(2013). 2013 Population Estimates. Annual estimates of resident population by sex, race, and Hispanic origin for the United States, states and counties: April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2013. Washington, DC: U.S. Census Bureau.

Breaking down these figures by age and gender reveals dramatic findings. In 11 states, at least 1 in 20 adult black males is in prison (see Table 2). Staggering on its own, these figures do not even include incarceration in federal prisons or jails, which would generally increase the number of people by approximately 50%. In Oklahoma, the state with the highest black incarceration rate, one in 29 African American adults is in prison, and this reduces to one in 15 when restricted to black males age 18 and older.

The map presented above (Figure 2disparity in incarceration can also be seen by comparing states that have lower than average black incarceration rates to those with higher than average white incarceration rates. Here we find that the states with the highest white incarceration rates (Oklahoma, Idaho, Texas, Florida, and Arizona) fall below the states with the lowest black rates (Hawaii, Massachusetts , Maine, Maryland, and North Dakota).



Drivers of Disparity

Persistent racial disparities have long been a focus in criminological research and the presence of disparities is not disputed. Proposed explanations for disparities range from variations in offending based on race to biased decisionmaking in the criminal justice system, and also include a range of individual level factors such as poverty, education outcomes, unemployment history, and criminal history. Research in this area finds a smaller