There were about 87,784 female prisoners under the jurisdiction of state or federal correctional authorities in the United States as of December 2022. This is an increase from the previous year, when there were 83,651 female prisoners in the country.
As of 2022, Black people were more likely than those of other races to be imprisoned in the United States. In that year, the rate of imprisonment for Black men stood at 1,826 per 100,000 of the population. For Black women, this rate stood at 64 per 100,000 of the population.
In 2022, 0.2 percent of female prisoners in the United States were aged between 18 and 19 years old. In that year, 16.1 percent of male prisoners in the U.S. were between the ages of 30 and 34 years old.
This data collection includes tabulations of annual adult admissions to federal and state correctional institutions by gender for the years 1926 through 1987. The two data files have identical structures: Part 1 includes information on male admissions, and Part 2 includes information on female admissions. The 3,348 cases in each part include one case for each of the 62 years of the collection for each of the following 54 categories: the 50 states, the District of Columbia, federal institutional totals, state cumulative totals, and United States totals (the sum of the federal and state cumulative totals). The figures were drawn from a voluntary reporting program in which each state, the District of Columbia, and the Federal Bureau of Prisons reported summary and detailed statistics, as part of the National Prisoner Statistics reporting series. Each file also includes individual state and United States general population figures.
In 2021, around ****** women were confined to local jails in the United States - a significant increase from the previous year. This is compared to ******* men who were confined to local jails in the same year. The number of men in local jails has decreased since 2010, while the number of women in jail has increased since then, except for 2020, when the number of women decreased significantly.
These data are part of NACJD's Fast Track Release and are distributed as they were received from the data depositor. The files have been zipped by NACJD for release, but not checked or processed except for the removal of direct identifiers. Users should refer to the accompanying readme file for a brief description of the files available with this collection and consult the investigator(s) if further information is needed.The data were obtained from one state prison system that was characterized by a diverse and rising prison population. This prison system housed more than 30,000 inmates across 15 institutions (14 men's facilities; 1 women's facility). The data contain information on inmates' placements into different housing units across all 15 state prison complexes, including designated maximum security, restrictive housing units. Inmates placed in restrictive housing were in lockdown the majority of the day, had limited work opportunities, and were closely monitored. These inmates were also escorted in full restraints within the institution. They experienced little recreational time, visitation and phone privileges, and few interactions with other inmates. The data contain information on inmates' housing placements, institutional misconduct, risk factors, demographic characteristics, criminal history, and offense information. These data provide information on every housing placement for each inmate, including the time spent in each placement, and the reasons documented by correctional staff for placing inmates in each housing unit. Demographic information includes inmate sex, race/ethnicity, and age. The collection contains 1 Stata data file "Inmate-Housing-Placements-Data.dta" with 16 variables and 124,942 cases.
In 2022, about 1,826 Black men per 100,000 residents were imprisoned in the United States. This rate was much lower for Black women, at 64 per 100,000 residents. The overall imprisonment rate in 2022 stood at 355 per 100,000 Americans.
Hong Kong had the largest share of female prisoners as of April 2025, with over ** percent of its detainees being women. Macau had the second-highest rate at over ** percent. In the United States, *** percent of inmates were women.
In 2024, there were 87,869 men and 3,635 women in prisons in England and Wales. Compared with the previous year, this represented an increase for both men and women. This represented a peak in the number of prisoners during this provided time period, and was also the peak for the United Kingdom as a whole.
Demographics of prisoners
There were 29,339 prisoners in their 30s in England and Wales in 2024, the most of any age group. In this year, there were also 3,354 prisoners who were aged between 15 and 20, with a further 21,381 prisoners who were in their 20s. In terms of the ethnicity of prisoners in England and Wales, 63,103 people in jail were White, 10,624 were Black, and 7,067were Asian. As of the same year, the most common religious faith of prisoners was Christianity, at 39,068 inmates, followed by 27,122 who identified as having no religion, with a further 15,909 who were Muslims.
Increase in prison officers since 2017
The 23,614 prison officers working in England and Wales in 2024 was almost as high as 2011 when there were 24,369 officers. From 2010 onwards, the number of prison officers fell from 24,830 to 18,251 by 2014, and stayed at comparably low levels until 2018. Low government expenditure on Prisons during the same time period suggests this was a result of the austerity policies implemented by the UK government at that time. The government has steadily increased spending on prisons since 2019/20, with spending on prisons reaching 6.09 billion in 2022/23. This has however not been enough to avert a possible overcrowding crisis in England and Wales, which had just 768 spare prison places in September 2023.
