While the Black imprisonment rate has decreased, Black people are still five times as likely as white people to be imprisoned: Imprisonment rates per 100,000 U.S. residents by race and ethnicity, 2009–2019

White Black Hispanic
2009 245 1,544 694
2010 245 1,500 672
2011 240 1,447 660
2012 236 1,383 636
2013 236 1,354 626
2014 233 1,305 605
2015 228 1,247 586
2016 223 1,206 585
2017 221 1,169 569
2018 218 1,134 549
2019 214 1,096 525

 

Notes: Race and ethnicity categories are mutually exclusive (i.e., white non-Hispanic, Black non-Hispanic, and Hispanic any race).

Source: Economic Policy Institute analysis of Bureau of Justice Statistics Federal Justice Statistics, 2019, Table 6. 

Source: Economic Policy Institute analysis of U.S Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, “Table 6. Imprisonment Rates of U.S. Adults, Based on Sentenced Prisoners under the Jurisdiction of State or Federal Correctional Authorities, By Jurisdiction, Sex, Race or Ethnicity, 2009–2019” (downloadable data table) from Federal Justice Statistics, 2019, October 2021. Accessed January 28, 2022.

View the underlying data on epi.org.