U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government, Department of Justice.

Just the Stats

Employment of State and Federal Prisoners Prior to Incarceration, 2016

Laura M. Maruschak and Tracy L. Snell, BJS Statisticians

NCJ 305983, February 2023
Download PDF (338K)

The Bureau of Justice Statistics conducts face-to-face interviews with a national sample of persons in state and federal prisons to generate statistics on specific topics, including employment prior to incarceration. The most recent Survey of Prison Inmates was fielded in 2016 and is a key source of national data on prisoner characteristics.

Key Findings

  • More than 6 in 10 state (61%) and federal (63%) prisoners were employed in the 30 days prior to arrest for the offense for which they were incarcerated, with about half (49% state and 54% federal) having a full-time job (figure 1).
  • About a quarter of persons in state (24%) and federal (25%) prison were unemployed and not looking for work in the 30 days prior to arrest.
  • Females in state (47%) and federal (55%) prison were less likely to be employed than males in state (62%) and federal (64%) prison (table 1).
  • Among state prisoners, whites and Hispanics (66% each) were more likely than blacks (54%) to be employed in the 30 days prior to arrest. Among persons sentenced to serve time in federal prison, whites (64%) were more likely than blacks (54%) and American Indians or Alaska Natives (52%) and less likely than Hispanics (71%) and Asians, Native Hawaiians, or other Pacific Islanders (77%) to be employed in the 30 days prior to arrest.
  • Non-U.S. citizens in state (81%) and federal (78%) prison were more likely than U.S. citizens in state (60%) and federal (58%) prison to be employed in the 30 days prior to arrest.
  • Almost two-thirds of persons in state prison being held for violent (63%) offenses were employed in the 30 days prior to arrest, compared to more than half of those being held for property (57%) or drug (53%) offenses. Among persons in federal prison, 80% of those serving time for property, 67% for public-order, 60% for drug, and 58% for violent offenses were employed in the 30 days prior to arrest.
  • Persons in state and federal prison (59% in each) with one or more prior incarcerations were less likely to be employed than those in state (69%) and federal (73%) prison with no prior incarcerations. More than half of state (54%) and federal (51%) prisoners whose age at first arrest was younger than 18 were employed in the 30 days prior to arrest, compared to more than two-thirds of those in state (69%) and federal (72%) prison whose age at first arrest was 18 or older.

Figure 1

Employment status in the 30 days prior to arrest among state and federal prisoners, 2016 

In 2016, employment status of state and federal prisoners 30 days prior to arrest.

Note: See appendix table 1 for percentages and standard errors.
Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Survey of Prison Inmates, 2016. 

Download figure 1 data - CSV (2K)

Employment status measure

Employment status from the 2016 Survey of Prison Inmates (SPI) is based on prisoner self-reported employment, excluding illegal activities, in the 30 days prior to the arrest for the offense for which they were incarcerated. Full-time employment includes those who reported holding at least one full-time job, part-time employment includes those who reported holding at least one part-time job and no full-time job, and occasional employment includes those who reported having only occasional employment in the 30 days prior to arrest. For details on employment questions, see 2016 Survey of Prison Inmates (SPI) Questionnaire. For additional information, see Methodology: Survey of Prison Inmates, 2016 (NCJ 252210, BJS, July 2019).

Table 1. Percentage of state and federal prisoners employed in the 30 days prior to arrest, by selected characteristics, 2016
 

             All prisoners


        State prisoners


     Federal prisoners


Characteristic

Percent

Standard error 

Percent

Standard error

Percent

Standard error


  Total 

  61.1%

  0.58%

   60.8%

  0.61%

  63.4%

  1.74%

Sex

 

 

 

 

 

 

  Male*

  62.1%

  0.61%

   61.9%

  0.65%

63.9%

  1.84%

  Female

  47.5† 

1.13

   46.6†

1.23

  55.1†

2.10

Age at time of arrest for current offense

 

     

  17 or younger

 31.2%† 

  1.93%

 31.3%†

1.94%

 19.4%†

  10.66%

  18-24

 53.5† 

0.84

54.0†

0.88

  47.7†

2.58

  25-34*

63.4 

0.80

64.0

0.89

59.8

1.69

  35-44

 70.0†

0.97

69.5†

1.09

  73.1†

2.03

  45 or older

 64.5

1.15

63.1

1.26

  73.2†

2.08

Race/ethnicity

 