https://www.icpsr.umich.edu/web/ICPSR/studies/26602/termshttps://www.icpsr.umich.edu/web/ICPSR/studies/26602/terms
To reduce respondent burden and improve data quality and timeliness, the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) split the jail census into two parts: The Census of Jail Inmates was conducted with a reference date of June 30, 2005. The following spring it was followed by this enumeration, the Census of Jail Facilities, which collected data as of March 31, 2006. Previous jail enumerations were conducted in 1970 (ICPSR 7641), 1972 (ICPSR 7638), 1978 (ICPSR 7737), 1983 (ICPSR 8203), 1988 (ICPSR 9256), 1993 (ICPSR 6648), and 1999 (ICPSR 3318). The United States Census Bureau collected the data for the Bureau of Justice Statistics. The 2006 Census of Jail Facilities gathered data from all jail detention facilities holding inmates beyond arraignment, a period normally exceeding 72 hours. Jail facilities were operated by cities and counties, by private entities under contract to correctional authorities, and by the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP). Excluded from the census were physically separate temporary holding facilities such as drunk tanks and police lockups that do not hold persons after being formally charged in court. Also excluded were state-operated facilities in Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Alaska, which have combined jail-prison systems. Fifteen independently operated jails in Alaska were included in the Census. The census collected jurisdictional level information on the number of confined inmates; average daily population; number of separate jail facilities; renovation and building plans; court orders and consent decrees; staff by occupational category and race/ethnicity; jail programs; and costs of operation. The census also collected individual jail facility information on the purpose for which the jail held offenders; gender of the inmates authorized to house; functions, such as general adult population confinement, work release, and medical treatment; whether a separate temporary holding area or lockup was operated; rated capacity; number of confined inmates by gender and adult or juvenile status; year of original construction; and whether the facility ever had a major renovation.
https://www.icpsr.umich.edu/web/ICPSR/studies/38500/termshttps://www.icpsr.umich.edu/web/ICPSR/studies/38500/terms
The National Survey of Youth in Custody (NSYC) is part of the BJS National Prison Rape Statistics Program to gather mandated data on the incidence of prevalence of sexual assault in juvenile facilities under the Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003 (PREA; P.L. 108-79). The Act requires a 10 percent sample of juvenile facilities to be listed by incidence of sexual assault. Data are collected directly from youth in a private setting using audio computer-assisted self-interview (ACASI) technology with a touch-screen laptop and an audio feed to maximize inmate confidentiality and minimize literacy issues. The NSYC-3 was administered to 6,910 youth in 332 state operated and locally or privately operated juvenile facilities within the United States. Youth were randomly assigned to either a sexual victimization questionnaire (90%) or an alternative questionnaire (10%). Sexual victimization questionnaire: Youth selected for this questionnaire received one of two versions, based on their age. The Older Youth questionnaire was administered to youths ages 15 and up, and the Younger Youth questionnaire was administered to those 14 and younger. The survey was divided into six sections. Section A collected background information, such as details of admission to facility and demographics including education, height, weight, race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, and history of any forced sexual contact. Section B, Facility Perceptions and Victimization, included respondents' opinions of the facility and staff, any incidence of gang activity, and any injuries that had occurred. Section C, Sexual Activity Within Facility, captured the types of sexual contact that occurred and the circumstances of sexual contact. Section D, Description of Event(s) with Youth, and Section E, Description of Event(s) with Staff, focused on when and where the contact occurred, the race and gender of the other youths or staff members, if threats or coercion were involved, and outcomes, including whether or not the sexual contact was reported. Section F collected additional information about the youth, such as disability and mental health conditions, and the facility, including living conditions and use of restrictive housing. Alternative questionnaire: A random selection of youth were assigned to an alternative questionnaire to "mask" which questions an individual might have been asked. In addition to Sections A, B, and F from the sexual victimization questionnaire, this questionnaire included sections on facility living conditions, mental health, grievance procedures, substance use, treatment programs, living arrangements, youth education and aspirations, communication with family, and post-release plans. A Facility Questionnaire (FQ) collected in-depth information on each sampled facility via an online questionnaire. Topics included number of facility staff by race/ethnicity, job category, age, and length of service; staff turnover/vacant positions; personnel screening; staff training; number of youth, admissions, and discharges; rated capacity (i.e., number of beds), occupancy, and crowding; youth disabilities; grievance process; special housing; and youth education on PREA. Other variables in the datasets include debriefing questions about respondents' experiences completing the survey, interviewer observations, created variables to summarize victimization reports (due to the complex routing in Section C), weight and stratification data, and administrative data about the facilities.
In 2021, there were more male correctional officers employed by local jails in the United States than there were female correctional officers. In that year, there were ******* male correctional officers at jails across the U.S., and ****** female correctional officers employed by local jails.
This statistic shows the estimated number of U.S. state prisoners, by gender, as of 2016. In 2016, approximately 1.14 million of the 1.23 million prisoners in the custody of state prison were male.
In 2023, there were 14,327 murder offenders in the United States who were male, in comparison to 1,898 who were female. However, there were also 5,279 murder offenders where their gender was unknown. Homicides in the U.S. Murder and non-negligent manslaughter in the United States is defined as the willful killing of another human being. Justifiable homicides, or cases where a felon is killed by an officer in the line of duty or a felon is killed during a felony by a private citizen, are not included in murder counts by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The total number of murders varies from state to state in the U.S., with more populous states having higher numbers of murders. Murder offenders and victims Most murder offenders in the United States are between the ages of 17 and 39, with the number of offenders declining steadily after age 40. Additionally, the highest rate of death by homicide was found among males between the ages of 15 and 24. The highest rate of death by homicide for females was for girls under the age of one.
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There were about 87,784 female prisoners under the jurisdiction of state or federal correctional authorities in the United States as of December 2022. This is an increase from the previous year, when there were 83,651 female prisoners in the country.