Mortality in State and Federal Prisons, 2001–2019

U.S. Department of Justice

Oce of Justice Programs

Bureau of Justice Statistics

Bureau of Justice Statistics · Statistical Tables

Dec

ember 2021, NCJ 300953

total of 4,234 persons died in state and

federal prisons in 2019, a 6.6% decrease

from the 4,515 deaths in 2018 reported

to the Bureau of Justice Statistics’ (BJS) Mortality

in Correctional Institutions (MCI, formerly the

Deaths in Custody Reporting Program) data

collection. In 2019, the mortality rate in state

prisons was 330 per 100,000 state prisoners,

while federal prisoners in facilities operated by

the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) died at a

rate of 259 per 100,000.

e 143 homicides in state prisons in 2019

marked the highest number ever recorded in

the MCI’s 19-year history and nearly four times

the 39 homicides reported in 2001 (gure 1).

Other types of unnatural deaths (due to suicide,

drug or alcohol intoxication, or accident) also

increased during that period. Illness continued

to be the leading cause of death for state

prisoners, accounting for 79% of all state prison

deaths in 2019, down from almost 90% in 2000.

State prisoners were less likely to die in 2019

(308 per 100,000) than U.S. residents age 18 or

E. Ann Carson, Ph.D., BJS Statistician

Mortality in State and Federal Prisons,

2001–2019 – Statistical Tables

Highlights

 In 2019, a total of 3,853 prisoners died in state

prisons or private prison facilities under a state

contract, a decrease of 284 deaths from 2018.

 The number of federal prisoners who died in

the custody of a facility operated by the Federal

Bureau of Prisons (BOP) increased from 378 in

2018 to 381 in 2019.

 The mortality rate was higher in state prisons

(330 per 100,000 state prisoners) in 2019

than in BOP-operated facilities (259 per

100,000 federal prisoners).

 Almost 87% of the 65,027 state prisoners and

89% of the 7,125 federal prisoners who died in

custody from 2001 to 2019 died of illness.

 The number of deaths in state prisons due to

drug or alcohol intoxication increased from 35 in

2001 to 253 in 2019.

 In 2019, adult U.S. residents were more than

twice as likely as state prisoners to die from

alcohol or drug intoxication, while state prisoners

were almost three times as likely as U.S. residents

to die by homicide.

FIGURE 1

Number of unnatural deaths of state prisoners,

by cause of death, 2001–2019

Note: See table 2 for counts.

*Includes homicides committed by other prisoners, incidental

to the use of force by sta, and resulting from assaults sustained

prior to incarceration.

Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Mortality in Correctional

Institutions, 2001–2019.

Number of unnatural deaths

100

150

200

250

300

350

’19’17’15’13’11’09’07’05’03’01

Homicide*

Accident

Drug/alcohol intoxication

Suicide

Mortality in State and Federal Prisons, 2001–2019 – Statistical Tables | December 2021

older (435 per 100,000) when adjusting for population

erences in sex, race or ethnicity, and age.

In both 2018 and 2019, more than 90% of prisoner

deaths occurred in state prison facilities. Deaths from

all causes decreased in state prisons from 2018 to 2019,

with the exception of deaths due to drug or alcohol

intoxication and homicides. Deaths in prisons operated

by the BOP increased from 378 in 2018 to 381 in 2019.

is report describes deaths in state and federal prisons

from 2001 to 2019, including cause of death, decedent

characteristics, and the mortality rate of prisoners by

state. is is the nal report on deaths in state and

federal prisons from BJS’s MCI data collection. When

the Deaths in Custody Reporting Act was reauthorized

in 2014 (P.L. 113–242), it included additional

enforcement and reporting compliance requirements

that are incompatible with BJS’s authorizing statute

as a federal statistical agency. e U.S. Department of

Justice (DOJ) determined it would be more appropriate

for the Bureau of Justice Assistance to administer the

program and collect mortality data for the DOJ starting

with the rst quarter of scal year 2019 (October to

December 2019).

Data on mortality in local jails are available in

Mortality in Local Jails, 2000–2019 – Statistical Tables

(NCJ 301368, BJS, December 2021).

Total prison deaths, 2001–2019

 A total of 65,027 state prisoners and 7,125 federal

prisoners died while in custody during 2001–19

(table 1).

 During 2001–19, cancer and heart disease accounted

for more than 53% of all state prison deaths.

 ere were 4,183 deaths by suicide in state prisons

and 342 in federal prison facilities operated by the

BOP during 2001–19.

e state prison population diered signicantly from the adult

U.S. resident population in terms of sex, race or ethnicity, and age.

To allow for direct comparisons between the two populations, BJS

adjusted the U.S. resident population to resemble the sex, race or

ethnicity, and age distribution of state prisoners before calculating

overall and cause-specic mortality rates. See Methodology.

BJS began receiving federal prison mortality data from privately

operated facilities that were under a BOP contract in 2015. To

preserve the time series back to 2001, the federal mortality data

in this report include only deaths in BOP-operated facilities. Nine

federal prisoners died in private facilities in 2015, seven in 2016,

seven in 2017, ve in 2018, and nine in 2019.

