Key Takeaway
Data compiled by Vera for 2022 shows that most county jails and state and federal prisons have started to refill. However, some places have managed to maintain reductions in their populations of incarcerated people.
Publication Highlights
- Early in the coronavirus pandemic, the number of people incarcerated in U.S. prisons and local jails fell from 2.1 million in 2019 to 1.8 million at midyear 2020.
- The increase in incarceration rates since then is mostly explained by more people being held in jails.
- Prison population trajectories in fall 2022 differed dramatically between states, with some maintaining or furthering their decreases while others were refilling their prisons.