Total Number of Adults Incarcerated in US Prisons and Jails

"ƒ A total of 1,767,200 adults were in the custody of state and federal prisons and local jails at yearend 2021, a 6% increase from 2020, the year the custody count declined due to responses to the COVID-19 pandemic (table 9).2

"ƒ The number of persons in the custody of state-operated prison facilities decreased by 17,400 (down 2%) from yearend 2020 to 2021.

"ƒ State departments of corrections held 2,900 (4%) more persons in privately operated facilities at yearend 2021 than at yearend 2020.

"ƒ The BOP housed 33% more persons in privately operated prison facilities in 2021 (29,300) than in 2020 (22,100).

"ƒ From 2020 to 2021, the number of persons in the custody of local jails grew by 87,200 and the number in the custody of the BOP increased by 20,300.

"ƒ In 2021, about 11,530 persons were incarcerated in territorial prisons, military correctional facilities, and jails in Indian country (table 10).

"ƒ The U.S. military held 1,130 persons in military prisons, Indian country jails incarcerated 2,040 persons, and prisons in the five U.S. territories held 8,360 persons in 2021."

Source

E. Ann Carson, PhD, and Rich Kluckow, DSW. Correctional Populations in the United States, 2021 - Statistical Tables. US Dept. of Justice Bureau of Justice Statistics, Washington, DC. February 2023. NCJ305542.