{"id":12039,"date":"2021-05-04T14:32:21","date_gmt":"2021-05-04T18:32:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.prisonpolicy.org\/blog\/?p=12039"},"modified":"2026-01-06T17:40:24","modified_gmt":"2026-01-06T22:40:24","slug":"city-jail-rates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.prisonpolicy.org\/blog\/2021\/05\/04\/city-jail-rates\/","title":{"rendered":"Jail incarceration rates vary widely, but inexplicably, across U.S. cities"},"content":{"rendered":"

Why do some places incarcerate people at much higher rates than others? We considered this question in 2019, when we compared prison incarceration rates<\/a> across U.S. counties, finding a wide range that loosely correlated to the respective state imprisonment rates. Now, we can do the same for jail <\/i>incarceration rates. While it’s difficult to find jail incarceration data at the city level, this data is <\/i>available by county in the Vera Institute of Justice’s Incarceration Trends Database<\/a>. Using this database, we considered 63 highly populated cities,1<\/a><\/sup> and calculated the overall jail incarceration rate and pretrial<\/i> detention rate of each city’s surrounding county.2<\/a><\/sup> We found that, like prison incarceration rates, jail detention rates vary significantly. But unlike our study of prison incarceration rates, we could find no obvious explanation: neither violent crime rates, local police budgets, nor local jail budgets explained the large differences from city to city. These variations mean that your chances of being put in jail can depend on something as arbitrary as the city you live in. <\/p>\n

