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Custody population as % of highest capacity: U.S. states ranked (2023)

Measure: Custody population as % of highest capacity. All 47 states with data in Prison capacity and crowding by state, ranked from highest to lowest. Reference period: 2023.

Licence: Public domain (U.S. federal government work).
Data last updated: 2026-11-03

Download full table CSV Source: U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics (opens in a new tab)

Small states, hard to see on the map:

RI 57.9
DE 81.6
NJ 65.5
MD 85.7
MA 63
VT 76.6
NH 70.7

Lowest: 57.9 to 73.6
Group 2: 73.6 to 82.1
Group 3: 82.1 to 88
Group 4: 88 to 97
Highest: 97 to 116

The map is a visual summary; every value is in the table below, which is the keyboard and screen-reader path. Groups are quintiles of the values shown (a derived grouping). Boundaries: Natural Earth (public domain), simplified. Alaska and Hawaii are shown as insets, not to scale.

Rank is derived by Quadranac: 1 = highest value; ties share a rank. Values are as published in the source table.


1	Nebraska	116
2	Iowa	115.1
3	Florida	112.1
4	Washington	107.6
5	Idaho	106.5
6	Colorado	106.1
7	North Dakota	100.9
8	Arkansas	100.7
9	Wisconsin	99.3
10	Virginia	97
11	Texas	95.7
12	Alabama	95.6
13	Oklahoma	94.7
14	Michigan	93.5
15	South Dakota	92.4
16	California	88.7
17	Georgia	88.5
18	Montana	88.4
19	Pennsylvania	88
20	North Carolina	87.5
21	Minnesota	86.9
22	New Mexico	86.3
23	Maryland	85.7
24	Kansas	85.4
25	Hawaii	85
26	Tennessee	84.7
27	West Virginia	83.2
28	Mississippi	82.4
29	Oregon	82.1
30	Delaware	81.6
31	Kentucky	81.2
31	South Carolina	81.2
33	Alaska	79.8
34	Arizona	77.9
35	Vermont	76.6
36	New York	75.6
37	Louisiana	74.3
38	Indiana	73.6
39	Nevada	71.7
40	New Hampshire	70.7
41	Illinois	69.8
41	Maine	69.8
41	Wyoming	69.8
44	Utah	67.5
45	New Jersey	65.5
46	Massachusetts	63
47	Rhode Island	57.9

Source: U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics, Prisoners in 2023 – Statistical Tables (NCJ 310197), table 21. Reference period: 2023.

Cite this ranking

U.S. states ranked by custody population as % of highest capacity (2023). Data: U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics, Prisoners in 2023 – Statistical Tables (NCJ 310197), table 21; rank derived by Quadranac. Data last updated 2026-11-03. https://quadranac.com/rankings/us-states-by-custody-population-as-pct-of-highest-capacity/

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