Quick Facts About the Bureau of Prisons

Data presented here is from BOP automated information systems. Because of the timing of updates to these various systems, Quick Facts is updated monthly. Percentages may not add to 100 due to rounding.
Please see the most recent Weekly Population Report for individual BOP institutions figures.

Last Updated: Saturday, 25 August 2012


 
Inmate Population back to top
Total population:218,107
Total sentenced population:199,688
Inmates in BOP facilities:177,042
Inmates in privately-managed secure facilities1:28,507
Inmates in other contract facilities2:12,558
 
1 Includes inmates housed in privately-managed secure facilities under contract with the BOP or with a state or local government that has an Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) with the BOP.
2 Includes inmates housed in community corrections centers, home confinement, jail/short-term detention, contract juveniles, and long-term boarders.


 
Inmate Breakdown back to top

Inmates By Security Level
Minimum:17.2 %
Low:39.0 %
Medium:28.6 %
High:11.1 %
Unclassified1:4.0 %

Inmates By Gender
Male:203,950(93.5 %)
Female:14,157(6.5 %)

Inmates By Race
White:129,323(59.3 %)
Black:81,343(37.3 %)
Native American:3,976(1.8 %)
Asian:3,465(1.6 %)

Ethnicity
Hispanic:76,006(34.8 %)

Inmate Age
Average Inmate Age:39

Citizenship
United States:160,239(73.5 %)
Mexico:39,992(18.3 %)
Colombia:2,338(1.1 %)
Cuba:1,612(0.7 %)
Dominican Republic:2,383(1.1 %)
Other/Unknown:11,543(5.3 %)
 
1These inmates have not yet been assigned a security level.


 
Sentence Imposed back to top

Less than 1 year:4,116(2.0 %)
1-3 years:25,231(12.4 %)
3-5 years:29,592(14.5 %)
5-10 years:58,855(28.9 %)
10-15 years:41,438(20.3 %)
15-20 years:18,519(9.1 %)

More than 20 years:19,911(9.8 %)
Life:6,193(3.0 %)
Death:58
 
* Data is only calculated for cases where sentencing information is available.


 
Types of Offenses back to top

Drug Offenses:92,397(47.8 %)
Weapons, Explosives, Arson:30,855(16.0 %)
Immigration:23,191(12.0 %)
Robbery:8,140(4.2 %)
Burglary, Larceny, Property Offenses:7,506(3.9 %)
Extortion, Fraud, Bribery:10,840(5.6 %)
Homicide, Aggravated Assault, and Kidnapping Offenses:5,660(2.9 %)
Miscellaneous:1,644(0.9 %)
Sex Offenses:10,873(5.6 %)
Banking and Insurance, Counterfeit, Embezzlement:870(0.5 %)
Courts or Corrections:639(0.3 %)
Continuing Criminal Enterprise:498(0.3 %)
National Security:88(0.0 %)
 
* Data calculated for those with offense-specific information available.


 
Staff Breakdown back to top

Staff By Race/Ethnicity
White (Non-Hispanic):24,433(63.8 %)
African American:8,126(21.2 %)
Hispanic:4,377(11.4 %)
Asian:820(2.1 %)
Native American:528(1.4 %)
Other:11


Staff By Gender
Male:27,849(72.7 %)
Female:10,447(27.3 %)