Data toolbox
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:
National data
- State prisons, local jails and federal prisons, incarceration rates and counts, 1925-2016 [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
- 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)
- Percent of prison populations 55 and older, by state, 2013-2015 with comparative total prison population counts for each state [xlsx]
- 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, type of confinement, and gender (2018)
- Total population under correctional control (including probation and parole): Incarceration and supervision populations and rates by state (2018)
- 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 - Fees:
- 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:
- New York:
- The number of incarcerated people as of 2010 from each: city and village, County, State Assembly district, State Senate district, Zip code and Census tract; plus for New York City, each: City Council district, Community district, Community health district, Elementary School Zone, Middle School Zone, Police precinct, United Hospital Fund neighborhood, Neighborhood Tabulation Area, and Public Use Microdata Area; and also each: Albany Common Council district, Albany County Legislature district, Buffalo Common Council district, Rochester City Council district, Syracuse Common Council District, and Yonkers City Council District.
- Maryland:
- The number of incarcerated people as of 2010 from each: city and town, county, State House of Delegate districts, State Senate district, voting precinct, and zipcode plus, for the City of Baltimore only, each Community Statistical Area and Baltimore City Council District.
- 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
- Iowa
- Rates and providers for all Iowa county jails, early 2021
Population data (for calculating incarceration rates, etc.)
- National population estimates:
- Population estimates by sex, for January 1 and July 1 of each year, 1924-2018 [xlsx]
- State population estimates:
- 1972-2017 as of January 1 and July 1, by state [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, 2013-2018
- 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:
Five ways the criminal justice system could slow the pandemic
Quick action could slow the spread of the viral pandemic in prisons and jails and in society as a whole
The "services" offered by jails don't make them safe places for vulnerable people
Even in the best of times, jails are not good at providing health and social services.
The most important statistics from our work on policing
Racial disparities, bloated budgets, the criminalization of homelessness, and more.
Is social distancing possible behind bars?
No. It's even harder than on cruise ships or in nursing homes.