Jail and pretrial detention rates are important for showing just how deeply mass incarceration is affecting your local community. Jails are the “front door” of the criminal justice system. In 2019 alone, there were more than 10.3 million admissions into U.S. jails<\/b>.<\/a> Black and low-income people are disproportionately affected by repeat arrests<\/a>, and are more likely to be held pretrial simply because they cannot afford bail<\/a>, perpetuating the cycle of poverty and incarceration. Even short stays in jail<\/a> can have a major impact on people’s livelihoods, threatening their ability to keep their jobs and housing, and straining familial relationships. This harm is unnecessary, though; as our research<\/a> has shown, reforms that allow more people to return home pretrial were not associated with rising crime rates in the states, cities, and counties we analyzed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Rates are per 100,000 county residents. In its database, the Vera Institute of Justice presents rates for counties per 100,000 residents aged 15-64. For our analysis, we recalculated the rates using the counties’ total populations, using population counts from the Vera Institute of Justice’s downloadable dataset<\/a>, to make the figures comparable to other criminal justice data. The data exclude people held in jails on behalf of federal authorities, such as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Marshals Service.<\/caption>\n
City<\/th>\nState<\/th>\nCounty<\/th>\nJail detention rate (per 100,000 county residents)<\/th>\nPretrial detention rate (per 100,000 county residents)<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Memphis<\/td>\nTenn.<\/td>\nShelby County<\/td>\n491<\/td>\n245<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
New Orleans<\/td>\nLa.<\/td>\nOrleans Parish<\/td>\n397<\/td>\n301<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
St. Louis<\/td>\nMo.<\/td>\nNone<\/td>\n393<\/td>\n395<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Philadelphia<\/td>\nPa.<\/td>\nPhiladelphia County<\/td>\n389<\/td>\n257<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Nashville<\/td>\nTenn.<\/td>\nDavidson County<\/td>\n361<\/td>\n191<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Baltimore<\/td>\nMd.<\/td>\nNone<\/td>\n331<\/td>\n330<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Virginia Beach<\/td>\nVa.<\/td>\nNone<\/td>\n328<\/td>\n148<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Louisville<\/td>\nKy.<\/td>\nJefferson County<\/td>\n308<\/td>\n171<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Fresno<\/td>\nCalif.<\/td>\nFresno County<\/td>\n305<\/td>\n221<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Jacksonville<\/td>\nFla.<\/td>\nDuval County<\/td>\n297<\/td>\n119<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Denver<\/td>\nColo.<\/td>\nDenver County<\/td>\n295<\/td>\n205<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Washington, D.C.<\/td>\nD.C.<\/td>\nNone<\/td>\n294<\/td>\n158<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Charleston<\/td>\nS.C.<\/td>\nCharleston County<\/td>\n286<\/td>\n229<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Atlanta<\/td>\nGa.<\/td>\nFulton County<\/td>\n279<\/td>\n198<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Colorado Springs<\/td>\nColo.<\/td>\nEl Paso County<\/td>\n279<\/td>\n111<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
El Paso<\/td>\nTexas<\/td>\nEl Paso County<\/td>\n277<\/td>\n177<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Little Rock<\/td>\nArk.<\/td>\nPulaski County<\/td>\n272<\/td>\n203<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Newark<\/td>\nN.J.<\/td>\nEssex County<\/td>\n262<\/td>\n242<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Jackson<\/td>\nMiss.<\/td>\nHinds County<\/td>\n259<\/td>\n252<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Charleston<\/td>\nW. Va.<\/td>\nKanawha County<\/td>\n254<\/td>\n193<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Las Vegas<\/td>\nNev.<\/td>\nClark County<\/td>\n251<\/td>\n132<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Indianapolis<\/td>\nInd.<\/td>\nMarion County<\/td>\n249<\/td>\n189<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Birmingham<\/td>\nAla.<\/td>\nJefferson County<\/td>\n249<\/td>\n179<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Tulsa<\/td>\nOkla.<\/td>\nTulsa County<\/td>\n248<\/td>\n172<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Billings<\/td>\nMont.<\/td>\nYellowstone County<\/td>\n246<\/td>\n224<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Oklahoma City<\/td>\nOkla.<\/td>\nOklahoma County<\/td>\n243<\/td>\n173<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Milwaukee<\/td>\nWis.<\/td>\nMilwaukee County<\/td>\n240<\/td>\n126<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Sacramento<\/td>\nCalif.<\/td>\nSacramento County<\/td>\n235<\/td>\n116<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Boise<\/td>\nIdaho<\/td>\nAda County<\/td>\n232<\/td>\n205<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Wichita<\/td>\nKan.<\/td>\nSedgwick County<\/td>\n230<\/td>\n171<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Omaha<\/td>\nNeb.<\/td>\nDouglas County<\/td>\n225<\/td>\n204<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Cheyenne<\/td>\nWyo.<\/td>\nLaramie County<\/td>\n223<\/td>\n201<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Tampa<\/td>\nFla.<\/td>\nHillsborough County<\/td>\n211<\/td>\n145<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Salt Lake City<\/td>\nUtah<\/td>\nSalt Lake County<\/td>\n208<\/td>\n191<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Des Moines<\/td>\nIowa<\/td>\nPolk County<\/td>\n206<\/td>\n174<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Boston<\/td>\nMass.<\/td>\nSuffolk County<\/td>\n201<\/td>\n118<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Dallas<\/td>\nTexas<\/td>\nDallas County<\/td>\n198<\/td>\n152<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Austin<\/td>\nTexas<\/td>\nTravis County<\/td>\n195<\/td>\n143<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
San Antonio<\/td>\nTexas<\/td>\nBexar County<\/td>\n195<\/td>\n184<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Houston<\/td>\nTexas<\/td>\nHarris County<\/td>\n185<\/td>\n141<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Albuquerque<\/td>\nN.M.<\/td>\nBernalillo County<\/td>\n179<\/td>\n187<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Tucson<\/td>\nAriz.<\/td>\nPima County<\/td>\n178<\/td>\n147<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
San Diego<\/td>\nCalif.<\/td>\nSan Diego County<\/td>\n176<\/td>\n82<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Sioux Falls<\/td>\nS.D.<\/td>\nMinnehaha County<\/td>\n174<\/td>\n174<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
San Jose<\/td>\nCalif.<\/td>\nSanta Clara County<\/td>\n172<\/td>\n127<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Phoenix<\/td>\nAriz.<\/td>\nMaricopa County<\/td>\n171<\/td>\n131<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Los Angeles<\/td>\nCalif.<\/td>\nLos Angeles County<\/td>\n170<\/td>\n105<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Columbus<\/td>\nOhio<\/td>\nFranklin County<\/td>\n169<\/td>\n133<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Fort Worth<\/td>\nTexas<\/td>\nTarrant County<\/td>\n168<\/td>\n121<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Fargo<\/td>\nN.D.<\/td>\nCass County<\/td>\n154<\/td>\n155<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Portland<\/td>\nMaine<\/td>\nCumberland County<\/td>\n154<\/td>\n90<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Miami<\/td>\nFla.<\/td>\nMiami-Dade County<\/td>\n149<\/td>\n112<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Charlotte<\/td>\nN.C.<\/td>\nMecklenburg County<\/td>\n143<\/td>\n125<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
San Francisco<\/td>\nCalif.<\/td>\nSan Francisco County<\/td>\n143<\/td>\n118<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Kansas City<\/td>\nMo.<\/td>\nJackson County<\/td>\n140<\/td>\n120<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Seattle<\/td>\nWash.<\/td>\nKing County<\/td>\n137<\/td>\n107<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Portland<\/td>\nOre.<\/td>\nMultnomah County<\/td>\n134<\/td>\n106<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Chicago<\/td>\nIll.<\/td>\nCook County<\/td>\n126<\/td>\n113<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Raleigh<\/td>\nN.C.<\/td>\nWake County<\/td>\n111<\/td>\n101<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Detroit<\/td>\nMich.<\/td>\nWayne County<\/td>\n107<\/td>\n64<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Manchester<\/td>\nN.H.<\/td>\nHillsborough County<\/td>\n100<\/td>\n53<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Minneapolis<\/td>\nMinn.<\/td>\nHennepin County<\/td>\n99<\/td>\n62<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
New York<\/td>\nN.Y.<\/td>\n5 NYC Counties<\/td>\n98<\/td>\n71<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