     

  Whitea*

  65.4% 

  0.77%

  65.5%

0.82%

  64.4%

  2.15%

  Blacka

 54.1†

0.84

  54.2†

0.91

  53.6†

2.06

  Hispanic

67.3 

0.99

66.3

1.09

  71.2†

2.08

  American Indian/Alaska Nativea

 59.1

4.07

60.3

4.56

  51.5†

5.97

  Asian/Native Hawaiian/Other
  Pacific Islandersa

64.0 

4.37

61.1

5.26

  77.0†

4.33

  Two or more racesa

  58.1† 

1.25

  57.8†

1.31

61.6

3.84

Educational attainmentb

 

     

  Less than high school*

  56.2% 

  0.66%

  55.9%

  0.68%

  58.5%

  2.31%

  High school graduate

 65.5†

0.94

  65.7†

1.04

64.2

1.96

  Some college

  71.9† 

1.04

  71.8†

1.13

72.3†

2.59

  College degree or more

 77.8† 

1.73

  77.2†

2.06

79.7†

2.80

Citizenship

 

     

  U.S. citizen*

   59.7% 

  0.59%

  59.9%

   0.62%

  58.4%

  1.80%

  Non-U.S. citizen

  79.6† 

1.08

80.6†

1.67

78.3†

1.24

Controlling offenseb

 

     

  Violent*

   63.2%

  0.74%

 63.3%

   0.76%

  58.1%

  2.43%

  Property

   58.0† 

1.15

56.5†

1.17

80.0†

2.24

  Drug

  55.1†

1.06

53.0†

1.16

59.7

2.16

  Public order

63.8

1.12

62.9

1.31

  66.6†

2.17

Prior incarcerationb

 

     

  None*

  69.6% 

   0.81%

68.9%

  0.91%

73.2%

   1.67%

  1 or more

 59.0†

0.62

58.9†

0.66

59.3†

1.89

Age at first arrest

 

     

  Younger than 18*

 53.9%

0.68%

54.2%

0.72%

51.4%

1.68%

  18 or older

 69.5†

0.66

69.1†

0.73

71.9†

1.38


Note: See Employment status measure text box.
*Comparison group.
†Difference with comparison group is significant at the 95% confidence level.
aExcludes persons of Hispanic origin (e.g., “white” refers to non-Hispanic whites and “black” refers to non-Hispanic blacks).
bSee Profile of Prison Inmates, 2016 (NCJ 255037, BJS, December 2021) for detail on measurement.
Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Survey of Prison Inmates, 2016.

Download table 1 data - CSV (4K)


 

Appendix Table 1. Estimates and standard errors for figure 1: Employment status in the 30 days prior to arrest among state and federal prisoners, 2016
 

          State prisoners


       Federal prisoners



Employment status

Percent

Standard error

Percent

Standard error

 Employed

  60.8%

   0.61%

  63.4%

  1.74%

   Full-time

49.1

0.68

53.5

1.75

  Part-time

9.3

0.28

  7.3

 0.51

  Occasional

2.4

0.13

  2.5

 0.31

Unemployed

  39.2%  

   0.61%

  36.6%

  1.74%

  Looking for work

15.0  

0.40

12.0

0.72

  Not looking for work

24.2  

0.46

24.6

1.40


Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Survey of Prison Inmates, 2016.

Download appendix table 1 data - CSV (2K)


 

The Bureau of Justice Statistics of the U.S. Department of Justice is the principal federal agency responsible for measuring crime, criminal victimization, criminal offenders, victims of crime, correlates of crime, and the operation of criminal and civil justice systems at the federal, state, tribal, and local levels. BJS collects, analyzes, and disseminates reliable statistics on crime and justice systems in the United States, supports improvements to state and local criminal justice information systems, and participates with national and international organizations to develop and recommend national standards for justice statistics. Alexis R. Piquero, PhD, is the director.


This report was written by Laura M. Maruschak and Tracy L. Snell. Laura M. Maruschak conducted the statistical analysis, and Tracy L. Snell verified it. Stephanie Mueller and Todd D. Minton verified the report. Lauren G. Beatty, the BJS project manager for the 2016 Survey of Prison Inmates, provided statistical and methodological review.

February 2023, NCJ 305983

Date Created: February 28, 2023