Source: Bart Everson, “Inmates Orleans Parish Prison,” wikimedia.com, Mar. 28, 2012, creative commons license
Below find the number of people incarcerated for each type of crime as well as the percent of people imprisoned for each type of crime under both state and federal jurisdictions from 2014/2015 through 2018/2019, which are the most recently available numbers from the Bureau of Justice Statistics of the Department of Justice.
- Number of Sentenced Prisoners by Most Serious Offense, under State Jurisdictions
- Percent of Sentenced Prisoners by Most Serious Offense, under State Jurisdictions
- Number of Sentenced Prisoners by Most Serious Offense, under Federal Jurisdiction
- Percent of Sentenced Prisoners by Most Serious Offense, under Federal Jurisdiction
Number of Sentenced Prisoners by Most Serious Offense, under State Jurisdictions
| Dec. 2014 | Dec. 2015 | Dec. 2016 | Dec. 2017 | Dec. 2018 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 1,316,409 | 1,298,159 | 1,288,466 | 1,273,674 | 1,249,700 | |
| Violent | 696,900 | 707,900 | 710,900 | 709,700 | 693,300 | |
| Murder* | 171,700 | 177,600 | 182,400 | 182,200 | 177,700 | |
| Negligent manslaughter | 17,100 | 17,500 | 17,300 | 18,800 | 18,600 | |
| Rape/sexual assault | 162,800 | 161,900 | 164,800 | 167,000 | 162,700 | |
| Robbery | 168,600 | 171,400 | 168,800 | 163,300 | 155,000 | |
| Aggravated/simple assault | 134,400 | 135,700 | 135,400 | 137,100 | 135,900 | |
| Other | 42,200 | 43,800 | 42,100 | 41,200 | 43,500 | |
| Property | 249,900 | 234,000 | 226,100 | 214,100 | 199,700 | |
| Burglary | 132,600 | 126,000 | 121,300 | 115,800 | 106,500 | |
| Larceny/theft | 47,000 | 47,700 | 44,000 | 37,600 | 38,700 | |
| Motor-vehicle theft | 11,100 | 9,400 | 9,600 | 10,800 | 10,200 | |
| Fraud | 29,700 | 24,700 | 25,900 | 25,000 | 22,400 | |
| Other | 29,500 | 26,200 | 25,200 | 24,900 | 21,900 | |
| Drug | 206,300 | 197,200 | 190,100 | 183,900 | 176,300 | |
| Possession | 46,000 | 44,700 | 45,300 | 46,800 | 46,500 | |
| Other** | 160,300 | 152,500 | 144,800 | 137,100 | 129,900 | |
| Public order | 152,800 | 150,100 | 153,100 | 157,600 | 153,100 | |
| Weapons | 51,100 | 50,500 | 54,400 | 57,800 | 58,000 | |
| DUI/DWI | 27,900 | 25,300 | 24,600 | 22,800 | 21,400 | |
| Other*** | 73,900 | 74,400 | 74,100 | 77,000 | 73,800 | |
| Other/ unspecified**** | 10,600 | 8,900 | 8,200 | 8,300 | 7,300 |
*Includes non-negligent manslaughter.
**Includes trafficking, other drug offenses, and unspecified drug offenses.
***Includes court offenses; commercialized vice, morals, and decency offenses; liquor-law violations; probation and parole violations; and other public-order offenses.
****Includes juvenile offenses and other unspecified offense categories.
Percent of Sentenced Prisoners by Most Serious Offense, under State Jurisdictions
| Dec. 2014 | Dec. 2015 | Dec. 2016 | Dec. 2017 | Dec. 2018 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violent | 52.90% | 54.50% | 55.20% | 55.70% | 55.50% | |
| Murder* | 13% | 13.70% | 14.20% | 14.30% | 14.20% | |
| Negligent manslaughter | 1.30% | 1.30% | 1.30% | 1.50% | 1.50% | |
| Rape/sexual assault | 12.40% | 12.50% | 12.80% | 13.10% | 13% | |
| Robbery | 12.80% | 13.20% | 13.10% | 12.80% | 12.40% | |
| Aggravated/simple assault | 10.20% | 10.50% | 10.50% | 10.80% | 10.90% | |
| Other | 3.20% | 3.40% | 3.30% | 3.20% | 3.50% | |
| Property | 19% | 18% | 17.50% | 16.80% | 16% | |
| Burglary | 10.10% | 9.70% | 9.40% | 9.10% | 8.50% | |
| Larceny/theft | 3.60% | 3.70% | 3.40% | 3% | 3.10% | |
| Motor-vehicle theft | 0.80% | 0.70% | 0.70% | 0.80% | 0.80% | |
| Fraud | 2.30% | 1.90% | 2% | 2% | 1.80% | |
| Other | 2.20% | 2% | 2% | 2% | 1.80% | |
| Drug | 15.70% | 15.20% | 14.80% | 14.40% | 14.10% | |
| Possession | 3.50% | 3.40% | 3.50% | 3.70% | 3.70% | |
| Other** | 12.20% | 11.70% | 11.20% | 10.80% | 10.40% | |
| Public order | 11.60% | 11.60% | 11.90% | 12.40% | 12.30% | |
| Weapons | 3.90% | 3.90% | 4.20% | 4.50% | 4.60% | |
| DUI/DWI | 2.10% | 1.90% | 1.90% | 1.80% | 1.70% | |
| Other*** | 5.60% | 5.70% | 5.80% | 6% | 5.90% | |
| Other/ unspecified**** | 0.80% | 0.70% | 0.60% | 0.70% | 0.60% | |
| Total number of sentenced prisoners | 1,316,409 | 1,298,159 | 1,288,500 | 1,273,674 | 1,249,700 |
*Includes non-negligent manslaughter.
