Florida profile   

177,000 people from Florida are behind bars today

Rates of imprisonment have grown dramatically in the last 40 years

Also see these Florida graphs:

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

Today, Florida’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 Florida prisons and jails.

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

Our other articles about Florida

• Federal Judge holds prison gerrymandering unconstitutional by Aleks Kajstura, March 21, 2016
• ACLU files lawsuit challenging “prison gerrymandering” election districts in Florida county, by Bernadette Rabuy, March 11, 2015
• Reading, Writing, and Redistricting in School Board Districts with Prisons Part II: Florida, by Elena Lavarreda, December 11, 2013
• Putting the con in constituent, by Fred Grimm, The Miami Herald, September 28, 2013
• Hillsborough jails to limit incoming inmate mail to postcards, by Jessica Vander Velde, Tampa Bay Times, August 17, 2013
• ACLU suing Flagler over jail mail policy, by Julie Murphy, News-Journal (Daytona Beach, Florida), February 20, 2013
• 2 Swing States That Swing on Felon Disenfranchisement, by James Ridgeway, Mother Jones, November 2, 2012
• New graphic shows that states with harshest disenfranchisement laws will likely pick the next president, by Leah Sakala, October 30, 2012
• Disenfranchisement infographic showing that the states that bar the most people from the polls are most likely to pick the next president

Other resources

• Research on Florida in our Research Library