 <\/p>\n

Varying detention rates defy any logical explanation<\/h2>\n

We found that jail incarceration and pretrial detention rates vary greatly from city to city. There are some high outliers; Memphis, Tenn., for example, has a total jail detention rate of 491 per 100,000 residents, far above the average jail detention rate across the 63 cities of 225 per 100,000. On the other end of the spectrum, cities like New York and Minneapolis jail fewer than 100 residents per 100,000. Similarly, the pretrial<\/i> detention rates in St. Louis and Baltimore (395 and 330 per 100,000, respectively) are more than double the average pretrial detention rate for the cities we studied, which was 163 per 100,000. We considered various possible explanations for the drastic differences from city to city, but didn’t find many consistent trends. <\/p>\n

Local crime rates don’t consistently explain jail detention rates<\/i><\/h3>\n

First, we used the FBI’s Universal Crime Reporting program data to analyze the cities’ violent crime and total crime rates, to see if high rates of crime correlated with high rates of detention.3<\/a><\/sup> Memphis, St. Louis, and Baltimore — all of which have notably high detention or pretrial detention rates — do in fact have the three highest violent and total crime rates of the cities for which we were able to obtain data.4<\/a><\/sup> This pattern isn’t consistent across other cities, though. For example, Charleston, S.C., has some of the highest jail detention and pretrial detention rates, yet its violent crime and total crime rates rank among the lowest of these cities. On the other end of the spectrum, Detroit boasts very low detention rates, but has a relatively high violent crime rate. <\/p>\n

It’s also difficult to know how directly violent crime is actually<\/i> impacting detention rates because other factors likely influence both crime and incarceration. Poverty, addiction, and a lack of social services, for example, could contribute separately to high rates of both crime and jail detention. In fact, detention itself has been shown to increase the odds<\/a> of future offending, which is counterproductive from a crime rate-defined public safety standpoint.<\/p>\n

Local police and jail budgets don’t explain jail rates, either<\/i><\/h3>\n

Next, we explored whether police budgets were correlated with jail and pretrial detention rates. Using the Vera Institute of Justice’s police budget data<\/a>, we examined the percent of city funds spent on policing and the number of city dollars per resident allocated to the police. Our analysis did not reveal any noteworthy connections between these measures and local jail rates, however. <\/p>\n

The Vera Institute of Justice also provides data on the jail <\/i>budgets in major cities and the number of county dollars spent per resident specifically on jails. Again, we found no strong correlations between jail budgets and jail incarceration rates. The only notable finding is a correlation between changes <\/i>in jail population and changes<\/i> in jail budgets since 2011: Cities that reduced their jail budgets (or avoided large increases) also reduced their jail populations more dramatically. While this may not be particularly surprising, it does suggest that cutting jail budgets could help communities reduce the number of people cycling through jails, while freeing up money to be used elsewhere, like schools.<\/p>\n\"scatterplot\n<\/picture>\n