**Includes trafficking, other drug offenses, and unspecified drug offenses.
***Includes court offenses; commercialized vice, morals, and decency offenses; liquor-law violations; probation and parole violations; and other public-order offenses.
****Includes juvenile offenses and other unspecified offense categories.
Number of Sentenced Prisoners by Most Serious Offense, under Federal Jurisdiction
| Sep. 2015 | Sep. 2016 | Sep. 2017 | Sep. 2018 | Sep. 2019 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 185,917 | 172,554 | 172,554 | 162,904 | 158,107 | |
| 13,700 | 13,400 | 13,400 | 12,800 | 12,212 | ||
| Violent | Homicide* | 2,800 | 2,800 | 2,800 | 2,700 | 2,663 |
| Robbery | 6,900 | 6,600 | 6,600 | 6,000 | 5,521 | |
| Sexual abuse | -- | -- | -- | 1,300 | 1,321 | |
| Other | 4,000 | 4,000 | 4,000 | 2,700 | 2,707 | |
| 11,200 | 10,600 | 10,600 | 9,200 | 8,400 | ||
| Property | Burglary | 400 | 400 | 400 | 300 | 292 |
| Fraud** | 8,800 | 8,300 | 8,300 | 7,300 | 6,637 | |
| Other*** | 2,000 | 1,900 | 1,900 | 1,700 | 1,471 | |
| 92,000 | 81,900 | 81,900 | 76,700 | 73,210 | ||
| Drug**** | 67,500 | 65,900 | 65,900 | 63,600 | 63,691 | |
| Public order | Immigration***** | 14,900 | 13,300 | 13,300 | 9,200 | 8,324 |
| Weapons | 30,200 | 28,800 | 28,800 | 28,800 | 29,327 | |
| Other****** | 22,400 | 23,800 | 23,800 | 25,600 | 26,040 | |
| Other/ unspecified/******* | 1,400 | 900 | 900 | 600 | 594 |
*Includes murder and both negligent and non-negligent manslaughter.
**Includes embezzlement, fraud, forgery, and counterfeiting.
***Includes larceny, motor-vehicle theft, arson and explosives, transportation of stolen property, and other property offenses.
****Includes trafficking, possession, and other drug offenses. More than 99% of federal drug offenders were sentenced for trafficking.
*****Includes illegal entry, smuggling and importing non-U.S. citizens, and holds for immigration officials.
******Includes regulatory offenses; tax-law violations; bribery; perjury, contempt, and intimidation in U.S. courts; national-defense offenses; escape; racketeering and extortion; gambling; sexual offenses, excluding sexual abuse; offenses involving liquor, traffic, wildlife, and environmental matters; and all other public-order offenses.
*Includes offenses not classified.
Percent of Sentenced Prisoners by Most Serious Offense, under Federal Jurisdiction
| Sep. 2015 | Sep. 2016 | Sep. 2017 | Sep. 2018 | Sep. 2019 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | |
| Violent | 7.40% | 7.70% | 7.90% | 7.80% | 7.70% | |
| Homicide* | 1.50% | 1.60% | 1.60% | 1.70% | 1.70% | |
| Robbery | 3.70% | 3.80% | 3.80% | 3.70% | 3.50% | |
| Sexual abuse | -- | -- | -- | 0.70% | 0.80% | |
| Other | 2.10% | 2.30% | 2.40% | 1.70% | 1.70% | |
| Property | 6% | 6.10% | 5.90% | 5.70% | 5.30% | |
| Burglary | 0.20% | 0.20% | 0.20% | 0.20% | 0.20% | |
| Fraud** | 4.70% | 4.80% | 4.60% | 4.50% | 4.20% | |
| Other*** | 1.10% | 1.10% | 1% | 1% | 0.90% | |
| Drug**** | 49.50% | 47.50% | 47.30% | 47.10% | 46.30% | |
| Public order | 36.30% | 38.20% | 38.50% | 39% | 40.30% | |
| Immigration***** | 8% | 7.70% | 6.70% | 5.70% | 5.30% | |
| Weapons | 16.30% | 16.70% | 17% | 17.70% | 18.50% | |
| Other****** | 12% | 13.80% | 14.90% | 15.70% | 16.50% | |
| Other/ unspecified******* | 0.80% | 0.50% | 0.40% | 0.40% | 0.40% | |
| Total number of sentenced prisoners | 185,917 | 172,554 | 166,800 | 162,904 | 158,107 |
*Includes murder and both negligent and non-negligent manslaughter.
**Includes embezzlement, fraud, forgery, and counterfeiting.
***Includes larceny, motor-vehicle theft, arson and explosives, transportation of stolen property, and other property offenses.
****Includes trafficking, possession, and other drug offenses. More than 99% of federal drug offenders were sentenced for trafficking.
*****Includes illegal entry, smuggling and importing non-U.S. citizens, and holds for immigration officials.
******Includes regulatory offenses; tax-law violations; bribery; perjury, contempt, and intimidation in U.S. courts; national-defense offenses; escape; racketeering and extortion; gambling; sexual offenses, excluding sexual abuse; offenses involving liquor, traffic, wildlife, and environmental matters; and all other public-order offenses.
*Includes offenses not classified.
Sources
E. Ann Carson, “Prisoners in 2019,” bjs.ojp.gov, Oct. 2020
E. Ann Carson, “Prisoners in 2018,” bjs.ojp.gov, Apr. 2020
Jennifer Bronson and E. Ann Carson, “Prisoners in 2017,” bjs.ojp.gov, Apr. 2019
E. Ann Carson, “Prisoners in 2016,” bjs.ojp.gov, Jan. 2018
E. Ann Carson and Elizabeth Anderson, “Prisoners in 2015,” bjs.ojp.gov, Dec. 2016
