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Idaho has an incarceration rate of 761 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 Idaho and why.

15,000 people from Idaho are behind bars

Rates of imprisonment have grown dramatically in the last 40 years

Also see these Idaho graphs:

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

Additionally, the number of people impacted by county and city jails in Idaho is much larger than the graph above would suggest, because people cycle through local jails relatively quickly. Each year, at least 27,000 different people are booked into local jails in Idaho.

Today, Idaho’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, Blacks, and American Indians/Native Americans in Idaho prisons and jails.

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

The high cost of being incarcerated in Idaho

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

• Jails in Idaho charge up to $3.15 for a 15-minute phone call, reaping profits for companies, while prisons charge $1.20 for a 15-minute call.
• Idaho suspended medical copays in prisons at the beginning of the pandemic — why is it bringing copays back now?
• Idaho prisons charge families up to a 37% fee to transfer money to an incarcerated loved one.
• People in Idaho prisons must pay for hygiene items and other basics — and those without cash have to meet strict “indigence” criteria to get financial assistance
• People in Idaho prisons earn as little as 10¢ an hour for their work.
• New data: Low incomes — but high fees — for people on probation in Idaho
• Idaho charges up to 40¢ for an e-message to or from prison, among the highest rates in the nation.

Our other articles about Idaho

• Idaho's choice to criminalize "failure to appear" may be hurting public safety
• The cost of incarcerating older people is incredibly high, and their risk of reincarceration is incredibly low, yet 11% of people in Idaho prisons are over the age of 55. Why is the state keeping so many older people locked up?
• Idaho makes it difficult or even risky for incarcerated journalists to tell their stories.
• Jails in Idaho charge much more than necessary for phone calls, reaping profits for companies
• Idaho prisons release about 4,416 people every year
• How the end of Roe v. Wade will impact the 5,127 women on probation and parole in Idaho
• Idaho hinders jury diversity by excluding people with felony records until they complete probation and parole sentences
• We graded the parole release systems of all 50 states - Idaho gets an F
• Who's helping the 12,254 women released from Idaho correctional facilities each year?

Other resources

• Research on Idaho in our Research Library

Data on COVID-19 in Idaho jails and prisons

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

• Idaho is one of only 8 states that have failed to reduce their prison population by more than 10% during the pandemic.
• Idaho is one of 13 states that did not explicitly mention incarcerated people in their vaccination rollout plan.
• Idaho is one of 13 states that did not implement any policies to accelerate releases, promote medical parole or compassionate release, prevent incarceration for technical violations of probation and parole, or hasten releases for people incarcerated on minor offenses.

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

• How many COVID-19 cases in Idaho communities can be linked to outbreaks in correctional facilities? (data from our report Mass Incarceration, COVID-19, and Community Spread)