In many places, the effects of bail reform remain to be seen<\/h2>\n

A number of cities and states included in this analysis, such as Philadelphia and Dallas, have enacted bail reforms in the past few years. However, since most of these changes occurred after 2018 — the most recent year for which the Vera Institute of Justice’s jail detention data are available — the data we used for this analysis do not yet show the effects of those reforms. Ultimately, these reforms should result in reduced pretrial detention rates. Current data show bail reforms have an impact on overall jail detention as well, since the pretrial population makes up about two-thirds of jail populations<\/a> nationwide.<\/p>\n

In New Jersey, for example, pretrial detention populations decreased<\/a> by 50 percent from 2015 to 2018 – which was just one year after reforms were implemented. Additionally, New Jersey<\/a> and San Francisco<\/a> both saw at least 45 percent decreases in their overall<\/i> jail populations after instituting bail reforms. We hope and expect these reforms (and others implemented more recently) will continue to lower rates of pretrial incarceration in cities and counties across the country.<\/p>\n

While there isn’t a clear explanation for why jail incarceration and pretrial detention rates vary so much from city to city, it is<\/i> clear that too many people cycle through jails<\/a> each year, and reforms are long overdue. City leaders need to start investing in their communities instead of jails by expanding access to health care and social services, and implementing alternatives to incarceration. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Appendix<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
City<\/th>\nState<\/th>\nCounty<\/th>\nJail detention rate (per 100,000 county residents)<\/th>\nPretrial detention rate (per 100,000 county residents)<\/th>\nViolent crime rate (per 100,000 county residents) <\/th>\nTotal crime rate (per 100,000 county residents) <\/th>\nPolicing budget <\/th>\nJail budget <\/th>\nJail population change since 2011<\/th>\nJail budget change since 2011<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Albuquerque<\/td>\nN.M.<\/td>\nBernalillo County<\/td>\n179<\/td>\n187<\/td>\nno data <\/td>\nno data <\/td>\n$211,084,000 <\/td>\n$77,707,756 <\/td>\n-52%<\/td>\n-13%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Atlanta<\/td>\nGa.<\/td>\nFulton County<\/td>\n279<\/td>\n198<\/td>\nno data <\/td>\nno data <\/td>\n$248,508,775 <\/td>\n$90,484,158 <\/td>\n8%<\/td>\n13%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Austin<\/td>\nTexas<\/td>\nTravis County<\/td>\n195<\/td>\n143<\/td>\n380 <\/td>\n3,569 <\/td>\n$491,265,529 <\/td>\n$99,791,862 <\/td>\n-31%<\/td>\n17%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Baltimore<\/td>\nMd.<\/td>\nNone<\/td>\n331<\/td>\n330<\/td>\n1,843 <\/td>\n6,116 <\/td>\n$549,046,349 <\/td>\nno data <\/td>\nno data <\/td>\nno data <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Billings<\/td>\nMont.<\/td>\nYellowstone County<\/td>\n246<\/td>\n224<\/td>\nno data <\/td>\nno data <\/td>\n$27,017,423 <\/td>\n$13,708,860 <\/td>\n26%<\/td>\n69%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Birmingham<\/td>\nAla.<\/td>\nJefferson County<\/td>\n249<\/td>\n179<\/td>\nno data <\/td>\nno data <\/td>\n$92,775,797 <\/td>\nno data <\/td>\nno data <\/td>\nno data <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Boise<\/td>\nIdaho<\/td>\nAda County<\/td>\n232<\/td>\n205<\/td>\n193 <\/td>\n1,097 <\/td>\n$70,561,456 <\/td>\n$28,435,821 <\/td>\n-8%<\/td>\n20%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Boston<\/td>\nMass.<\/td>\nSuffolk County<\/td>\n201<\/td>\n118<\/td>\nno data <\/td>\nno data <\/td>\n$431,731,291 <\/td>\nno data <\/td>\nno data <\/td>\nno data <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Charleston<\/td>\nS.C.