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According to the most recent data compiled by the Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2011 marked the second year in a row with an overall decline in the total U.S. prison population from the previous year, reversing a decades-long trend of annual population increases.1
The federal and state prison population fell to 1,598,780 at the end of 2011, down 0.9% from 1,613,803 in 2010. This decline was largely due to a decrease in the total state prison population of over 21,000 since 2010, a 1.5% decline. The federal prison population grew over the same time period by over 6,500 prisoners, a 3.1% increase. Overall, there was a net decrease in the total U.S. prison population of over 15,000 between the end of 2010 and the end of 2011.
Over that same period, the total U.S. prison population housed in privately operated prisons increased slightly by 2.3% from 127,945 in 2010 to 130,941 in 2011. While the number of privately housed inmates at the federal level increased by 4,716 since 2010, this was offset by a decline in the state-level private prison population of 1,720.
At the federal and state level, the use of public-private partnerships in corrections has increased since 2000, as shown in Table 1. At the federal level, the total prison population rose from 145,416 in 2000 to 216,362 in 2011, an increase of 48.8%. By contrast, the number of federal prisoners housed in private facilities has risen by over 148% over that same period (from 15,524 in 2000 to 38,546 in 2011), illustrating federal agencies’ growing preference to rely on PPPs for new prison capacity, as opposed to developing government-run facilities. Accordingly, the share of federal prisoners housed in private prisons increased from 10.7% in 2000 to 17.8% in 2011.
At the state level, the share of offenders held in private facilities has also increased since 2000. The total state prison population rose from 1,248,815 in 2000 to 1,382,418 in 2011, a 10.7% increase. The number of those state prisoners housed in private facilities rose from 75,291 in 2000 to 92,395 in 2011 over that same time period, a 22.7% increase. Overall, the share of state prisoners housed in private prisons increased slightly from 6.0% in 2000 to 6.7% in 2011.
Table 1: Federal and State Prison Population in Private Facilities (2000-2011)
| Year | Total Federal Prisoners | Federal Prisoners in Private Facilities | % Federal Prisoners in Private Facilities | Total State Prisoners | State Prisoners in Private Facilities | % State Prisoners in Private Facilities |
| 2000 | 145,416 | 15,524 | 10.7% | 1,248,815 | 75,291 | 6.0% |
| 2001 | 156,993 | 19,251 | 12.3% | 1,247,039 | 72,577 | 5.8% |
| 2002 | 163,528 | 20,274 | 12.4% | 1,276,616 | 73,638 | 5.8% |
| 2003 | 173,059 | 21,865 | 12.6% | 1,295,542 | 73,842 | 5.7% |
| 2004 | 180,328 | 24,768 | 13.7% | 1,316,772 | 73,860 | 5.6% |
| 2005 | 187,618 | 27,046 | 14.4% | 1,338,292 | 80,894 | 6.0% |
| 2006 | 193,046 | 27,726 | 14.4% | 1,375,628 | 85,971 | 6.2% |
| 2007 | 199,618 | 31,310 | 15.7% | 1,397,217 | 92,632 | 6.6% |
| 2008 | 201,280 | 33,162 | 16.5% | 1,407,002 | 96,320 | 6.8% |
| 2009 | 208,118 | 34,087 | 16.4% | 1,407,369 | 95,246 | 6.8% |
| 2010 | 209,771 | 33,830 | 16.1% | 1,404,032 | 94,115 | 6.7% |
| 2011 | 216,362 | 38,546 | 17.8% | 1,382,418 | 92,395 | 6.7% |
| Average annual % change, 2000-2010 | 3.3% | 7.1% | n/a | 1.1% | 2.0% | n/a |
| Percent change, 2010-2011 | 3.1% | 13.9% | n/a | -1.5% | -1.8% | n/a |
Sources:
Total federal and state prison population data: U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, Prisoners in 2011, December 2012, p. 2, http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/pub/pdf/p11.pdf (accessed January 23, 2013).
Federal and state private prison population data (2000, 2010, 2011): U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, Prisoners in 2011, December 2012, p. 32, http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/pub/pdf/p11.pdf (accessed January 23, 2013).
Federal and state private prison population data (2001-2009): U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, Prisoners in 2010, February 2012, p. 30, http://goo.gl/73pVs (accessed January 23, 2013).
Percent federal and state population in private facilities (and related percent changes): Author’s calculation.
Taken together, the total federal and state prison population increased by over 14% from 2000 to 2011, rising from 1.39 million to nearly 1.6 million (see Table 2 and Figure 1). By comparison, the federal and state inmate population housed in private facilities increased by 44% over the same time period and now accounts for 8.2% of the total prison population. While these data certainly reflect an increasing reliance on corrections PPPs by federal and state officials over the last decade, the vast majority of inmates-nearly 92%-continue to be housed in government-run prisons.
