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Alaska has an incarceration rate of 718 per 100,000 people (including prisons, jails, immigration detention, and juvenile justice facilities), meaning that it locks up a higher percentage of its people than any democracy on earth. Read on to learn more about who is incarcerated in Alaska and why.

5,400 people from Alaska are behind bars

Rates of imprisonment have grown dramatically in the last 40 years

Also see these Alaska graphs:

• total numbers rather than rates.
• Women’s prisons: Incarceration Rates | Total Population
• Men’s prisons: Incarceration Rates | Total Population

Today, Alaska’s incarceration rates stand out internationally

In the U.S., incarceration extends beyond prisons and local jails to include other systems of confinement. The U.S. and state incarceration rates in this graph include people held by these other parts of the justice system, so they may be slightly higher than the commonly reported incarceration rates that only include prisons and jails. Details on the data are available in States of Incarceration: The Global Context. We also have a version of this graph focusing on the incarceration of women.

People of color are overrepresented in prisons and jails

See also our detailed graphs about Whites, Blacks, and American Indians/Alaskan Natives in Alaska prisons.

Alaska's criminal justice system is more than just its prisons

The high cost of being incarcerated in Alaska

Prisons and jails in Alaska are increasingly shifting the cost of incarceration to people behind bars and their families, hiding the true economic costs of mass incarceration:

• Jails in Alaska charge up to $3.15 for a 15-minute phone call, reaping profits for companies, while prisons charge $2.10 for a 15-minute call.
• During the pandemic, Alaska suspended medical copays for incarcerated people seeking treatment for COVID-like symptoms. It should end these copays completely.
• Alaska is one of the few states that does not charge incarcerated people and their loved ones to transfer money.
• If a person in Alaska prisons has more than $15 in their commissary account they may not qualify for assistance to purchase essentials like hygiene items and postage. And they may have to pay the state back for any assistance they receive.
• People in Alaska prisons earn as little as 30¢ an hour for their work.
• Alaska charges up to 50¢ for an e-message to or from prison; among the highest rates in the nation.

Our other articles about Alaska

• Some Alaska prisons are replacing incarcerated people's personal mail with scans, stifling family contact
• Alaska prisons release about 1,714 people every year
• Alaska hinders jury diversity by excluding people with felony records until they complete probation or parole sentences
• We graded the parole release systems of all 50 states — Alaska gets an F
• Who's helping the 2,691 women released from Alaska correctional facilities each year?
• Fixing Prison-Based Gerrymandering After the 2010 Census: Alaska

Data on COVID-19 in Alaska jails and prisons

We gave Alaska a failing grade in September 2021 for its response to the coronavirus in prisons, noting that:

• Alaska is one of only 8 states that have failed to reduce their prison population by more than 10% during the pandemic.
• Alaska is one of only 8 state prison systems that did not offer free phone calls at any point during the pandemic.

For more detail, see our report States of Emergency. Or check out these other resources:

• Alaska is the only state in the nation that increased its incarcerated population in the first year of the pandemic.

Other resources

• Research on Alaska in our Research Library