Prisons Report Series

The Bureau of Justice Statistics provides key prison statistics prior to release of the annual prisons report. The counts below include all incarcerated individuals under the jurisdiction of state and federal correctional authorities and those sentenced to more than 1 year under the same authorities. 

This preliminary release includes counts from 2013 through 2023 and a year-to-year comparison of 2022 and 2023 by jurisdiction and the sex of persons who were incarcerated.

Statistics from 2023, the latest data year, are preliminary and may be updated once BJS publishes the final data in its annual report, Prisoners in 2023 – Statistical Tables, which is scheduled for release in early 2025. The annual report will present data on prison capacity and counts of incarcerated individuals, admissions, and releases.

Key findings

• The U.S. prison population was 1,254,200 at yearend 2023, a 2% increase from 2022 (1,230,100). At yearend 2023, persons sentenced to more than 1 year under the legal authority of state and federal correctional authorities accounted for 96% (1,210,300) of the total U.S. prison population.
• There were 1,124,400 males sentenced to more than 1 year in state or federal prison at yearend 2023 (93% of the U.S. prison population sentenced to more than 1 year). This represents an increase of 2% from yearend 2022 (1,103,200) but a decrease of 21% from 2013 (1,416,100).
• There were 85,900 females sentenced to more than 1 year in state or federal prison at yearend 2023. This represents an increase of 4% from yearend 2022 (82,500) but a decrease of 18% from 2013 (104,300).
• The number of persons sentenced to more than 1 year under the jurisdiction of the Federal Bureau of Prisons decreased 2% from yearend 2022 (146,100) to yearend 2023 (143,300).

For figure 1 and table 2, users can view information for specific data points by hovering the cursor over the trend line or point.

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