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West Virginia has an incarceration rate of 731 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 West Virginia and why.

11,000 people from West Virginia are behind bars

Additionally, the number of people impacted by county and city jails in West Virginia is much larger than the graph above would suggest, because people cycle through local jails relatively quickly. Each year, at least 34,000 different people are booked into local jails in West Virginia.

Rates of imprisonment have grown dramatically in the last 40 years

Also see these West Virginia 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 West Virginia jails. Because a significant proportion (31%) of the population in West Virginia’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, West Virginia’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

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

The high cost of being incarcerated in West Virginia

Prisons and jails in West Virginia are increasingly shifting the cost of incarceration to people behind bars and their families, hiding the true economic costs of mass incarceration:

• Jails in West Virginia charge up to $3.15 for a 15-minute phone call, reaping profits for companies, while prisons charge 45¢ for a 15-minute call.
• West Virginia suspended its $5 medical copay for incarcerated people during the pandemic. It should end these copays completely
• West Virginia prisons charge families a $2.75 fee to transfer $20 to an incarcerated loved one.
• West Virginia prisons don’t define indigence so it is unclear whether indigent people in West Virginia must pay for basic hygiene items.
• People in West Virginia prisons earn as little as 4¢ an hour for their work.

Our other articles about West Virginia

• West Virginia's choice to criminalize "failure to appear" may be hurting public safety
• The cost of incarcerating older people is incredibly high, and their risk of reincarceration is incredibly low, yet 12% of people in West Virginia prisons are over the age of 55. Why is the state keeping so many older people locked up?
• West Virginia makes it difficult or even risky for incarcerated journalists to tell their stories.
• West Virginia prisons are replacing incarcerated people's personal mail with scans, stifling family contact
• Bail companies in West Virginia have a track record of avoiding accountability, our report All Profit, No Risk and review of state-by-state evidence show
• West Virginia prisons release about 4,124 people every year
• West Virginia hurts jury diversity by excluding people with felony records
• Why is West Virginia the federal prison capital of the country?
• We graded the parole release systems of all 50 states - West Virginia gets a D
• Who's helping the 11,784 women released from West Virginia correctional facilities each year?

Other resources

• Research on West Virginia in our Research Library
• Fixing prison-based gerrymandering in West Virginia

Data on COVID-19 in West Virginia jails and prisons

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

• The COVID-19 death rate in West Virginia prisons is almost twice that of the general population.
• West Virginia is one of 15 prison systems that does not have a policy making hand sanitizer widely available or providing free hygiene products — like soap — to incarcerated people.
• West Virginia 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:

• How many COVID-19 cases in West Virginia communities can be linked to outbreaks in correctional facilities? (data from our report Mass Incarceration, COVID-19, and Community Spread)