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California has an incarceration rate of 581 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 many wealthy democracies do. Read on to learn more about who is incarcerated in California and why.

Jump to COVID-19 data.

241,000 people from California are behind bars

Additionally, the number of people impacted by county and city jails in California is much larger than the graph above would suggest, because people cycle through local jails relatively quickly. Each year, at least 368,000 different people are booked into local jails in California.

Rates of imprisonment have grown dramatically in the last 40 years

Also see these California graphs:

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

Today, California’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, Hispanics, and Blacks in California prisons and jails.

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

Data on COVID-19 in California jails and prisons

If you're looking for case or death counts, our friends at the COVID-19 Behind Bars Data Project have a detailed spreadsheet whose numbers may be as current as (or more current than) the state prison system's own data. To learn how California ranks on other important pandemic-related issues, see our resources below:

• Our Responses to the COVID-19 Pandemic page tracks criminal justice policy responses to the coronavirus all 50 states
• As of late April, only 60% of corrections staff in California prisons had gotten the COVID-19 vaccine
• We gave California a failing grade for its response to the coronavirus in jails and prisons, and compared it to other states
• How crowded are California prisons, as of December 2020?
• How many COVID-19 cases in California communities can be linked to outbreaks in correctional facilities? (data from our report Mass Incarceration, COVID-19, and Community Spread)
• State prison and jail population data for May, August, September, and December 2020 (data availability varies by state)

Our other articles about California

• California hinders jury diversity by excluding people with felony records until they complete probation and parole sentences
• How much do incarcerated people in California earn for their work in prison?
• We graded the parole release systems of all 50 states - California gets an F-
• Some jails in California charge $12.00 or more for a 15-minute phone call
• Who's helping the 189,066 women released from California correctional facilities each year?
• Victory in California: RISE Act repeals sentencing enhancements
• Governor Brown signs prison anti-sterilization bill
• California’s budget secret: Prisoners form core of forest fire fighting army
• How California has reformed its juvenile justice system (from our report Youth Confinement: The Whole Pie)

Protecting family contact in California prisons and jails

• California legislators continue fighting for in-person jail visits
• Jail phone companies flood money into Alameda county sheriff race
• Are campaign contributions the new “commission”? Analysis of Securus’s contributions in Sacramento
• Victory: Santa Barbara County scraps harmful jail letter ban policy
• New Youth CineMedia video documents Santa Barbara struggle to overturn jail letter ban
• Step one to reduce recidivism in Santa Barbara County: stop banning letters from home
• Victory: Santa Clara County sheriff scraps plan to ban letters from home

Prison-based gerrymandering in California

• California Senate passes bill to end prison-based gerrymandering
• Importing Constituents: Incarcerated People and Political Clout in California

Other resources

• Research on California in our Research Library