Image charts the incarcerated populations in federal prisons, state prisons, and local jails from 1925 to 2015. The state prison and jail populations grew exponentially in the 1980s and 1990s, and began to decline slowly after 2008, while federal prison populations show less change over time.

Data Source: Compiled from multiple Bureau of Justice Statistics data sets. See our blog post about the data. (Graph: Wendy Sawyer and Peter Wagner, 2016)

This graph originally appeared in Data update: Incarcerated population inching down.

Next >

Stay Informed

Get the latest updates by signing up for our newsletters:


And our specialty lists:







Tweet this page Follow @PrisonPolicy on Twitter Donate

Stay Informed

Get the latest updates by signing up for our newsletters:


And our specialty lists:







Events

Nothing scheduled right now. Invite us to to your city, college or organization.