Missouri profile   

52,000 people from Missouri are behind bars today

Rates of imprisonment have grown dramatically in the last 40 years

Also see these Missouri graphs:

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

Today, Missouri’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 Missouri prisons and jails.

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

Our other articles about Missouri

• Prison Populations Create Complications at Redistricting Time, by Peter Wagner, Missouri Municipal Review, January 2012
• Local governments still struggling with Census' prison counts, by Aleks Kajstura, December 30, 2011
• One person, two votes in Pacific, Missouri?, by Peter Wagner, October 13, 2011

Other resources

• Research on Missouri in our Research Library