Jail Inmates in 2024 – Statistical Tables

• NCJ Number: 311504
• Author(s): Zhen Zeng, PhD, BJS Statistician
• Date Published: September 2026
• Publication Series: Jail Inmates, Prison and Jail Inmates at Midyear, Jails Preliminary Data Release
• Publication Type: Publication

Description

This interactive, web report provides data on jail inmates, based on the 2014–2018 and 2020–2023 Annual Survey of Jails and the 2019 and 2024 Census of Jails. It describes the number of persons held in local jails, inmate demographics, jail incarceration rates, conviction status and offense characteristics, the number of admissions to jail, persons supervised outside of jail, jail capacity, and staff employed in local jails.

Highlights

• The average daily population in 2024 was 667,700 persons, nearly unchanged from 664,800 in 2023 but down 10% from 739,000 in 2014.
• Annual jail admissions totaled 7.9 million persons, up 4% from 7.6 million in 2023 but down 31% from the 11.5 million jail admissions in 2014.
• From 2020 to 2024, the number of persons age 65 or older in jail increased by 80%, from 7,400 to 13,300. 
• At midyear 2024, the jail incarceration rate for black persons was 566 per 100,000 U.S. residents, 4 times the rate of incarceration for white persons (149 per 100,000).