William J. Sabol, Ph.D., Heather C. West

December 11, 2008    NCJ 224280

Presents data on prisoners under jurisdiction of federal or state correctional authorities on December 31, 2007, collected from the National Prisoner Statistics series. This annual report compares changes in the prison population during 2007 to changes from yearend 2000 through yearend 2006. It provides data on the imprisonment rates for prisoners sentenced to more than one year by jurisdiction; the number of males and females in prison; age, race, and gender distributions; admissions and releases; the number of inmates in custody in state and federal prisons and local jails; and custody incarceration rates. It also includes the count for inmates held within facilities operated by and for the military, U.S. territories, Indian country, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and juvenile authorities. See also the jointly released Probation and Parole in the United States, 2007 - Statistical Tables (NCJ 224707).

Highlights:

• At yearend 2007, federal and state prisons and local jails held just under 2.3 million inmates (2,293,157).  The number of inmates incarcerated in prison or jail increased by 1.5% during the year.
• About 1 in 198 U.S. residents was imprisoned with a sentence of more than 1 year in a federal or state prison. 
• The federal prison population experienced the largest absolute increase of 6,572 prisoners, followed by Florida (up 5,250 prisoners), Kentucky (up 2,457 prisoners), and Arizona (up 1,945 prisoners).

Part of the Prisoners Series

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