Incarceration in the United States

The rate of incarceration for young black men is higher than any other demographic group.

In 2014, the United States had an imprisoned population of more than 1,561,500 people, a group larger than the population of the entire city of Philadephia. Out of every hundred thousand americans, at least 470 are in prison, and that number continues to grow. However, not everyone is affected equally by the toll of this massive system of incarceration. Data from the FBI National Incident-Based Reporting System reveals that rates of imprisonment are higher among minority groups in the United States, especially young black men between the ages of 30 and 34. The charts below put the difference between demographic groups into perspective, revealing that for both men and women, rates are strikingly higher amoung black Americans.

Hover over the chart to view incarceration rates per 100,000 people. Each rate is calculated based on the size of the subset of the population that is being considered. For example, for every 100,000 black women between the ages of 35 and 39, 229 are inprisoned.

Incarceration Rate of Men in the US per 100,000 people by demographic group

Incarceration Rate of Women in the US per 100,000 people by demographic group

Project by Laura Kurtzberg as part of MFA Interactive Media program at University of Miami

Data from FBI National Incident-Based Reporting System and the Bureau of Justice Statistics Prisoners in 2014 report

Population data from the US Census Bureau 2015 Census Population Estimates