It’s tough to tell which is higher.

The blunt-smoking son of a Manhattan couple sentenced to jail Tuesday in the college admissions scandal told The Post his parents don’t deserve to be locked up — because “incarceration rates are too high.”

Speaking from his family’s Fifth Avenue pad, rapper Malcolm Abbott — who was pictured puffing on weed as he defended his parents after their arrest — said his folks Greg and Marcia Abbott’s one-month sentence is “not so bad.”

But: “Incarceration rates are too high and my parents shouldn’t be locked up.”

In addition to the hard time, the married millionaires — who also own a home in Aspen — were hit with 250 hours of community service and a $45,000 fine each for paying $125,000 to boost their daughter’s ACT and SAT scores.

During their sentencing in Boston federal court, they read emotional statements explaining they were only trying to help their daughter, who was battling Lyme disease.

The night before their court date, the family — including Malcolm’s older brother, but not his younger sister — “chilled” at home, watching baseball and 2008 Clint Eastwood movie “Gran Torino.” They also ordered in and gorged on calamari.

“It’s been an ongoing trying months,” said the 22-year-old toker, who sports a ponytail and raps under the name “Billa.”

Malcolm recently had his own run-in with the law for allegedly biting his dad and whacking him with a ruler in a May 18 attack. His parents were so peeved, they let him rot in Rikers for eight days before paying his $1,500 bail.

But the spat was “no big deal,” Malcolm said.

“I’ve had clashes with my parents my whole life …” but “me and my dad are really cool right now. We have a strong bond, and I love my mom too.”

He’ll “absolutely” visit them in jail, he said, adding: “I think [the] humiliation is worse than 30 days.”

Asked if he would have liked his parents to help him get into school, Malcolm giggled.

“Yo, honestly I’m such a bad test-taker, so I don’t know, I won’t comment,” he said bashfully, while wrapping a blunt.

“But I’m not saying no [to going to college] forever,” he added.

The rich city kid claims he’s got a budding rapping career, which includes performing and recording at a studio in Nyack — and posting on Instagram. He was ecstatic to get his blue-checkmark verification on the app last night.

“I told [my parents] I got verified on Instagram and said getting a blue check means you’re famous.”

Their ordeal is serving as a source of inspiration for his rhymes — and he debuted a tune called “Scam Up” based on the “Operation Varsity Blues” case to a Post reporter.

At the end of the day, “I’m thinking about my music and my weed and my family doing good, because I know they will,” Malcolm said.