Mass Incarceration Facts
www.prisonsociety.org
On any given day, 63,000i Pennsylvanians are behind bars. In 1980, that number was 16,000.
PENNSYLVANIA IS LOCKING UP MORE PEOPLE, FOR LESS CRIME.
Incarceration has increased by 250% while the crime rate has gone down by over 50%.ii
A DISPROPORTIONATE NUMBER OF THOSE PEOPLE ARE BLACK.
More than 40% of everyone incarcerated in Pennsylvania is Black. While only 13% of Pennsylvania’s population is Black.iii
STATE AND COUNTY INCARCERATION (1980 – 2023)
THE COST OF MASS INCARCERATION IS PROFOUND.
Pennsylvania spent more than $5 billion to lock up its citizens, spending $57,700 per incarcerated person.iv In contrast, the average cost of attending a public university in Pennsylvania was $28,700 for the 20242025 academic year.v
WHY HAS PENNSYLVANIA LOCKED UP MORE AND MORE, PREDOMINANTLY BLACK CITIZENS?
New Drug Laws and Increased Drug Enforcement
The number of Pennsylvanians in prison for drug offenses has increased from 311 in 1980 to 3,505 in 2023.vi
Greater Use of Prison as Punishment for All Crimes
In recent decades, the likelihood that an arrest would lead to prison time has more than doubled.vii Much of this is due to more aggressive criminal prosecution.viii
& CITATIONS:
i. PA DOC 2023 Annual Statistical Report, PA DOC County Prison Statistics and General Information Data – Averages.
ii. PA DOC 2023 Annual Statistical Report, PA DOC County Prison Statistics and General Information Data–Averages, FBI Crime Data Explorer–Summary Reporting System (SRS) Data
iii. PA DOC 2023 Annual Statistical Report, PA DOC County Prison Statistics and General Information Data, American Community Survey 2015-2023, Race Tables.
iv. 2022-2023 Enacted Budget Line Item Appropriations, PA DOC County Prison Statistics and General Information Data.
v. PA CollegeSimply, “Cost of Colleges in Pennsylvania,” accessed March 10, 2025. Education Data Initiative, “Average Cost of College by State” accessed March 10, 2025. https://educationdata.org/average-cost-ofcollege-by-state
vi. PA DOC 2023 Annual Statistical Report..
vii. Marie Gottschalk, Caught: the Prison State and the Lockdown of American Politics, 2014.
viii. PA DOC Historical Annual Statistical Report 1980-2023.
ix. PA DOC Annual Statistical Report 2023.
Longer Sentencing
In 1980, there were 848 people serving a life sentence. In 2023, this number is 5,298.ix 13.6% of people incarcerated in Pennsylvania state prisons are serving life. More than 40% of these people are at least 55 years old, an age at which they are unlikely to commit future crimes.