Cause of deaths in state prison

 e number of deaths by suicide in state prisons in

2019 (311) was virtually unchanged from 2018 (312),

as was the number of drug or alcohol intoxication

deaths (253 in both years) (table 1).

 From 2001 to 2019, the number of deaths by drug

or alcohol intoxication grew 623% and homicides

increased 267%, compared to an increase of 34% for

the total number of deaths during this period.

 State prisoner deaths due to illness decreased by 238

(7%) from 2018 to 2019.

 State prisoner deaths caused by AIDS-related

illnesses declined from 275 in 2001 to 17 in 2019.

 e portion of state prisoners who died from

AIDS-related illnesses declined from 9.6% of all

deaths in 2001 to 0.4% in 2019, while the portion

who died of liver disease decreased from 10.7% to

3.7% (table 3).

 In 2019, the shares of state prisoners who died

from drug or alcohol intoxication (6.6%), homicide

(3.7%), and suicide (8.1%) reached their highest

levels since the MCI began collecting data on deaths

in state prisons.

State prison mortality rates in 2019

 More than 91% of deaths in prisons in 2019

occurred in facilities operated by states or in private

prison facilities contracted to state departments of

corrections (DOCs), while almost 9% occurred in

federally operated prison facilities.

 e mortality rate of state prisoners reached a high of

347 per 100,000 state prisoners in 2018, then dropped

to 330 per 100,000 in 2019 (table 4; gure 2).

 In 2019, for every 100,000 prisoners in the custody

of state- and privately operated prison facilities,

261 died from illness and 46 died from suicide.

 e mortality rate due to homicide among state

prisoners increased from 10 per 100,000 in 2018 to

12 per 100,000 in 2019.

Mortality in State and Federal Prisons, 2001–2019 – Statistical Tables | December 2021

Comparing mortality in state prisons and

the U.S. population

 Adult U.S. residents in 2019 (adjusted for sex, race

or ethnicity, and age) died at higher rates than state

prisoners from all causes of death except suicide,

homicide, and cancer (table 5; gures 3 and 4).

 In 2019, adult U.S. residents had an overall adjusted

mortality rate of 435 per 100,000, which was

1.4 times the rate for state prisoners.

 e U.S. resident population died of drug or alcohol

intoxication at a rate (43 per 100,000) more than

twice that of state prisoners (21 per 100,000) in 2019.

Demographic characteristics of state

prison decedents

 As in previous years, about 95% of state prisoners

who died in 2019 were male and more than 50%

were non-Hispanic white (tables 6 and 7).

 e number of female state prisoners who died in

2019 (146) decreased almost 19% from 2018 (180).

 Forty-four non-Hispanic American Indian or Alaska

Native state prisoners died in the custody of state

DOCs in 2019, down from a high of 52 in 2015.

 Persons age 55 or older accounted for almost twice

as many deaths in state prisons in 2019 (63%) as

in 2001 (34%).

 e mortality rate of male state prisoners increased

more than 36% from 2001 (250 per 100,000 male

state prisoners) to 2019 (341 per 100,000), while

their total population decreased roughly 3% during

the same period (table 8; appendix table 1).

 Mortality rates increased for all racial and ethnic

groups between 2009 and 2019 (gure 5).

 Of the 22 state prison decedents age 17 or younger

who died from 2001 to 2019, 50% died by suicide

(table 9).

 During 2001–19, the rate of deaths due to drug or

alcohol intoxication among male state prisoners (7

per 100,000) was more than twice the rate among

female state prisoners (3 per 100,000) (table 10).

FIGURE 2

Mortality rate per 100,000 state and federal prisoners,

2001–2019

Note: Mortality rates are based on the annual number of deaths and a

1-day custody population on December 31. See tables 4 and 11 for rates.

Includes deaths in private state facilities.

Excludes deaths in private federal facilities.

Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Mortality in Correctional Institutions,

2001–2019, and National Prisoner Statistics, 2001–2019; and Federal

Bureau of Prisons, 2001–2019.

Mortality rate

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

’19’17’15’13’11’09’07’05’03’01

Federal

State

FIGURE 3

Adjusted illness mortality rate per 100,000 U.S.

residents, by cause of death, 2019

Note: Excludes persons younger than age 18 and federal prisoners.

Mortality rates are based on the annual number of deaths and a

1-day custody population on December 31. See table 5 for crude and

adjusted rates.

*Population adjusted to resemble the sex, race or ethnicity, and age

distribution of the state prison population.

Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Mortality in Correctional Institutions,

2019, National Prisoner Statistics, 2019, Survey of Inmates in State

Correctional Facilities, 2004, and Survey of Prison Inmates, 2016; and

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health

Statistics, CDC WONDER online database, Underlying Cause of Death

2019 (released in 2020).

Mortality rate

100

Respiratory diseaseLiver diseaseCancerHeart disease

State prisoners

Adult U.S. residents*

Mortality in State and Federal Prisons, 2001–2019 – Statistical Tables | December 2021

Deaths in federal prisons

 Federal prisons reported 381 deaths in 2019, a 16%

decrease from 2015 (455), the year with the highest

number of deaths of federal prisoners.

