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West Virginia has an incarceration rate of 674 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 independent democratic country 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

Pie chart showing that 13,000 West Virginia residents are locked up in federal prisons, state prisons, local jails and other types of facilities

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

graph showing the number of people in state prison and local jails per 100,000 residents in West Virginia from 1978 to 2019 Also see these West Virginia graphs:


Graph showing the number of people in West Virginia jails who were convicted and the number who were unconvicted, for the years 1978, 1983, 1988, 1993, 1999, 2005, 2013, and 2019.

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

graphic comparing the incarceration rates of the founding NATO members with the incarceration rates of the United States and the state of West Virginia. The incarceration rate of 608 per 100,000 for the United States and 674 for West Virginia 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.


People of color are overrepresented in prisons and jails

2021 graph showing incarceration rates per 100,000 people of various racial and ethnic groups in West Virginia
racial and ethnic disparities between the prison/jail and general population in WV as of 2021


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

Pie chart showing that 23,000 West Virginia residents are in various types of correctional facilities or under criminal justice supervision on probation or parole See detailed data on incarceration and supervision numbers and rates by state.


Reports and briefings about West Virginia's criminal legal system:


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