Table 2: Change in Private Prison Population (2000-2011)
| Year | Total Federal and State Prison Population | Federal and State Population in Private Facilities | % Federal and State Population in Private Facilities |
| 2000 | 1,394,231 | 90,815 | 6.5% |
| 2001 | 1,404,032 | 91,828 | 6.5% |
| 2002 | 1,440,144 | 93,912 | 6.5% |
| 2003 | 1,468,601 | 95,707 | 6.5% |
| 2004 | 1,497,100 | 98,628 | 6.6% |
| 2005 | 1,525,910 | 107,940 | 7.1% |
| 2006 | 1,568,674 | 113,697 | 7.2% |
| 2007 | 1,596,835 | 123,942 | 7.8% |
| 2008 | 1,608,282 | 129,482 | 8.1% |
| 2009 | 1,615,487 | 129,333 | 8.0% |
| 2010 | 1,613,803 | 127,945 | 7.9% |
| 2011 | 1,598,780 | 130,941 | 8.2% |
| Average annual % change, 2000-2010 | 1.3% | 3.1% | n/a |
| Percent change, 2010-2011 | -0.9% | 2.3% | n/a |
Sources:
Total federal and state prison population data: U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, Prisoners in 2011, December 2012, p. 2, http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/pub/pdf/p11.pdf (accessed January 23, 2013).
Federal and state private prison population data (2000, 2010, 2011): U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, Prisoners in 2011, December 2012, p. 32, http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/pub/pdf/p11.pdf (accessed January 23, 2013).
Federal and state private prison population data (2001-2009): U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, Prisoners in 2010, February 2012, p. 30, http://goo.gl/73pVs (accessed January 23, 2013).
Percent federal and state population in private facilities (and related percent changes): Author’s calculation.
State usage of corrections PPPs varies considerably, as shown in Table 3. Some states have large numbers of their inmate populations in privately operated facilities-including New Mexico (40.8%), Montana (38.6%), Alaska (31.0%) and Vermont (25.4%)-while other states make limited use of corrections PPPs, including Pennsylvania (2.3%), Alabama (1.7%), Kansas (0.8%), Maryland (0.3%), Wisconsin (0.1%) and South Dakota (0.1%).
Table 3.Federal and State Prisoners in Private Facilities, by jurisdiction, 2000-2011
| Jurisdiction | Inmates in Private Facilities (2000) | Inmates in Private Facilities (2010) | Inmates in Private Facilities (2011) | Percent of Total Jurisdictional Population, 2011 |
| Alabama | 0 | 1,024 | 545 | 1.7% |
| Alaska | 1,383 | 1,598 | 1,679 | 31.0% |
| Arizona | 1,430 | 5,356 | 6,457 | 16.1% |
| Arkansas | 1,540 | 0 | 0 | 0.0% |
| California | 4,547 | 2,170 | 697 | 0.5% |
| Colorado | 2,099 | 4,498 | 4,303 | 19.6% |
| Connecticut | n/a | 883 | 855 | 4.7% |
| Delaware | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0% |
| Florida | 3,912 | 11,796 | 11,827 | 11.5% |
| Georgia | 3,746 | 5,233 | 5,615 | 10.0% |
| Hawaii | 1,187 | 1,931 | 1,767 | 29.3% |
| Idaho | 1,163 | 2,236 | 2,332 | 30.1% |
| Illinois | n/a | 0 | 0 | 0.0% |
| Indiana | 991 | 2,817 | 2,952 | 10.2% |
| Iowa | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0% |
| Kansas | n/a | 0 | 74 | 0.8% |
| Kentucky | 1,268 | 2,127 | 2,050 | 9.5% |
| Louisiana | 3,065 | 2,921 | 2,951 | 7.4% |
| Maine | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0.0% |
| Maryland | 127 | 70 | 78 | 0.3% |
| Massachusetts | n/a | 0 | 0 | 0.0% |
| Michigan | 449 | 0 | 0 | 0.0% |
| Minnesota | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0% |
| Mississippi | 3,230 | 5,241 | 4,669 | 21.8% |
| Missouri | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0% |
| Montana | 986 | 1,502 | 1,418 | 38.6% |
| Nebraska | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0% |
| Nevada | 508 | 0 | 0 | 0.0% |
| New Hampshire | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0% |
| New Jersey | 2,498 | 2,841 | 2,887 | 12.1% |
| New Mexico | 2,132 | 2,905 | 2,853 | 40.8% |
| New York | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0% |
| North Carolina | 330 | 208 | 30 | 0.1% |
| North Dakota | 96 | 0 | 0 | 0.0% |
| Ohio | 1,918 | 3,038 | 3,004 | 5.9% |
| Oklahoma | 6,931 | 6,019 | 6,026 | 23.2% |
| Oregon | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0% |
| Pennsylvania | 0 | 1,015 | 1,195 | 2.3% |
| Rhode Island | n/a | 0 | 0 | 0.0% |
| South Carolina | 13 | 17 | 20 | 0.1% |
| South Dakota | 45 | 5 | 11 | 0.3% |
| Tennessee | 3,510 | 5,120 | 5,147 | 18.1% |
| Texas | 17,432 | 19,155 | 18,603 | 10.8% |
| Utah | 208 | 0 | 0 | 0.0% |
| Vermont | 0 | 562 | 522 | 25.4% |
| Virginia | 1,571 | 1,560 | 1,569 | 4.1% |
| Washington | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0% |
| West Virginia | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0% |
| Wisconsin | 4,349 | 50 | 14 | 0.1% |
| Wyoming | 275 | 217 | 245 | 11.2% |
| State Total | 75,291 | 94,115 | 92,395 | 6.7% |
| Federal Total | 15,524 | 33,830 | 38,546 | 17.8% |
| U.S. Total | 90,815 | 127,945 | 130,941 | 8.2% |
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, Prisoners in 2011, December 2012, p. 32, http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/pub/pdf/p11.pdf (accessed January 23, 2013).
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Endnotes
1 U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, Prisoners in 2011, December 2012, http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/pub/pdf/p11.pdf (accessed January 23, 2013).