Jail and Prison Populations by U.S. County, Mapped

Last updated on October 14, 2026

National prison totals get most of the headlines, yet the first stop for most people is much closer to home. It is the county jail. The maps below follow that trail from the world stage down to individual counties, and the numbers behind them have shifted a good deal since this post first appeared.

The United States holds nearly 2 million people in prisons, jails and other facilities, and 658,700 of them were in local jails at midyear 2024. Jail use differs sharply by place. Louisiana held 670 people in jail per 100,000 residents while New York held 85, and from 1970 to 2014 jail populations in small counties grew almost sevenfold against 2.8 times in the largest ones.

Key Takeaways

• Nearly 2 million people are locked up in the U.S., and about a third of them are in a jail.
• 68% of jail inmates have not been convicted of the charge that holds them.
• Louisiana’s jail rate is nearly eight times New York’s.
• Small counties drove most of the long-term jail growth.
• Black residents are 14% of the population but 38% of the jail population.

How many people are in jail or prison in the United States?

The Prison Policy Initiative counts nearly 2 million people held across 1,566 state prisons, 98 federal prisons, 3,116 local jails and several smaller systems. Jails are the slice a county map can show. At midyear 2024 they held 658,700 people, about 12% fewer than in 2014. Most are waiting on a court date.

How does the U.S. compare with other countries?

The country has the highest incarceration rate of any independent democracy, at 614 per 100,000 residents once every kind of confinement is counted. Only three nations, El Salvador, Cuba and Rwanda, are higher, and 24 U.S. states top the national rate. Massachusetts, the lowest state, would still rank 30th in the world. The world map below, made by Reddit user dr_the_goat, lines up countries and U.S. states with populations smaller than the U.S. prison system.

Which states jail the most people?

Jail rates split the map by region. Louisiana leads at 670 per 100,000 residents, followed by Kentucky and Mississippi. The lowest rates are in New York, Minnesota and New Hampshire. Texas, California, Florida and Georgia together hold more than a third of all jail inmates. Counting prisons and every other system, Louisiana reaches 1,067 per 100,000, more than four times Massachusetts at 241.

Do big cities or small counties have the highest jail rates?

Small ones. Researchers at the Vera Institute of Justice found that jail populations grew 2.8 times in large counties from 1970 to 2014, more than quadrupled in midsize counties and grew almost sevenfold in small ones. In 2014 large counties held 271 people per 100,000 residents aged 15 to 64, against 446 in small counties.

Who ends up in county jails?

Women show the same long climb. Their numbers in jail rose more than fourteenfold, from fewer than 8,000 in 1970 to 110,000 in 2014. By midyear 2024 the figure was 95,200, or 14% of the jail population.

Racial gaps are wide. The jail rate for Black residents was 566 per 100,000 against 149 for white residents. Black Americans are 14% of U.S. residents and 42% of the combined prison and jail population.

Readers can look up any county’s history with the Vera Institute’s Incarceration Trends tool.