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Montana has an incarceration rate of 789 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 Montana and why.

Jump to COVID-19 data.

7,400 people from Montana are behind bars

Additionally, the number of people impacted by county and city jails in Montana is much larger than the graph above would suggest, because people cycle through local jails relatively quickly. Each year, at least 18,000 different people are booked into local jails in Montana.

Rates of imprisonment have grown dramatically in the last 40 years

Also see these Montana graphs:

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

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

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

Data on COVID-19 in Montana jails and prisons

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

• Montana released fewer people on parole in 2020 than they had in 2019, and approved a smaller percent of parole applications.
• Montana is one of 15 prison systems that has not yet vaccinated more than 60% of the incarcerated population.

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

• Our Responses to the COVID-19 Pandemic page tracks criminal justice policy responses to the coronavirus all 50 states
• Prisons are COVID-19 hotspots, but as of mid-May, only 43% of people in Montana prisons had gotten a vaccine
• Montana released fewer people on parole in 2020 than in 2019
• Montana prisons were still over 100% capacity in December 2020, several months into the pandemic
• State prison and jail population data for December 2020)

Our other articles about Montana

• Montana hinders jury diversity by excluding people with felony records until they complete probation and parole sentences
• How much do incarcerated people in Montana earn for their work in prison?
• New data: Low incomes - but high fees - for people on probation in Montana
• We graded the parole release systems of all 50 states - Montana gets a D
• Montana has some of the highest jail phone rates in the country
• Who's helping the 7,909 women released from Montana correctional facilities each year?
• Importing Constituents: Prisoners and Political Clout in Montana
• More on prison gerrymandering in Montana

Other resources

• Research on Montana in our Research Library