20%
  • Percent increase in sick time during the same period at the California Highway Patrol483: 1%
  • Increase in cost of overtime to cover for sick officers during those 4 months, in dollars484: $58.4 million
  • Percent rise in prison guards' pay over 5 years in the new contract485: 34%
  • Cost to the state of the new raises, in dollars486: $680 million
  • Projected California budget shortfall, in dollars487: $24 billion
  • Months between Gov. Davis' signature on legislation implementing the new contract and his re-election campaign's receipt of $251,000 in contributions from the California Correctional Peace Officer's Association488: 2

This page is an excerpt from The Prison Index: Taking the Pulse of the Crime Control Industry (2003) by Peter Wagner, published by the Western Prison Project and the Prison Policy Initiative..