US Counties With the Highest Incarceration Rates

2,479 US counties ranked by incarceration rate, from highest to lowest. First are Issaquena County, MS (27,117), Tallahatchie County, MS (22,899) and Brooks County, TX (20,350). The middle one of the 2,479 has 1,014.

What this measures

People from this county in jail or prison on an average day, per 100,000 residents aged 15 to 64. That is the age group most often locked up, not the whole population. The middle county is 1,014, about one working-age resident in a hundred. Source: .

For most measures, a national ranking mostly sorts places by income and by how urban they are. Each county’s own page compares it with the 50 counties most like it instead, which is often the fairer view.

The 100 highest counties

More on incarceration rate

• US Counties With the Lowest Incarceration Rates
• Incarceration rate by US county: map by year and what it goes with

A ranking describes places, not the people in them, and a high or low place does not by itself say why. All US rankings.