<\/td>\nCharleston County<\/td>\n286<\/td>\n229<\/td>\n196 <\/td>\n1,384 <\/td>\n$53,445,152 <\/td>\n$40,081,245 <\/td>\n-53%<\/td>\n9%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Charleston<\/td>\nW. Va.<\/td>\nKanawha County<\/td>\n254<\/td>\n193<\/td>\nno data <\/td>\nno data <\/td>\n$22,489,588 <\/td>\n$4,775,000 <\/td>\n29%<\/td>\n-4%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Charlotte<\/td>\nN.C.<\/td>\nMecklenburg County<\/td>\n143<\/td>\n125<\/td>\nno data <\/td>\nno data <\/td>\n$285,877,585 <\/td>\n$90,941,557 <\/td>\n-31%<\/td>\n-5%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Cheyenne<\/td>\nWyo.<\/td>\nLaramie County<\/td>\n223<\/td>\n201<\/td>\nno data <\/td>\nno data <\/td>\n$14,493,787 <\/td>\n$12,834,792 <\/td>\n47%<\/td>\n35%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Chicago<\/td>\nIll.<\/td>\nCook County<\/td>\n126<\/td>\n113<\/td>\n497 <\/td>\n2,076 <\/td>\n$1,776,930,437 <\/td>\n$437,932,791 <\/td>\n-44%<\/td>\n40%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Colorado Springs<\/td>\nColo.<\/td>\nEl Paso County<\/td>\n279<\/td>\n111<\/td>\n461 <\/td>\n3,254 <\/td>\n$140,388,709 <\/td>\nno data <\/td>\nno data<\/td>\nno data <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Columbus<\/td>\nOhio<\/td>\nFranklin County<\/td>\n169<\/td>\n133<\/td>\nno data <\/td>\nno data <\/td>\n$347,780,657 <\/td>\n$82,811,353 <\/td>\n-21%<\/td>\n19%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Dallas<\/td>\nTexas<\/td>\nDallas County<\/td>\n198<\/td>\n152<\/td>\n406 <\/td>\n2,275 <\/td>\n$545,974,490 <\/td>\n$143,920,841 <\/td>\n-19%<\/td>\n20%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Denver<\/td>\nColo.<\/td>\nDenver County<\/td>\n295<\/td>\n205<\/td>\nno data <\/td>\nno data <\/td>\n$277,927,093 <\/td>\n$118,219,314 <\/td>\n-29%<\/td>\n22%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Des Moines<\/td>\nIowa<\/td>\nPolk County<\/td>\n206<\/td>\n174<\/td>\n342 <\/td>\n2,344 <\/td>\n$71,546,587 <\/td>\n$38,268,987 <\/td>\n-22%<\/td>\n10%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Detroit<\/td>\nMich.<\/td>\nWayne County<\/td>\n107<\/td>\n64<\/td>\n745 <\/td>\n2,372 <\/td>\n$318,193,356 <\/td>\n$132,556,915 <\/td>\n-43%<\/td>\n14%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
El Paso<\/td>\nTexas<\/td>\nEl Paso County<\/td>\n277<\/td>\n177<\/td>\n319 <\/td>\n1,629 <\/td>\n$157,607,718 <\/td>\n$73,784,469 <\/td>\n8%<\/td>\n1%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Fargo<\/td>\nN.D.<\/td>\nCass County<\/td>\n154<\/td>\n155<\/td>\n326 <\/td>\n2,595 <\/td>\n$22,832,341 <\/td>\n$14,171,961 <\/td>\n2%<\/td>\n42%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Fort Worth<\/td>\nTexas<\/td>\nTarrant County<\/td>\n168<\/td>\n121<\/td>\n201 <\/td>\n1,417 <\/td>\n$352,893,268 <\/td>\nno data <\/td>\nno data <\/td>\nno data <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Fresno<\/td>\nCalif.<\/td>\nFresno County<\/td>\n305<\/td>\n221<\/td>\nno data <\/td>\nno data <\/td>\n$201,764,000 <\/td>\nno data <\/td>\nno data <\/td>\nno data <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Houston<\/td>\nTexas<\/td>\nHarris County<\/td>\n185<\/td>\n141<\/td>\n694 <\/td>\n3,764 <\/td>\n$899,879,053 <\/td>\nno data <\/td>\nno data <\/td>\nno data <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Indianapolis<\/td>\nInd.<\/td>\nMarion County<\/td>\n249<\/td>\n189<\/td>\nno data <\/td>\nno data <\/td>\n$283,571,003 <\/td>\nno data <\/td>\nno data <\/td>\nno data <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Jackson<\/td>\nMiss.<\/td>\nHinds County<\/td>\n259<\/td>\n252<\/td>\nno data <\/td>\nno data <\/td>\n$37,523,140 <\/td>\nno data <\/td>\nno data <\/td>\nno data <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Jacksonville<\/td>\nFla.