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.
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* 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+
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+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%
Male 3.6 9.1 11.3
White 2.2 4.4 5.9
Black 13.4 29.4 32.2
Hispanic 4.0 16.3 17.2
Female 0.3% 1.1% 1.8%
White 0.2 0.5 0.9
Black 1.1 3.6 5.6
Hispanic 0.4 1.5 2.2
White 1.2% 2.5% 3.4%
Black 7.0 16.5 18.6
Hispanic 2.2 9.5 10.0
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* About 1 in 3 black males, 1 in 6 Hispanic males, and 1 in 17 white
males are expected to go to prison during their lifetime, if current
incarceration rates remain unchanged.
* For women, the chances of going to prison were 6 times greater in
2001 (1.8%) than in 1974 (0.3%); for men, the chances of going to
prison were over 3 times greater in 2001 (11.3%) than in 1974 (3.6%).
----------------------------------------------------------------------
At yearend 2001 there were 1,319,000 adults confined in State or
Federal prison and an estimated 4,299,000 living former prisoners. A
total of 5,618,000 U.S. adult residents, or about 1 in every 37 U.S.
adults, had ever served time in prison. Estimates of the prevalence of
imprisonment in the U.S. population, presented here for the first time,
are based on a demographic model incorporating rates of mortality and
first incarceration in prison.
Between 1974 and 2001, the prevalence of imprisonment increased by
nearly 3.8 million. This included a 1.1 million increase in the number
of adults in prison (up from 216,000) and a nearly 2.7 million increase
in the number of living former prisoners (up from 1,603,000).
If rates of first incarceration remain unchanged, 6.6% of all persons
born in the United States in 2001 will go to State or Federal prison
during their lifetime, up from 5.2% in 1991, and 1.9% in 1974. Unlike
the prevalence of ever having gone to prison, which estimates the
extent of past experiences, the lifetime likelihood of going to prison
is an estimate of the chances of future incarceration, given unchanged
rates of first incarceration and mortality.
+4.3 million U.S. residents in 2001 were former prisoners+
Of the estimated 5.6 million adults in the United States who had been
incarcerated in State or Federal prison at some time before yearend
2001, nearly 4.3 million were no longer in prison (table 1). Former
prisoners accounted for 77% of all adult residents who had ever been
confined in prison.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
+Table 1. Prevalence of incarceration in a State or Federal prison, by
current and former prisoners, 1974-2001+
Current and former prisoners ever incarcerated in a State
or Federal prison--
1974 1979 1986 1991 1997 2001