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New Jersey has an incarceration rate of 341 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 New Jersey and why.

Jump to COVID-19 data.

39,000 people from New Jersey are behind bars

Additionally, the number of people impacted by county and city jails in New Jersey is much larger than the graph above would suggest, because people cycle through local jails relatively quickly. Each year, at least 86,000 different people are booked into local jails in New Jersey.

Using 2020 census data, we looked at where people in New Jersey prisons come from. We found they come from all corners of the state, but disproportionately from the state's largest and smallest communities.

Rates of imprisonment have grown dramatically in the last 40 years

Also see these New Jersey graphs:

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

Today, New Jersey’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 Blacks in New Jersey prisons and jails.

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

Data on COVID-19 in New Jersey jails and prisons

We gave New Jersey a "C" grade in September 2021 for its response to the coronavirus in prisons, noting that:

• New Jersey reduced their population the most out of all 50 states, and had the second highest vaccination rate.
• Nevertheless, New Jersey 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:

• Our Responses to the COVID-19 Pandemic page tracks criminal justice policy responses to the coronavirus all 50 states
• New Jersey was right to suspend all medical copays in prisons at the beginning of the pandemic. The state should make this change permanent
• State prison and jail population data for February 2022. (Previous data is available for October 2021, June 2021, February 2021, December 2020, September 2020, August 2020, and May 2020.) Data availability varies by state.
• As of late April 2021, only 23% of corrections staff in New Jersey prisons had gotten the COVID-19 vaccine
• How crowded are New Jersey prisons, as of December 2020?
• How many COVID-19 cases in New Jersey communities can be linked to outbreaks in correctional facilities? (data from our report Mass Incarceration, COVID-19, and Community Spread)
• As of August 2020, New Jersey prisons were not even requiring staff to wear masks at work
• Why more states should follow New Jersey's lead and award emergency "good time" credits during the pandemic

Our other articles about New Jersey

• New Jersey prisons release about 8,182 people every year
• New Jersey suspended its $5 medical copay for incarcerated people during the pandemic. It should end these copays completely.
• People in New Jersey prisons must pay for hygiene items and other basics — and those without cash have to meet strict "indigence" criteria, including a work requirement to get financial assistance
• Fees for sending money to a loved one in a New Jersey prison are unreasonably high
• New Jersey hinders jury diversity by excluding people with felony records and some prior misdemeanors
• How much do incarcerated people in New Jersey earn for their work in prison?
• New Jersey prisons charge a $5 copay to incarcerated people, putting health at risk
• We graded the parole release systems of all 50 states - New Jersey gets a C
• New Jersey is 1 of only 8 states still suspending driver's licenses for drug offenses unrelated to driving
• Who's helping the 18,600 women released from New Jersey correctional facilities each year?
• New Jersey legislation aims to protect in-person visits from video visitation
• In 2020, passed legislation making it the seventh state to end prison gerrymandering.
• Learn more about the history of prison gerrymandering in New Jersey campaign and resource page

Other resources

• Research on New Jersey in our Research Library