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Pennsylvania has an incarceration rate of 725 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 many wealthy democracies do. Read on to learn more about who is incarcerated in Pennsylvania and why.

Jump to COVID-19 data.

96,000 people from Pennsylvania are behind bars

Additionally, the number of people impacted by county and city jails in Pennsylvania is much larger than the graph above would suggest, because people cycle through local jails relatively quickly. Each year, at least 170,000 different people are booked into local jails in Pennsylvania.

Rates of imprisonment have grown dramatically in the last 40 years

Also see these Pennsylvania graphs:

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

Today, Pennsylvania’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 Pennsylvania prisons and jails.

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

Data on COVID-19 in Pennsylvania jails and prisons

If you're looking for case or death counts, our friends at the COVID-19 Behind Bars Data Project have a detailed spreadsheet whose numbers may be as current as (or more current than) the state prison system's own data. To learn how Pennsylvania ranks on other important pandemic-related issues, see our resources below:

• Our Responses to the COVID-19 Pandemic page tracks criminal justice policy responses to the coronavirus all 50 states
• As of late April, only 21% of corrections staff in Pennsylvania prisons had gotten the COVID-19 vaccine
• Pennsylvania released fewer people on parole in 2020 than in 2019
• We gave Pennsylvania a failing grade for its response to the coronavirus in jails and prisons, and compared it to other states
• How crowded are Pennsylvania prisons, as of December 2020?
• How many COVID-19 cases in Pennsylvania communities can be linked to outbreaks in correctional facilities? (data from our report Mass Incarceration, COVID-19, and Community Spread)
• We're tracking Pennsylvania's medical copay policies in prisons during the pandemic
• State prison and jail population data for May, August, September, and December 2020 (data availability varies by state)

Our other articles about Pennsylvania

• Pennsylvania hinders jury diversity by excluding people with felony records and some prior misdemeanors
• How much do incarcerated people in Pennsylvania earn for their work in prison?
• Pennsylvania prisons charge a $5 copay to incarcerated people, putting health at risk
• We graded the parole release systems of all 50 states - Pennsylvania gets an F
• Some jails in Pennsylvania charge $12.00 or more for a 15-minute phone call
• Who's helping the 37,072 women released from Pennsylvania correctional facilities each year?
• Importing Constituents: Prisoners and Political Clout in Pennsylvania, by Peter Wagner and Elena Lavarreda, June 26, 2009

Other resources

• Research on Pennsylvania in our Research Library