<\/td>\nDuval County<\/td>\n297<\/td>\n119<\/td>\nno data <\/td>\nno data <\/td>\n$481,594,597 <\/td>\n$124,301,200 <\/td>\n-18%<\/td>\n17%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Kansas City<\/td>\nMo.<\/td>\nJackson County<\/td>\n140<\/td>\n120<\/td>\nno data <\/td>\nno data <\/td>\n$262,247,405 <\/td>\n$29,623,840 <\/td>\n-15%<\/td>\n31%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Las Vegas<\/td>\nNev.<\/td>\nClark County<\/td>\n251<\/td>\n132<\/td>\nno data <\/td>\nno data <\/td>\n$173,702,925 <\/td>\n$286,998,563 <\/td>\n-12%<\/td>\n36%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Little Rock<\/td>\nArk.<\/td>\nPulaski County<\/td>\n272<\/td>\n203<\/td>\n875 <\/td>\n4,385 <\/td>\n$80,209,890 <\/td>\nno data <\/td>\nno data <\/td>\nno data <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Los Angeles<\/td>\nCalif.<\/td>\nLos Angeles County<\/td>\n170<\/td>\n105<\/td>\n346 <\/td>\n1,442 <\/td>\n$1,735,493,169 <\/td>\n$1,347,462,000 <\/td>\n-5%<\/td>\n44%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Louisville<\/td>\nKy.<\/td>\nJefferson County<\/td>\n308<\/td>\n171<\/td>\n602 <\/td>\n4,014 <\/td>\n$191,988,200 <\/td>\n$56,639,000 <\/td>\n-38%<\/td>\n-1%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Manchester<\/td>\nN.H.<\/td>\nHillsborough County<\/td>\n100<\/td>\n53<\/td>\nno data <\/td>\nno data <\/td>\n$25,285,675 <\/td>\nno data <\/td>\nno data <\/td>\nno data <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Memphis<\/td>\nTenn.<\/td>\nShelby County<\/td>\n491<\/td>\n245<\/td>\n1,382 <\/td>\n5,906 <\/td>\n$274,511,008 <\/td>\n$138,591,511 <\/td>\n-29%<\/td>\n-8%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Miami<\/td>\nFla.<\/td>\nMiami-Dade County<\/td>\n149<\/td>\n112<\/td>\n297 <\/td>\n2,088 <\/td>\n$281,251,000 <\/td>\n$383,686,000 <\/td>\n-35%<\/td>\n12%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Milwaukee<\/td>\nWis.<\/td>\nMilwaukee County<\/td>\n240<\/td>\n126<\/td>\n842 <\/td>\n2,444 <\/td>\n$321,470,403 <\/td>\nno data <\/td>\nno data <\/td>\nno data <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Minneapolis<\/td>\nMinn.<\/td>\nHennepin County<\/td>\n99<\/td>\n62<\/td>\n318 <\/td>\n1,868 <\/td>\n$193,360,000 <\/td>\n$74,904,183 <\/td>\n-44%<\/td>\n22%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Nashville<\/td>\nTenn.<\/td>\nDavidson County<\/td>\n361<\/td>\n191<\/td>\nno data <\/td>\nno data <\/td>\n$216,790,900 <\/td>\n$56,703,800 <\/td>\n-33%<\/td>\n-12%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
New Orleans<\/td>\nLa.<\/td>\nOrleans Parish<\/td>\n397<\/td>\n301<\/td>\nno data <\/td>\nno data <\/td>\n$206,887,632 <\/td>\n$73,312,897 <\/td>\n-73%<\/td>\n-7%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
New York<\/td>\nN.Y.<\/td>\n5 NYC Counties<\/td>\n98<\/td>\n71<\/td>\nno data <\/td>\nno data <\/td>\n$11,036,298,140 <\/td>\n$2,307,064,976 <\/td>\n-58%<\/td>\n-1%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Newark<\/td>\nN.J.<\/td>\nEssex County<\/td>\n262<\/td>\n242<\/td>\nno data <\/td>\nno data <\/td>\n$207,955,896 <\/td>\nno data <\/td>\nno data <\/td>\nno data <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Oklahoma City<\/td>\nOkla.<\/td>\nOklahoma County<\/td>\n243<\/td>\n173<\/td>\n604 <\/td>\n4,029 <\/td>\n$226,626,456 <\/td>\nno data <\/td>\nno data <\/td>\nno data <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Omaha<\/td>\nNeb.<\/td>\nDouglas County<\/td>\n225<\/td>\n204<\/td>\n521 <\/td>\n3,652 <\/td>\n$159,838,743 <\/td>\n$54,353,577 <\/td>\n-4%<\/td>\n55%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Philadelphia<\/td>\nPa.<\/td>\nPhiladelphia County<\/td>\n389<\/td>\n257<\/td>\nno data <\/td>\nno data <\/td>\n$956,632,151 <\/td>\n$220,169,920 <\/td>\n-45%<\/td>\n-18%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Phoenix<\/td>\nAriz.