• 2,299,116 prisoners were held in federal or state prisons or in local jails – an increase of 1.8% from yearend 2006, less than the average annual growth of 2.6% from 2000-2006.

• 1,528,041 sentenced prisoners were under state or federal jurisdiction.

• there were an estimated 509 sentenced prisoners per 100,000 U.S. residents – up from 501 at yearend 2006.

• the number of women under the jurisdiction of state or federal prison authorities increased 2.5% from yearend 2006, reaching 115,308, and the number of men rose 1.5%, totaling 1,479,726.

At midyear 2007 there were 4,618 black male sentenced prisoners per 100,000 black males in the United States, compared to 1,747 Hispanic male sentenced prisoners per 100,000 Hispanic males and 773 white male sentenced prisoners per 100,000 white males.

In 2004 there were an estimated 633,700 State prisoners serving time for a violent offense. State prisons also held an estimated 265,600 property offenders and 249,400 drug offenders.

Information Provided by the Bureau of Justice Statistics