Section II: Incarceration & Its Consequences

Variation of Incarceration Rates in the States

• Number of prisoners in Alaska, per 100,000 population in 2000261: 341
• Number of prisoners in Alabama, per 100,000 population in 2000262: 549
• Number of prisoners in California, per 100,000 population in 2000263: 474
• Number of prisoners in the District of Columbia, per 100,000 population in 2000264: 971
• Number of prisoners in Idaho, per 100,000 population in 2000265: 430
• Number of prisoners in Louisiana, per 100,000 population in 2000266: 801
• Number of prisoners in Maine, per 100,000 population in 2000267: 129
• Number of prisoners in Missouri, per 100,000 population in 2000268: 494
• Number of prisoners in Montana, per 100,000 population in 2000269: 348
• Number of prisoners in Nevada, per 100,000 population in 2000270: 518
• Number of prisoners in North Dakota, per 100,000 population in 2000271: 353
• Number of prisoners in Oregon, per 100,000 population in 2000272: 316
• Number of prisoners in South Dakota, per 100,000 population in 2000273: 158
• Number of prisoners in Texas, per 100,000 population in 2000274: 730
• Number of prisoners in Utah, per 100,000 population in 2000275: 254
• Number of prisoners in Virginia , per 100,000 population in 2000276: 422
• Number of prisoners in Washington, per 100,000 population in 2000277: 251
• Number of prisoners in West Virginia, per 100,000 population in 2000278: 211
• Number of prisoners in Wyoming, per 100,000 population in 2000279: 349

Incarceration in New York

• Number of prisoners, 2001280: 67,534
• Imprisonment rate per 100,000281: 355
• Percent change in the rate at which Whites are sent to prison in a year, 1930 to 2000282: -3.7%
• Percent change in the rate at which African-Americans are sent to prison in a year, 1930 to 2000283: 260%
• Percent of growth in New York prison population from 1985 to 1997 that was minorities284: 90%

• Percent of prisoners incarcerated for drug law violations, 1970285: 8.6%
• Percent of prisoners incarcerated for drug law violations, 2000286: 31.2%
• Percent of prison population growth since 1970 that is minorities287: 87.6%

• Number of times a Latino is more likely to go to prison for drugs than a White person288: 26
• Number of times an African-American is more likely to go to prison for drugs than a White person289: 34
• For every White prisoner, number of White college students290: 13.9
• For every African-American prisoner, number of African-American college students291: 0.74

• Percent of New York that lives in New York City292: 42.2%
• Percent of New York prisoners from New York City293: 62.2%
• Percent of New York State prisoners housed outside New York City294: 91%
• Percent of New York prisoners incarcerated more than 2 hours from New York City295: 87%
• Percent of new prisons built since 1982 located upstate296: 100%
• Percent of New York State Senate that is Republican, 2000297: 59%
• Percent of New York State prisoners that are housed in prisons in Republican Senatorial districts, 2000298: 90%

• Number of police per 10,000 residents299: 93
• Among the 50 states, national ranking in New York in police per capita300: 1

• Annual cost of state prisons in New York, in dollars301: $2 billion

Incarceration in Texas

• Imprisonment rate per 100,000, 2001302: 731
• Number of prisoners on death row, 2001303: 453
• Percentage of U.S. executions carried out in the year 2000 that were in Texas304: 47%
• Percentage of U.S. executions carried out in the year 2001 that were in Texas305: 25%
• Percentage of U.S. population that lives in Texas, 2000306: 7.4%
• Number of prisoners and jail inmates, 2001307: 164,465
• Number of Texans on probation, 2001308: 443,684
• Number of Texans on parole, 2001309: 107,688
• Number of Texans under some form of correctional supervision, 2001310: 755,100
• Number of people in South Dakota, 2000311: 754,844

What do we think prisons do?

• Percent of public reporting they believe the prison system does an excellent job rehabilitating prisoners so they are less likely to commit crimes in the future, 2000312: 2%
• Percent of public reporting they believe the prison system does an excellent job maintaining a safe environment for prisoners, 2000313: 5%
• Percent of public reporting they believe the prison system does an excellent, good or fair job at keeping prisoners from escaping, 2000314: 90%

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. Footnotes for all facts are available in the print version.