Alabama profile   

49,000 people from Alabama are behind bars today

Rates of imprisonment have grown dramatically in the last 40 years

Also see these Alabama graphs:

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

Today, Alabama’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 and Blacks in Alabama prisons and jails.

Alabama's criminal justice system is more than just its prisons and jails

Our other articles about Alabama

• Alabama’s new phone rates go into effect by Aleks Kajstura, June 30, 2015
• Alabama inmates can call home for less under new phone plan approved by Public Service Commission by Mike Cason, Alabama News, October 8, 2014
• Census’ prison population tabulation adds hurdles to redistricting in Alabama by Aleks Kajstura, July 1, 2014
• Alabama to rein in third-party payment profit sharing in prison telephone industry by Peter Wagner, July 21, 2014
• Alabama should implement proposed prison phone reform, by Aleks Kajstura, Prison Policy Initiative Blog, November 14, 2013
• Alabama seeks to curb high cost of prison and jail phone calls by Aleks Kajstura, October 9, 2013

Other resources

• Research on Alabama in our Research Library