HELP US END MASS INCARCERATION The Prison Policy Initiative uses research, advocacy, and organizing to dismantle mass incarceration. We’ve been in this movement for 23 years, thanks to individual donors like you.

Can you help us sustain this work?

Thank you,
Peter Wagner, Executive Director Donate
Graph showing the cost of calling home from state prisons and local jails with 15 minute in-state and out-of-state calls from 2008 to 2018. The cost of calls have declined, but jails are much more expensive. In 2018, the average in-state call from a jail cost almost $6.00, whereas the same call from a state prison was about $1.73.

Data Source: Data is from 6 national surveys of out-of-state calls from state prisons, 7 surveys of in-state calls from state prisons, and 2 surveys of in-state calls from jails. For more information about these surveys, see methodology. (Graph: Peter Wagner, 2019)

This graph originally appeared in State of Phone Justice: Local jails, state prisons and private phone providers.



Stay Informed


Get the latest updates:



Share on 𝕏 Donate