Imprisonment Rates In the US By Race, Gender, and Ethnicity

"ƒ The imprisonment rate at yearend 2023 was 360 sentenced prisoners per 100,000 U.S. residents of all ages, an increase of 2% from yearend 2022 (355 per 100,000) but a 25% decrease from yearend 2013 (479 per 100,000) (table 5).

"ƒ An estimated 676 per 100,000 male U.S. residents were serving a sentence of more than 1 year in state or federal prison on December 31, 2023.

"ƒ Imprisonment rates for black (up 2%), white (up 1%), American Indian or Alaska Native (up 1%), and Hispanic (up 1%) U.S. residents increased from 2022 to 2023. The imprisonment rate for Asian, Native Hawaiian, or Other Pacific Islander (down 1%) U.S. residents declined during this period.

"ƒ The imprisonment rate for persons age 18 or older was 460 sentenced prisoners per 100,000 adult U.S. residents in 2023, up 1% from 2022 (454 per 100,000) but down 26% from 2013 (624 per 100,000) (table 6).

"ƒ From 2022 to 2023, the imprisonment rate for adult U.S. residents increased 2% for black persons, 1% for white persons, and less than 1% each for Hispanic persons and American Indian or Alaska Native persons, while it declined less than 1% for Asian, Native Hawaiian, or Other Pacific Islander persons.

"ƒ Over the past decade, the adult imprisonment rate declined 35% for Hispanic persons; 33% for black persons; 30% for Asian, Native Hawaiian, or Other Pacific Islander persons; 22% for white persons; and 10% for American Indian or Alaska Native persons.

"ƒ In 2023, black adults (1,218 per 100,000) were imprisoned with a sentence of more than 1 year at a rate that was about 14 times that of Asian, Native Hawaiian, or Other Pacific Islander adults (88 per 100,000), 5 times that of white adults (231 per 100,000), 2 times that of Hispanic adults (606 per 100,000), and 1.2 times that of American Indian or Alaska Native adults (1,045 per 100,000).

"ƒ At yearend 2023, 871 per 100,000 male adult U.S. residents and 64 per 100,000 female adult U.S. residents were serving a sentence of more than 1 year in state or federal prison."

Source

Derek Mueller, PhD, and Rich Kluckow, DSW. Prisoners In 2023 - Statistical Tables. Washington, DC: US Dept of Justice Bureau of Justice Statistics, September 2025, NCJ310197.