Incarceration Rate Declines

The national incarceration rate has dropped in recent years, with an estimated 1.5 million federal and state prisoners as of December 2016. The imprisonment rate was the lowest since 1997, with 450 prisoners per 100,000 people, according to the Department of Justice.

Some states’ incarceration rates are far higher than others. In its 2019 Best States rankings, U.S. News determined which states have the highest rates, based on 2016 data from Bureau of Justice Statistics.

These 10 states have the highest incarceration rates: