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The US is the worldwide leader in both incarcerations per 100,000 of the population and the number of prisoners in 2020. Each incarcerated person loses an average of $500,000+ in earnings over their lifetime.Incarcerated workers make an average of $0.86+ a day.Over 27% of formerly incarcerated people are unemployed.In the US, families of incarcerated people spend roughly $2.9 billion+ a year on prison phone calls and commissary purchases.An estimated 4,000+ companies profit from the mass incarceration of Americans.The total annual spend on private prisons and jails is $3.9 billion.The US spends over $80.7 billion a year to keep Americans locked in public prisons and jails.Over the last 40 years, the prison population in the US has grown by 500%.There are roughly 2.3 million people behind bars in the United States.The US holds the highest imprisonment rate globally, locking 639 people per 100,000.Incarceration Statistics (Editor’s Choice)
Incarceration statics in each stte by racr free#
What happened between 1980 and now for the prison population to rise by 500%? Is it to keep the general public safe? Dive into these detailed incarceration statistics to get a big picture view of why the land of the free keeps so many people behind bars. Crime rates have little to do with the rise of the prison population in the last four decades in the US.
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The US incarcerates more people than any other country in the world, keeping nearly 2.3 million locked in federal and state prisons and jails.
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