People Under the Supervision of Adult Correctional Systems in the US

"• At yearend 2021, about 5,444,900 persons were under the supervision of a correctional authority in the United States, including 3,745,000 persons under community supervision and 1,775,300 incarcerated in state or federal prisons or local jails (table 1).

"• The total correctional population in 2021 showed a 1% decline from yearend 2020 (5,506,000) and a 22% decline from 2011 (6,994,500).

"• The total correctional population declined by 0.6% to 2% each year from 2011 to 2019, but it decreased 13% from 2019 to 2020 due to responses to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"• On December 31, 2021, about 2,963,000 persons were supervised in probation programs, a decline of 3% from 2020 (3,053,700).

"• The population under community supervision decreased almost 4% from yearend 2020 to yearend 2021 and 22% from yearend 2011 to yearend 2021.

"• While state and federal prison populations decreased by 16,800 persons from yearend 2020 to yearend 2021, local jails incarcerated 87,200 more persons in 2021 than in 2020, resulting in a 5% increase in the total number of persons incarcerated by federal, state, and local authorities.

"• The number of persons incarcerated at yearend 2021 decreased 21% from yearend 2011."

Source

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