<\/td>\nMaricopa County<\/td>\n171<\/td>\n131<\/td>\nno data <\/td>\nno data <\/td>\n$909,129,491 <\/td>\nno data <\/td>\nno data <\/td>\nno data <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Portland<\/td>\nMaine<\/td>\nCumberland County<\/td>\n154<\/td>\n90<\/td>\n65 <\/td>\n746 <\/td>\n$17,757,540 <\/td>\n$20,579,182 <\/td>\n-28%<\/td>\n16%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Portland<\/td>\nOre.<\/td>\nMultnomah County<\/td>\n134<\/td>\n106<\/td>\n464 <\/td>\n4,917 <\/td>\n$238,190,326 <\/td>\n$109,598,622 <\/td>\n-35%<\/td>\n18%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Raleigh<\/td>\nN.C.<\/td>\nWake County<\/td>\n111<\/td>\n101<\/td>\n132 <\/td>\n1,038 <\/td>\n$109,694,902 <\/td>\n$50,109,750 <\/td>\n-7%<\/td>\n55%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Sacramento<\/td>\nCalif.<\/td>\nSacramento County<\/td>\n235<\/td>\n116<\/td>\n365 <\/td>\n1,950 <\/td>\n$184,342,524 <\/td>\nno data <\/td>\nno data <\/td>\nno data <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Salt Lake City<\/td>\nUtah<\/td>\nSalt Lake County<\/td>\n208<\/td>\n191<\/td>\n189 <\/td>\n1,876 <\/td>\n$82,235,729 <\/td>\n$105,080,518 <\/td>\n-36%<\/td>\n32%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
San Antonio<\/td>\nTexas<\/td>\nBexar County<\/td>\n195<\/td>\n184<\/td>\n591 <\/td>\n4,253 <\/td>\n$479,091,284 <\/td>\n$72,653,612 <\/td>\n-3%<\/td>\n7%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
San Diego<\/td>\nCalif.<\/td>\nSan Diego County<\/td>\n176<\/td>\n82<\/td>\n201 <\/td>\n1,141 <\/td>\n$542,087,473 <\/td>\n$387,184,895 <\/td>\n-10%<\/td>\n63%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
San Francisco<\/td>\nCalif.<\/td>\nSan Francisco County<\/td>\n143<\/td>\n118<\/td>\nno data <\/td>\nno data <\/td>\n$706,182,301 <\/td>\nno data <\/td>\nno data <\/td>\nno data <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
San Jose<\/td>\nCalif.<\/td>\nSanta Clara County<\/td>\n172<\/td>\n127<\/td>\n254 <\/td>\n1,631 <\/td>\n$473,208,901 <\/td>\n$243,451,168 <\/td>\n-38%<\/td>\n15%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Seattle<\/td>\nWash.<\/td>\nKing County<\/td>\n137<\/td>\n107<\/td>\n227 <\/td>\n1,927 <\/td>\n$440,240,547 <\/td>\n$208,640,119 <\/td>\n-39%<\/td>\n20%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Sioux Falls<\/td>\nS.D.<\/td>\nMinnehaha County<\/td>\n174<\/td>\n174<\/td>\n493 <\/td>\n3,589 <\/td>\n$41,028,140 <\/td>\n$17,020,439 <\/td>\n-6%<\/td>\n53%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
St. Louis<\/td>\nMo.<\/td>\nNone<\/td>\n393<\/td>\n395<\/td>\n1,913 <\/td>\n8,049 <\/td>\n$154,870,227 <\/td>\n$35,382,770 <\/td>\n-46%<\/td>\n-8%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Tampa<\/td>\nFla.<\/td>\nHillsborough County<\/td>\n211<\/td>\n145<\/td>\n235 <\/td>\n1,479 <\/td>\n$176,982,462 <\/td>\n$192,045,470 <\/td>\n-27%<\/td>\n4%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Tucson<\/td>\nAriz.<\/td>\nPima County<\/td>\n178<\/td>\n147<\/td>\nno data <\/td>\nno data <\/td>\n$193,274,430 <\/td>\n$52,554,404 <\/td>\n-2%<\/td>\n0%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Tulsa<\/td>\nOkla.<\/td>\nTulsa County<\/td>\n248<\/td>\n172<\/td>\n647 <\/td>\n4,080 <\/td>\n$121,682,000 <\/td>\nno data <\/td>\nno data <\/td>\nno data <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Virginia Beach<\/td>\nVa.<\/td>\nNone<\/td>\n328<\/td>\n148<\/td>\n129 <\/td>\n1,885 <\/td>\n$102,960,533 <\/td>\n$40,694,736 <\/td>\n-14%<\/td>\n21%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Washington, D.C.<\/td>\nD.C.<\/td>\nNone<\/td>\n294<\/td>\n158<\/td>\n982 <\/td>\n5,247 <\/td>\n$655,379,632 <\/td>\n$203,529,000 <\/td>\n-51%<\/td>\n21%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Wichita<\/td>\nKan.<\/td>\nSedgwick County<\/td>\n230<\/td>\n171<\/td>\n885 <\/td>\n4,967 <\/td>\n$89,245,584 <\/td>\n$33,793,490 <\/td>\n-2%<\/td>\n6%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

