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Can you help us sustain this work?
Thank you,
Peter Wagner, Executive Director Donate
Mass Incarceration, COVID-19, and Community Spread
by Gregory Hooks and Wendy Sawyer
December 2020
Appendix Table 1: Impact of mass incarceration on all 50 states and the District of Columbia, by additional COVID-19 confirmed cases (May 1 - August 1)
| State | Net additional cases | Total population | Net additional cases per 100,000 residents |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | 113,968.7 | 39,148,760 | 291.1 |
| Florida | 92,981.0 | 20,598,140 | 451.4 |
| Texas | 55,016.6 | 27,885,196 | 197.3 |
| Illinois | 47,298.3 | 12,821,497 | 368.9 |
| New York | 38,915.3 | 19,618,452 | 198.4 |
| New Jersey | 25,139.2 | 8,881,845 | 283 |
| Georgia | 24,951.1 | 10,297,484 | 242.3 |
| Pennsylvania | 20,166.3 | 12,791,181 | 157.7 |
| North Carolina | 13,277.2 | 10,155,624 | 130.7 |
| Maryland | 12,513.2 | 6,003,435 | 208.4 |
| Virginia | 12,040.3 | 8,413,774 | 143.1 |
| Louisiana | 10,684.6 | 4,663,616 | 229.1 |
| Ohio | 9,582.8 | 11,641,879 | 82.3 |
| Arizona | 8,754.8 | 6,946,685 | 126 |
| Tennessee | 7,866.5 | 6,651,089 | 118.3 |
| South Carolina | 7,716.4 | 4,955,925 | 155.7 |
| Indiana | 6,879.4 | 6,637,426 | 103.6 |
| Alabama | 6,721.5 | 4,864,680 | 138.6 |
| Massachusetts | 6,681.8 | 6,830,193 | 97.8 |
| Connecticut | 6,583.0 | 3,581,504 | 183.8 |
| Michigan | 4,787.3 | 9,957,488 | 48 |
| Mississippi | 4,545.3 | 2,988,762 | 152.8 |
| Washington, DC | 3,607.1 | 684,498 | 526.9 |
| Wisconsin | 3,454.1 | 5,778,394 | 59.8 |
| Missouri | 3,381.2 | 6,090,062 | 55.5 |
| Delaware | 3,180.2 | 949,495 | 334.9 |
| Washington | 2,633.7 | 7,294,336 | 36.1 |
| Kentucky | 2,455.2 | 4,440,204 | 55.3 |
| Arkansas | 1,590.6 | 2,990,671 | 53.2 |
| Oklahoma | 1,589.2 | 3,918,137 | 40.6 |
| Minnesota | 1,310.3 | 5,527,358 | 23.7 |
| Colorado | 1,078.2 | 5,531,141 | 19.5 |
| Rhode Island | 932.0 | 1,056,611 | 88.2 |
| Oregon | 930.9 | 4,081,943 | 22.8 |
| Iowa | 875.4 | 3,132,499 | 27.9 |
| Kansas | 645.8 | 2,908,776 | 22.2 |
| West Virginia | 469.9 | 1,829,054 | 25.7 |
| New Hampshire | 332.7 | 1,343,622 | 24.8 |
| New Mexico | 311.0 | 2,092,434 | 14.9 |
| Utah | 292.1 | 3,045,350 | 9.6 |
| Nebraska | 192.5 | 1,904,760 | 10.1 |
| Idaho | 165.9 | 1,687,809 | 9.8 |
| Nevada | 165.7 | 2,922,849 | 5.7 |
| South Dakota | 37.3 | 849,954 | 4.4 |
| Maine | 22.6 | 1,332,813 | 1.7 |
| Wyoming | 21.9 | 581,836 | 3.8 |
| Vermont | 20.0 | 624,977 | 3.2 |
| Hawaii | 18.9 | 1,422,029 | 1.3 |
| North Dakota | 9.9 | 752,201 | 1.3 |
| Montana | 8.1 | 1,041,732 | 0.8 |
| Alaska | 1.5 | 730,318 | 0.2 |
For details about the data sources and methodology, see Mass Incarceration, COVID-19, and Community Spread: Methodological Appendix [PDF] by Gregory Hooks.
Recommended Reading:
Advocacy Toolkit
Resources, tips, and best practices to help advocates working to end mass incarceration.
50 state incarceration profiles
All of our recent reports about prison/jail growth, racial disparities, and more, re-organized by state.
Mass Incarceration: The Whole Pie
The U.S. incarcerates nearly 2 million people. Where are they locked up and why? Read our report.
Events
- November 12-14, 2025:
Members of our Research team, Wendy Sawyer and Jacob Kang-Brown will be attending the American Society of Criminology annual meeting in Washington, D.C. from November 12 through the 14th. Please reach out if you’d like to set up a meeting.
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