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241,000 people from California are behind bars today

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

Our other articles about California

Keeping incarcerated people in California in touch with the outside world

• California legislators continue fighting for in-person jail visits, by Bernadette Rabuy, September 2, 2017
• Jail phone companies flood money into Alameda county sheriff race, by Aleks Kajstura, October 12, 2017
• Are campaign contributions the new “commission”? Analysis of Securus’s contributions in Sacramento by Peter Wagner, August 12, 2015
• Victory: Santa Barbara County scraps harmful jail letter ban policy, by Leah Sakala, October 3, 2014
• New Youth CineMedia video documents Santa Barbara struggle to overturn jail letter ban, by Leah Sakala, April 2, 2014
• Step one to reduce recidivism in Santa Barbara County: stop banning letters from home, by Leah Sakala, August 28, 2013
• Santa Clara County jail inmates will continue receiving mail, by Joe Rodriguez, San Jose Mercury News, August 9, 2013

Prison-based gerrymandering in California

• California Senate passes bill to end prison-based gerrymandering, press release, August 31, 2011
• Importing Constituents: Incarcerated People and Political Clout in California, by Aleks Kajstura and Peter Wagner, March 2010

Other issues in California

• Victory in California: RISE Act repeals sentencing enhancements, by Wendy Sawyer, October 13, 2017
• Governor Brown signs prison anti-sterilization bill, by Bernadette Rabuy, September 26, 2014
• California’s budget secret: Prisoners form core of forest fire fighting army, by Peter Wagner, October 30, 2003

Other resources

• Research on California in our Research Library