  <\/p>\n

\n

Footnotes<\/h2>\n
    \n
  1. \n

    These cities represent some of the 50 largest cities across the country, as well as the largest cities in each state.  ↩<\/a><\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  2. \n

    Four cities – Baltimore, St. Louis, Virginia Beach, Va., and Washington, D.C. – are independent cities not part of a county. In these cases, the Vera Institute of Justice reported the detention rate for the cities themselves.  ↩<\/a><\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  3. \n

    We calculated violent crime and total crime rates for the 38 cities and counties for which the FBI had complete data. We did this by adding the reported crime counts from the city police<\/a> and corresponding county sheriff’s offices<\/a> together. (For independent cities, we only used the crime counts from city police.) Then, to calculate the rates, we used the populations for each county as reported in the Vera Institute of Justice’s Trends<\/a> dataset, which was the same population used to calculate the jail and pretrial detention rates in this briefing.  ↩<\/a><\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  4. \n

    It’s difficult to compare cities because there are a multitude of factors<\/a> that could explain differing crime rates. However, the FBI’s UCR data is the closest we can get to having somewhat standardized data across multiple cities and counties.  ↩<\/a><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Cities jail people at rates that have little to no correlation to their violent crime rates, police budgets, or jail budgets.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[52,1],"tags":[59],"coauthors":[74],"class_list":["post-12039","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-briefings","category-uncategorized","tag-jails-bail"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prisonpolicy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12039","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prisonpolicy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prisonpolicy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prisonpolicy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prisonpolicy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12039"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.prisonpolicy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12039\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18297,"href":"https:\/\/www.prisonpolicy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12039\/revisions\/18297"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prisonpolicy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12039"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prisonpolicy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12039"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prisonpolicy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12039"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prisonpolicy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=12039"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}