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22,000 people from Massachusetts are behind bars today

Pie chart showing that 22,000 Massachusetts residents are locked up in federal prisons, state prisons, local jails and other types of facilities


Rates of imprisonment have grown dramatically in the last 40 years

graph showing the number of people in state prison and local jails per 100,000 residents in Massachusetts from 1978 to 2015 Also see these Massachusetts graphs:


Graph showing the number of people in Massachusetts jails who were convicted and the number who were unconvicted, for the years 1978, 1983, 1988, 1993, 1999, 2005, and 2013.


Today, Massachusetts’s incarceration rates stand out internationally

graphic comparing the incarceration rates of the founding NATO members with the incarceration rates of the United States and the state of Massachusetts. The incarceration rate of 698 per 100,000 for the United States and 324 for Massachusetts is much higher than any of the founding NATO membersIn 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

2010 graph showing incarceration rates per 100,000 people of various racial and ethnic groups in Massachusetts

racial and ethnic disparities between the prison/jail and general population in MA as of 2010

See also our detailed graphs about Whites, Hispanics, and Blacks in Massachusetts prisons and jails.


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

Pie chart showing that 85,000 Massachusetts residents are in various types of correctional facilities or under criminal justice supervision on probation or parole


Our other articles about Massachusetts


Our advocacy in Massachusetts

The Prison Policy Initiative is headquartered in Easthampton, Massachusetts. In addition to our national research, we have joined and led several campaigns for criminal justice reform in Massachusetts, including the following:

Protecting family communication and contact in Massachusetts

Sentencing enhancement zones in Massachusetts

Prison-based gerrymandering in Massachusetts

Protecting women from harsh punishments in Massachusetts

Our other victories and advocacy in Massachusetts


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