Idaho profile   

12,000 people from Idaho are behind bars today

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

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

Our other articles about Idaho

• In Memory of Jon E. Yount (1938 - 2012), by Peter Wagner, Prison Policy Initiative Blog, May 22, 2012
• Do Prisoners Count? Census 2010 could super-enfranchise some, by Nathaniel Hoffman, Boise Weekly March 31, 2013
• Census prison quirk dilutes democracy in Idaho, by Peter Wagner, December 2014

Other resources

• Research on Idaho in our Research Library