The Sentencing Project reports a 4.9% reduction in U.S. prison populations since the 2009 peak. Sixteen states have double-digit rates of decline, and 38 states overall have reduced their prison populations. Twelve states have continued to expand their prison populations. The six states with the greatest reductions:
- New Jersey (35% decline since 1999)
- New York (29% decline since 1999)
- Alaska (27% decline since 2006)
- California (26% decline since 2006, though partly offset by increasing jail use)
- Vermont (25% decline since 2009)
- Connecticut (22% decline since 2007)
Southern states including Mississippi, South Carolina, and Louisiana, which have exceptionally high rates of incarceration, have also begun to signi cantly downsize their prison populations. These reductions have come about through a mix of changes in policy and practice designed to reduce admissions to prison and lengths of stay. Moreover, the states with the most substantial prison population reductions have often outpaced the nationwide crime drop.
The pace of decarceration has been very modest in most states, especially given that nationwide violent and property crime rates have fallen by half since 1991. Despite often sharing in these crime trends, 15 states had less than a 5% prison population decline since their peak year. Moreover, 12 states have continued to expand their prison populations, with four producing double- digit increases since 2010: North Dakota, Wyoming, Oklahoma, and Minnesota.