HELP US GET YOU THE DATA YOU NEED The Prison Policy Initiative specializes in producing the information that you need to support campaigns for justice in your state. Can you help us expand this work?

From now until the end of the year, you can double your impact: every dollar you give will be matched by a generous donor (up to $250,000).

Thank you for your commitment to a more just society.
—Peter Wagner, Executive Director
Donate

North Carolina profile Tweet this

67,000 people from North Carolina are behind bars today

Rates of imprisonment have grown dramatically in the last 40 years

Also see these North Carolina graphs:

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

Today, North Carolina’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 North Carolina. The incarceration rate of 698 per 100,000 for the United States and 639 for North Carolina is much higher than any of the founding NATO members 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.