BJS: Bureau of Justice Statistics

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Home  |  Key Facts at a Glance
Key Facts at a Glance

Correctional populations

To Key facts at a glance chart | Download spreadsheet version

Number of persons under correctional supervision
  Probation Jail Prisona Parole Totalb
1980 1,118,097 182,288 319,598 220,438 1,840,400
1981 1,225,934 195,085 360,029 225,539 2,006,600
1982 1,357,264 207,853 402,914 224,604 2,192,600
1983 1,582,947 221,815 423,898 246,440 2,475,100
1984 1,740,948 233,018 448,264 266,992 2,689,200
1985 1,968,712 254,986 487,593 300,203 3,011,500
1986 2,114,621 272,736 526,436 325,638 3,239,400
1987 2,247,158 294,092 562,814 355,505 3,459,600
1988 2,356,483 341,893 607,766 407,977 3,714,100
1989 2,522,125 393,303 683,367 456,803 4,055,600
1990 2,670,234 403,019 743,382 531,407 4,348,000
1991 2,728,472 424,129 792,535 590,442 4,535,600
1992 2,811,611 441,780 850,566 658,601 4,762,600
1993 2,903,061 455,500 909,381 676,100 4,944,000
1994 2,981,022 479,800 990,147 690,371 5,141,300
1995 3,077,861 499,300 1,078,542 679,421 5,335,100
1996 3,164,996 510,400 1,127,528 679,733 5,482,700
1997c 3,296,513 557,974 1,176,564 694,787 5,725,800
1998c 3,670,441 584,372 1,224,469 696,385 6,126,100
1999 3,779,922 596,485 1,287,172 714,457 6,331,400
2000 3,826,209 613,534 1,316,333 723,898 6,437,400
2001 3,931,731 623,628 1,330,007 732,333 6,574,100
2002 4,024,067 658,228 1,367,547 750,934 6,750,500
2003d 4,120,012 684,431 1,390,279 769,925 6,917,700
2004 4,143,792 706,907 1,421,345 771,852 6,987,900
2005 4,166,757 740,770 1,448,344 780,616 7,045,100
2006 4,215,361 759,717 1,492,973 799,875 7,176,000
2007e 4,234,471 773,341 1,517,867 821,177 7,267,500
2008e 4,244,046 777,852 1,522,834 824,834 7,274,600
2009 4,203,967 760,400 1,524,513 819,308 7,225,800
Note: Estimates include adults under correctional supervision. In 2009, jail counts were revised to include adult jail inmates only. For this reason, data may not be comparable to previously published BJS reports. Jails counts are for June 30, prison counts are for December 31, and probation and parole counts are for January 1 from the next reporting year because some probation and parole agencies update their counts. See Methodology in Correctional Populations in the United States, 2009, for more details.
aIncludes prisoners held in the custody of state or federal prisons (i.e., custody prison population) and may include juveniles held in adult facilities in the 6 states with combined jail-prison systems. The custody prison population is not comparable to the jurisdiction prison population, which refers to the entity having legal authority regardless of where the prisoner is held. For more details, see the text box on page 1 of Correctional Populations in the United States, 2009, and the Definitions in Prisoners in 2009.
bTotals from 1998-2009 were adjusted to account for offenders with multiple correctional statuses. See Methodology in Correctional Populations in the United States, 2009, for more details.
cProbation coverage was expanded and the additional probationers resulting from the expansion of coverage are reflected in these estimates. See Methodology in Correctional Populations in the United States, 2009, for more details.
dThe probation and parole counts were estimated and may not be comparable to previously published BJS reports.
eIncludes population counts estimated by BJS because some states were unable to provide data. See Methodology in Correctional Populations in the United States, 2009, for more details.


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