Correctional Populations in the United States 1980 - 1993

Bureau of Justice Statistics Executive Summary

U.S. Department of Justice

Office of Justice Programs

The Nation's correctional population jumped more than 2 1/2 times from 1980 through 1993. During 1993 approximately 2.6% of the U.S. population--4.9 million adults--were on parole, on probation, or in jails or prisons, an increase of 3 million people since 1980. More than 909,000 men and women were in the custody of State and Federal prisons, 455,500 were in local jails, 671,000 on parole, and 2.8 million on probation:

--More than two-thirds of the 4.9 million persons under correctional supervision were on probation or parole.

--The Nation's parole population had the fastest rate of growth, 205% from 1980 to 1993.

--During the 13 years between 1980 and 1993, the probation population grew by more than 1.7 million, larger than the increase in any other correctional population.

--In 1993 nearly 1.4 million offenders were in local jail and State or Federal prison.

During the 1980-92 period, the percent of black State and Federal prisoners increased from 46.5% to 50% at a time when the percentage of blacks in the general population increased from 11.8% to 12.4%. The Hispanic prison population doubled from 7.7% to 14.1%, while Hispanics in the general population increased from 6.5% to 9.5%.

At yearend 1992, there were 4,094 black male inmates per 100,000 black adults in the U.S. population, compared to 502 white male inmates per 100,000 adult white residents. Among U.S. adults who neither graduated from high school nor earned a general equivalence degree (GED), almost 6% of blacks and 1% of whites were in a Federal or State prison serving a sentence of a year or more.

The number of convicted drug offenders increased ninefold (from 19,000 to 172,300) from 1980 through 1992. The number of violent offenders accounted for a larger share of the growth in the total prison population (41%, compared to 32% for drug offenders). The total number of violent offenders in State prison increased by nearly 200,000 during the 12-year period.

The number of returned parole violators and newly admitted probation violators soared between 1980 and 1992. Almost 1 in every 3 offenders admitted to State prisons (142,000) in 1992 were probation or parole violators, compared to 1 in every 6 (27,000) in 1980.

Violent offenders were more likely to be sent to prison in 1992 than they were in 1980. Relative to the number of victims of murder, rape, robbery, or aggravated assault, the number of violent offenders admitted to State prison increased during the 12-year period, from 18 admissions per 1,000 violent victimizations to 27 per 1,000.

Between 1980 and 1992 the rate of incarceration in State and Federal prisons more than doubled, from 139 sentenced inmates (inmates serving 1 year or more) per 100,000 U.S. residents to 332 per 100,000. In 1992 incarceration rates were nearly 19 times higher among adult men than among adult women (883 per 100,000 compared to 47) and 8 times higher among adult black men than among adult white men.

The data are from a 188-page book published by the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) and listing the correctional populations of each State and the Federal system. The book lists jail and prison suicide statistics, correctional crowding, electronic monitoring, sentence commutations, jail AIDS deaths and much more. Single copie"s of the publication, "Correctional Populations in the United States, 1992, (NCJ-146413), written by BJS statistician Tracy L. Snell, may be obtained from the BJS Clearinghouse, Box 179, Annapolis Junction, Maryland 20701-0179, telephone 1-800-732-3277. Fax orders with name, address, title, and NCJ

number to 410-792-4358.

Data from tables and graphs used in many BJS reports can be obtained in spreadsheet files on 5. and 3. inch diskettes by calling 202-307-0784.

Note: BJS expects to release population counts for prisoners in State and Federal prisons at yearend 1994, Prisoners in 1994, in early June.

Number of adults on probation, in jail or prison, or on parole,

1980-93

Total

estimated

correctional

Year population Probation Jail* Prison Parole
-------------------------------------------------------------
1980** 1,840,400 1,118,097 182,288 319,598 220,438
1981** 2,006,600 1,225,934 195,085 360,029 225,539
1982 2,192,600 1,357,264 207,853 402,914 224,604
1983 2,475,100 1,582,947 221,815 423,898 246,440
1984 2,689,200 1,740,948 233,018 448,264 266,992
1985 3,011,500 1,968,712 254,986 487,583 300,203
1986 3,239,400 2,114,621 272,735 526,436 325,638
1987 3,459,600 2,247,158 294,092 562,814 355,505
1988 3,714,100 2,356,483 341,893 607,766 407,977
1989 4,055,600 2,522,125 393,303 683,367 456,803
1990 4,348,000 2,670,234 403,019 743,382 531,407
1991 4,536,200 2,729,322 424,129 792,535 590,198
1992 4,763,200 2,811,611 441,781 851,205 658,601
1993b 4,879,600 2,843,445 455,500 909,185 671,470
1980-93 165% 154% 150% 184% 205%

Note: Counts for probation, prison, and parole population are for December 31 each year. Jail population counts are for June 30 each year. Prisoner counts are for those in custody only.

Because some persons may have multiple statuses, the sum of the number of persons incarcerated or under community supervision overestimates the total correctional population.

*Includes convicted and unconvicted adult inmates.

**Jail counts are estimated.

Estimated number of sentenced prisoners under State or Federal jurisdiction, per 100,000 adult U.S. residents, by sex, race, and education, 1992

Number of sentenced prisoners

per 100,000 adult residents

-----------------------------------------
Level Male Female
of ------------------- -------------------
education* Total All** White Black All** White Black
----------------------------------------------------------------
All inmates 448 883 502 4,094 47 27 202
Less than
high school 886 1,734 948 5,896 95 49 326
High school
graduate 597 1,248 754 4,834 56 34 223
Some college
or more 136 254 154 1,503 18 11 83

*Highest grade of school completed before the current admission to prison. General equivalency degree (GED) was categorized as "High school graduate."

**Includes Asians, Pacific Islanders, American Indians, and Alaska Natives.

Estimated number of sentenced prisoners under State or Federal jurisdiction per 100,000 adult U.S. residents, by sex, race/Hispanic origin, and age, 1992

Number of sentenced prisoners* per 100,000 adult residents

-------------------------------------
Male
-------------------------------------
Age Total** White*** Black*** Hispanic
------------------------------------------------
Total 883 407 3,785 1,773
18-19 681 220 2,750 872
20-24 1,458 661 5,309 2,102
25-29 1,867 837 7,210 2,839
30-34 1,538 729 6,299 2,367
35-39 1,099 511 4,415 2,150
40-44 793 417 3,179 1,586
45+ 222 142 768 610

Number of sentenced prisoners* per 100,000 adult residents

-------------------------------------
Female
-------------------------------------
Age Total** White*** Black*** Hispanic
------------------------------------------------
Total 47 22 188 95
18-19 34 18 103 47
20-24 78 36 261 119
25-29 119 57 426 154
30-34 1,100 47 352 175
35-39 71 33 280 114
40-44 41 21 138 86
45+ 8 4 27 25

*Sentenced prisoners are those with a sentence of more than 1 year.

**Includes Asians, Pacific Islanders, Native Americans, and Alaska Natives.

***Excludes persons of Hispanic origin.