At the end of 2017, there were 100,000 more white inmates than Hispanic inmates (436,500 vs.
Instead, the number of white prisoners fell while the number of Hispanic inmates increased slightly. The gap between white and Hispanic imprisonment also narrowed between 20, but not because of a decrease in Hispanic prisoners. (This analysis counts only inmates sentenced to more than a year.) The decline in the black-white gap between 20 was driven by a 20% decrease in the number of black inmates, which outpaced a 13% decrease in the number of white inmates. Ten years earlier, there were 592,900 black and 499,800 white prisoners – a difference of 93,100.
But a significant decline in the number of black prisoners has steadily narrowed the gap over the past decade, according to new data from the Bureau of Justice Statistics.Īt the end of 2017, federal and state prisons in the United States held about 475,900 inmates who were black and 436,500 who were white – a difference of 39,400, according to BJS. Note: For newer data on imprisonment rates, please see this 2020 post.īlacks have long outnumbered whites in U.S.
