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Minnesota has an incarceration rate of 342 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 almost any democracy on earth. Read on to learn more about who is incarcerated in Minnesota and why.

21,000 people from Minnesota are behind bars

Additionally, the number of people impacted by county and city jails in Minnesota is much larger than the graph above would suggest, because people cycle through local jails relatively quickly. Each year, at least 69,000 different people are booked into local jails in Minnesota.

Rates of imprisonment have grown dramatically in the last 40 years

Also see these Minnesota graphs:

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

Today, Minnesota’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 Minnesota prisons and jails.

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

The high cost of being incarcerated in Minnesota

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

• Jails in Minnesota charge up to $3.15 for a 15-minute phone call, reaping profits for companies, while prisons charge 75¢ for a 15-minute call.
• Minnesota suspended medical copays in prisons at the beginning of the pandemic — why is it bringing copays back now?
• Minnesota prisons charge families up to a 20% fee to transfer money to an incarcerated loved one.
• People in Minnesota 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 Minnesota prisons earn as little as 25¢ an hour for their work.

Our other articles about Minnesota

• Some Minnesota prisons are replacing incarcerated people's personal mail with scans, stifling family contact
• Bail companies in Minnesota have a track record of avoiding accountability, our report All Profit, No Risk and review of state-by-state evidence show
• Minnesota prisons release about 6,964 people every year
• Minnesota 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 - Minnesota gets an F-
• Who's helping the 37,128 women released from Minnesota correctional facilities each year?

Prison-based gerrymandering in Minnesota

• Ending prison gerrymandering in Minnesota campaign and resource page
• Bill ending prison gerrymandering clears Minn. Senate
• Ending Prison Gerrymandering in Minnesota [PDF](2013) (Summary of the problem with an emphasis on a model bill solution for the state)
• Prison-based Gerrymandering in Minnesota [PDF] (2012) (Earlier summary of the problem and potential solutions)

Data on COVID-19 in Minnesota jails and prisons

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

• Minnesota suspended medical copays in prisons at the beginning of the pandemic — but later decided to bring them back.
• Minnesota failed to utilize one of the most obvious, and easiest, tools for reducing the prison population — stopping prison admissions for technical violations of probation and parole (which are not crimes).

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

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

Other resources

• Research on Minnesota in our Research Library