States With The Most Prisoners In The United States

The 10 States With The Most Prisoners Per Capita In The United States

1. Mississippi

We’re going to stop in the state of Mississippi. Here, about 19526 citizens are sitting in a cell right about now. The prison population in Mississippi had gone down a little bit a few years ago, but is now starting to tick back up again.

Of course, this is the poorest state in the nation. Do poor people commit more crimes? Yes. People born into the bottom 10% of earners are 20 times more likely to wind up in prison than people born into the top 10% of all household incomes.

Of course, there are certainly wealthy people who wind up in prison. OJ Simpson, Bill Cosby, Martha Stewart, Robert Downey Jr, Mark Wahlberg, Wesley Snipes and Tim Allen are just a few of note.

Review Of Mississippi by Garrett Fornea

Actually I live in Mississippi, and, I have it pretty good here. There’s a lot of people here and in any state who don’t have it so well, but I’m pretty happy with it. One thing is you have to separate North Mississippi from South Mississippi. Southern Mississippi, where I live, has the Gulf Coast and is a beautiful place to live. Northern Mississippi has the Delta, one of the poorest places in the entire nation. But for all our low wages, hey, at least our living costs are low.

2. Arkansas

Let’s take a look at the state of Arkansas, which is right next to Texas. Here, there are about 25,000 people locked up for some reason or another. And 48% of Arkansas residents are in prison for violent offenses.

The number of people in prison here has gone up lately, but the number of people in jail has gone down over time. That’s good.

Review Of Arkansas by J Williams

Arkansas has some very beautiful scenery in the North northwestern area. Hit springs is also beautiful. And Arkansas has some great schools too.

I was blessed with a beautiful daughter thats from that state. And the people especially from the Ozark mountains area of Arkansas like mountain view, etc…like Mississippians, they will give you the shirt off their back. They will give you their last dollar or piece of chicken…..whatever they have, they will, like a mississippian, they will generously give if you were in need. I’ve seen this.

3. Alaska

Our next highest ranked state for being in jail is Alaska. More than 4478 people are locked up here in Alaska.

The number one reason Alaska folks are locked up? Distribution, manufacturing and using drugs.

Review Of Alaska by Lucas Adams

I live in Alaska and we do pay taxes. Only in anchorage do you not have to pay for taxes. Driving to anchorage is 41 miles but we do not have much traffic due to population.

4. Louisiana

So who is our prison capital of the US? Louisiana is.

There are about 50,000 Louisianans in various cells, and of those 50,000 people, about 5,000 of them are serving life sentences.

But Louisiana is sure trying to get out of this top spot. It’s prison population has gone down by about 15% over the last 8 years, while Oklahoma’s has gone up by 10% in the same timeframe. So, if we did this video again soon, Louisiana might be in second place.

Review Of Louisiana by Marksmans 1013

I live in Louisiana and I love it. Just based on the stuff you used to make the list, like weather and bugs, Louisiana should be #1.

We have over 50% of the entire country’s wetlands, which makes it a major hotspot for mosquitoes, Crime rate is pretty high, and poverty is really high. Drugs are also a problem.

5. Oklahoma

There are 42,000 people in the Oklahoma criminal justice system as of this writing, and based on the Sooner State’s lowish population, that number is good enough to make this state our prison capital runner up.

This is very alarming to Oklahoma higher ups, which have looked at relaxing drug laws as well as reducing charges from felonies to misdemeanors upon sentencing. Ending minimum mandatory sentences has also been a strategy.

So, basically, to reduce the prison population in Oklahoma, they’re letting people get away with crimes.

Review Of Oklahoma by I love Poland

I live in Oklahoma and I wish we where all liberal!

6. Alabama

Here in Alabama, there are somewhere near 27181 people locked up, and an additional 56,000 people on probation.

Considering that right now, there are over 2 million people locked up across America, Alabama’s incarcerated population is just a small amount. This number takes into account state prisons, local jails, federal prisons and other detention center type places. And you can see here all the different reasons people are locked up.

Our criminal justice system is at capacity folks.

So how do we solve this? There are all sorts of solutions. Relaxing drug crimes, allowing judges greater discretion in sentencing, and allowing people out earlier for good behavior are all things we’ve done or have talked about doing.

Review Of Alabama by Jenny Starnes

Not a thing wrong with Alabama we have the 2 best football teams!!! AND YOUR RIGHT A LOT OF CHURCH GOERS and also maybe it’s because we are mostly a Republican state I’m pretty proud of the State I live in and what makes you the judged of the 10 worst States – This isn’t the least bit liberalistic is it – Sarcasm is intended !!!!!

7. Idaho

Idaho ranks seventh in the country for prisoners per capita, with 9,829 people under state jurisdiction (543 per 100,000 residents) as of 2023. That’s up 7.9% from 9,110 the year before.

Review Of Idaho by Horses, Animals and Everything

As an Idaho resident I am offended and I live in one of the most famous ski towns in the world, so obviously I am skiing all the time. In the summer, we swim in the river like everyday, go mountain biking, hiking, backpacking, rafting, and my main sport is horseback riding. My friends and I are always outside in the summer, because there is so much to do! It’s not boring at all living here.

8. Texas

We’re in the state of Texas. Here there are a whopping 223,000 residents in jail or in prison.

The Texas Department of Criminal Justice is one of the largest in the nation. If all of the people locked up here were in one city, that city would be the 20th largest in the whole state.

Of course, Texas is known for strict law enforcement and an aggressive view on the death penalty. As such, nearly 10,000 people here are sentenced to life in prison.

Review Of Texas by Craig Paulsen

I live in Texas I have a better quality of life here then in Cali Come on

9. Delaware

Delaware ranks ninth in the country for prisoners per capita, with 4,867 people under state jurisdiction (496 per 100,000 residents) as of 2023. That’s down 1.8% from 4,954 the year before.

10. Arizona

Now here in Arizona, there are a lot of people in the klink. 41,000 people are locked up. As a result, the state spends about $1.1 billion of tax payer money every year to feed, guard and house its prisoners. And, Arizona’s prison population has gone up by more than 20% in the last 20 years, too.

Of course, Arizona claims that much of its crime is because it’s near the Mexico border. That may be partially true, but ACLU folks have blamed the state’s penal system for trying to solve societal problems like drug use and mental illness and poverty. After all, Arizona has harsh sentencing laws, and 1 in 3 prison admissions here were due to drug offenses.

So, Arizona’s harsh drug laws are being challenged.

Review Of Arizona by Tiger H1

really i live in arizona and its peaseful here and the schools dont s**k out if all the scools i went to more then gwlf the school got a and b is most classes the police rarely do anything except for pulling people over all the neoghborhoods are nice and clean and everyone here are nice people except for one d******d at school

How We Determined The States With The Most Prisoners Per Capita

We went to the Bureau Of Justice Statistics’ most recent prison Census to determine the states with the most prisoners per capita. We looked at the number of people under police jurisdiction in each state and divided them by the most recent Census population. That left us with the prisoners per capita for each state in the United States.

Using Saturday Night Science, we ranked each state on the number of prisoners per capita.

We updated this report for 2026. This report is our 3rd time ranking states by prisoners per capita.

Locking Up The States With The Most Prisons Per Capita

Okay so that’s it – the prison capitals of America. The places with the harshest laws, and where people just can’t seem to figure out how to stay out of trouble.

For more reading, check out:

• Most Dangerous States In America
• Most Dangerous Cities
• Best States To Raise A Family In America

Detailed List Of The States With The Most Prisoners In The US