Prevalence of Imprisonment in the U.S. Population, 1974-2001   By: Thomas P. Bonczar

Prevalence of Imprisonment in the U.S. Population, 1974 2001

August 2003, NCJ 197976

By Thomas P. Bonczar

BJS Statistician

Highlights

At yearend 2001 over 5.6 million U.S. adults had ever served time in State or Federal prison

Of adults in 2001 who had ever served time in prison, nearly as many were black (2,166,000) as were white (2,203,000). An estimated 997,000 were Hispanic.

At yearend 2001, over 5.6 million U.S. residents had ever served time in State or Federal prison

U.S. residents Percent of adult ever incarcerated Number U.S. residents

1974 1991 2001 1974 1991 2001

Total 1,819,000 3,437,000 5,618,000 1.3% 1.8% 2.7%

Male 1,677,000 3,142,000 5,037,000 2.3 3.4 4.9 White 837,000 1,395,000 1,978,000 1.4 1.9 2.6 Black 595,000 1,181,000 1,936,000 8.7 12.0 16.6 Hispanic 94,000 392,000 911,000 2.3 4.9 7.7

Female 142,000 295,000 581,000 0.2% 0.3% 0.5% White 86,000 139,000 225,000 0.1 0.2 0.3 Black 51,000 109,000 231,000 0.6 0.9 1.7 Hispanic 8,000 30,000 86,000 0.2 0.4 0.7

White 922,000 1,533,000 2,203,000 0.8% 1.1% 1.4% Black 646,000 1,290,000 2,166,000 4.5 6.2 8.9 Hispanic 102,000 422,000 997,000 1.3 2.7 4.3

U.S. adult resident population

1974 1991 2001

Total 145,356,000 187,982,751 210,207,901

Male 69,217,000 90,362,099 101,492,258 White 57,704,209 69,718,665 74,217,435 Black 6,593,640 9,465,170 11,287,707 Hispanic 3,923,600 8,022,134 11,452,968

Female 76,133,000 97,620,652 108,715,643 White 63,173,779 75,415,364 78,956,773 Black 7,813,782 11,222,468 13,178,900 Hispanic 4,074,628 7,655,854 11,496,534

White 120,878,496 145,134,029 153,174,207 Black 14,406,407 20,687,638 24,466,606 Hispanic 7,998,062 15,677,988 22,949,502

Note: Because of estimation and other rounding procedures, some detail may not add to totals and may not match precisely totals in other tables.

The rate of ever having gone to prison among adult black males(16.6%) was over twice as high as among adult Hispanic males (7.7%) and over 6 times as high as among adult white males (2.6%).

U.S. residents ages 35 to 39 in 2001 were more likely to have gone to prison (3.8%) than any other age group, up from 2.3% in 1991.

An estimated 22% of black males ages 35 to 44 in 2001 had ever been confined in State or Federal prison, compared to 10.0% of Hispanic males and 3.5% of white males in the same age group.

If incarceration rates remain unchanged, 6.6% of U.S. residents born in 2001 will go to prison at some time during their lifetime

If incarceration rates remain unchanged, 6.6% of U.S. residents born in 2001 will go to prison at some time during their lifetime

Percent ever going to prison during lifetime, born in 1974 1991 2001 Total 1.9% 5.2% 6.6%