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Tennessee has an incarceration rate of 853 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 Tennessee and why.

Are you looking for information on what jails and prisons in Tennessee are doing to stop COVID-19? See our regularly-updated coronavirus response page.

58,000 people from Tennessee are behind bars

Rates of imprisonment have grown dramatically in the last 40 years

More than third of the people held in jails in Tennessee are held for federal or state agencies, primarily the state prison system. To avoid counting them twice, this population is not included in the yellow jails line. For annual counts of people in jails held for federal or state authorizes in Tennessee, see our table "Jail and prison incarcerated populations by state over time."

Also see these Tennessee graphs:

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

This graph excludes people held for state or federal authorities from the total count of people held in Tennessee jails. Because a significant proportion (33%) of the population in Tennessee's jails is held for the state prison system and the U.S. Marshals Service, this graph likely overstates the convicted population and understates the pre-trial population.

Today, Tennessee’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 Tennessee prisons and jails.

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

Our other articles about Tennessee

• We graded every state’s response to the coronavirus in prisons and jails. Tennessee got a D-
• How much do incarcerated people in Tennessee earn for their work in prison?
• Tennessee prisons charge a $3 copay to incarcerated people, putting health at risk
• We graded the parole release systems of all 50 states - Tennessee gets an F
• How Tennessee has reformed its juvenile justice system (from our report Youth Confinement: The Whole Pie)

The prison and jail telecom industry in Tennessee

• Some jails in Tennessee charge $12.00 or more for a 15-minute phone call
• Findings from Knox County, Tenn.: Replacing in-person visits with video calling is bad policy

Women's incarceration in Tennessee

• Who's helping the 97,022 women released from Tennessee correctional facilities each year?
• Tennessee grows its prison population solely by incarcerating more women

Prison-based gerrymandering in Tennessee

• Texas counties favor fairness and common sense over prison gerrymandering
• Avoiding prison gerrymandering is often a matter of common sense: Texas and Louisiana research update
• Importing Constituents: Prisoners and Political Clout in Texas

Other resources

• Research on Tennessee in our Research Library