Data toolbox
- Sections
- National data
- State-level comparison data
- State specific data
- Population data (U.S. Census)
- Other curated resources
All of our reports and many of our briefings compile previously unavailable or incompatible data. For the benefit of other advocates and researchers who want to do new things with our data, we’ve compiled our unique datasets on this page.
Need help working with this data? Not what you're looking for? Check out our Advocacy Toolkit for tips on managing large data sets and other sources of data about the criminal legal system.
National data
- State prisons, local jails and federal prisons, incarceration rates and counts, 1925-2020 [xlsx] Note that state-level prison population data are available from one of the underlying sources we used to compile this table: Historical Statistics on Prisoners in State and Federal Institutions, Yearend 1925-86.
- Jails:
- U.S. jail incarceration trends, 1983-2013 Includes jail population by conviction status and population held in jails for other state and federal agencies.
- Demographic breakdown of people admitted to local jails, 2017
- A list by state of all "regional" jails, 2013
- Geographic data:
- Correctional facilities in the Census An entire page of resources and documentation.
- Home states of people in Bureau of Prisons facilities Tally of how many people incarcerated in Bureau of Prisons facilities come from each state (and territory).
- Women:
- Money: Following the money of mass incarceration Our report and infographic compiling data on the fiscal cost of mass incarceration, with extensive data sourcing and notes.
- Telephones:
- Detailed timeline of the prison and jail phone industry [xlsx] (graphical version)
- Federal Litigation:
- 6 tables about court filings, court outcomes, and pro se litigation in civil rights suits brought by people in jails and prisons, as well as the incidence of court orders, described in our report about the Prison Litigation Reform Act.
State-level criminal justice data (all states)
- Incarcerated populations by race/ethnicity and gender for each state with comparative total population counts and incarceration rate per 100,000 calculations [xlsx]
- Total confined population: Confined populations by state and type of confinement (2021)
- Total confined population: Confined populations by state, type of confinement, and gender (2018)
- Total population under correctional control (including probation and parole): Incarceration and supervision populations and rates by state (2018)
- Percent of prison populations 55 and older, by state, 2013-2015 with comparative total prison population counts for each state [xlsx]
- Unique admissions to local jails by state, 2016-2017
- Jail admissions and releases by state, 2013
- Jails: Jail incarceration trends by state Includes jail incarceration rates, jail growth from 1983-2013, percent held pre-trial, and use of jails to hold people for other state and federal agencies, using 2013 data.
- Jails - Pre-trial detention: Jail population by state and conviction status, 1978-2013
- Jails and Prisons - Over time (annual data from 1978-2015):
- Jails - Regulation: Agencies responsible for setting jail standards Also specified whether their authority is binding
- Jails - Mail restrictions: State policies on restricting mail to jails Includes the prison policy if a policy for jails could not be located.
- Prisons - Gender: Changes in state prison populations 2009-2015, by gender
- Prisons - Wages:
- Prisons - Medical copays:
- Phones:
- Parole: populations, growth, returns to incarceration, technical violations, and release decisions, by state
- Releases: Annual releases from state prisons and local jails, by gender and by state using 2013-2016 data [xlsx]
Data specific to only one state:
Iowa
Maryland
The number of incarcerated people as of 2020 from each:
- County
- City
- ZIP code
- Census tract
- State house district
- State senate district
- Congressional district
- Baltimore Community Statistical Area
- Montgomery County neighborhood
The number of incarcerated people as of 2010 from each:
The number of incarcerated people as of 2010 in Baltimore in each:
Massachusetts:
- Income, probation rates and probation caseloads for the population served by each Massachusetts District Court Uses January 2016 probation data and 2014 American Community Survey estimates for population and per capita income data.
Michigan
- Jail telephone commission totals for select counties in Michigan, 2014-2018
- Phone rates and average daily population in Michigan jails
New Jersey
The number of incarcerated people as of 2020 from each:
- County
- City and borough
- ZIP code
- Census tract
- State legislative district
- Congressional district
- Newark neighborhood
- Jersey City neighborhood
New York:
The number of incarcerated people as of 2020 from each:
- County/borough
- City and village
- ZIP code
- Census tract
- School district
- State Assembly district
- State Senate district
- Congressional district
- New York City Council district
- New York City Neighborhood Tabulation Area (NTA)
- Buffalo neighborhood
- Syracuse neighborhood
- Yonkers neighborhood
The number of incarcerated people as of 2010 from each:
The number of incarcerated people in New York City as of 2010 from each:
- City Council district
- Community district
- Community health district
- Elementary School Zone
- Middle School Zone
- Police precinct
- United Hospital Fund neighborhood
- Neighborhood Tabulation Area
- Public Use Microdata Area
The number of incarcerated people as of 2010 from each:
Population data (for calculating incarceration rates, etc.)
- National population estimates by sex, for January 1 and July 1 of each year, 1924-2021 [xlsx]
- State population estimates, for January 1 and July 1 of each year, 1972-2017 [xlsx]
Other curated resources:
- Research Library 3,000+ links to criminal justice research by category
- Legal Resources for Incarcerated People All listed organizations have been confirmed in the last 12 months.
- Our illustrations released under an Creative Commons ShareAlike license
- Prison telephone industry research:
- Financial reports from the major companies in the prison and jail telephone market, from 2013–2020
- Contracts for each prison and jail in Massachusetts
- Contracts and commission reports from select Iowa counties
- Our Best Data Visualizations
- Exposés:
- Best investigative reporting of 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, and 2014
Recommended Reading:
The COVID-19 pandemic and the criminal justice system
Our central hub of data, research, and policy responses to the COVID-19 pandemic in jails and prisons.
Dive deep into the lives & experiences of people in prison
From homelessness to childhood trauma, learn about the lives of people in prison before they were locked up.
Compare your state's use of the prison to the world at large
Criminal justice policy in every region of the United States is out of step with the rest of the world.
Prison Gerrymandering Project
We are leading the movement to protect our democracy from the Census Bureau's prison miscount.