 In 2019, federal prisoners had an overall mortality

rate of 259 per 100,000, up from 250 per 100,000 in

2018 (table 11).

 Federal prisoners in BOP-operated facilities died of

suicide at a rate of 20 per 100,000 in 2019.

 In addition to the 381 federal prisoners who died in

BOP-operated facilities in 2019, nine died in private

prison facilities operating under a BOP contract

(table 12).

 Illness accounted for almost 81% of deaths in BOP-

and privately operated federal prison facilities in 2019.

 e mortality rate for non-Hispanic whites in

BOP- and privately operated federal prisons in 2019

(561 per 100,000) was more than three times the

rate for non-Hispanic black federal prisoners (161

per 100,000) and six times the rate for Hispanic

prisoners (91 per 100,000) (table 13).

 From 2015 to 2019, fewer than 10 prisoners age 24

or younger held in BOP- and privately operated

federal prisons died in any given year.

Jurisdiction-level prison mortality

 In 2019, the states with the three largest prison

systems had a combined 1,246 deaths: Texas

(448 deaths), Florida (400), and California (398)

(table 14). ese states had 148 fewer deaths in 2019

than in 2018, an 11% decrease.

 Eight states had fewer than 10 prisoner deaths in 2019.

 Five states had prison mortality rates in 2019 of at

least 500 per 100,000 state prisoners: Louisiana,

Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Kentucky

(table 15).

 ree states had fewer than 100 prison deaths during

2001–19: North Dakota (21), Vermont (74), and

Maine (82) (table 16).

 During 2001–19, the highest stable average

annual rate of drug or alcohol intoxication deaths

occurred in prisons in Arkansas (20 per 100,000)

and Maryland (16 per 100,000), compared to 1 per

100,000 in Georgia and Texas (table 17).

FIGURE 4

Adjusted rate of unnatural deaths per 100,000 U.S.

residents, by cause of death, 2019

Note: Excludes persons younger than age 18 and federal prisoners.

Mortality rates are based on the annual number of deaths and a

1-day custody population on December 31. See table 5 for crude and

adjusted rates.

Population adjusted to resemble the sex, race or ethnicity, and age

distribution of the state prison population.

Excludes causes of death that are unlikely to occur in a state prison

setting from the mortality rates of both state prisoners and U.S. residents.

Includes homicides committed by other prisoners, incidental to

the use of force by sta, and resulting from assaults sustained prior

to incarceration.

Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Mortality in Correctional Institutions,

2019, National Prisoner Statistics, 2019, Survey of Inmates in State

Correctional Facilities, 2004, and Survey of Prison Inmates, 2016; and

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health

Statistics, CDC WONDER online database, Underlying Cause of Death

2019 (released in 2020).

Mortality rate

Homicide

Accident

Drug/alcohol

intoxication

Suicide

Adult U.S. residents

State prisoners

FIGURE 5

Mortality rate per 100,000 state prisoners, by race or

ethnicity, 2009 and 2019

Note: Mortality rates are based on the annual number of deaths and a

1-day custody population on December 31. See table 8 for rates.

Excludes persons of Hispanic origin (e.g., “white” refers to non-Hispanic

whites and “black” refers to non-Hispanic blacks).

Includes Asians, Native Hawaiians, and Other Pacic Islanders.

Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Mortality in Correctional Institutions,

2001–2019; National Prisoner Statistics, 2001–2019; Survey of Inmates in

State Correctional Facilities, 2004; and Survey of Prison Inmates, 2016.

Mortality rate

100

200

300

400

500

600

Asian

a,b

American Indian/

Alaska Native

HispanicBlack

White

2019

2009

Mortality in State and Federal Prisons, 2001–2019 – Statistical Tables | December 2021

 e highest average annual rate of homicide in

state prisons during 2001–19 was in South Carolina

(15 per 100,000) and Oklahoma (14 per 100,000),

while New Hampshire, North Dakota, Vermont, and

Wyoming had no homicides during this period, for a

mortality rate of 0.

Mortality in State and Federal Prisons, 2001–2019 – Statistical Tables | December 2021

List of tables

TABLE 1. Deaths of state and federal prisoners, by cause of death, 2001–19

TABLE 2. Number of deaths of state and federal prisoners, by cause of death, 2001–2019

TABLE 3. Percent of deaths of state prisoners, by cause of death, 2001–2019

TABLE 4. Mortality rate per 100,000 state prisoners, by cause of death, 2001–2019

TABLE 5. Crude and adjusted mortality rate per 100,000 U.S. residents, by cause of death, 2019

TABLE 6. Number of deaths of state prisoners, by decedent characteristics, 2001–2019

TABLE 7. Percent of deaths of state prisoners, by decedent characteristics, 2001–2019

TABLE 8. Mortality rate per 100,000 state prisoners, by decedent characteristics, 2001–2019

TABLE 9. Number of deaths of state prisoners, by cause of death and decedent characteristics, 2001–19

TABLE 10. Average annual mortality rate per 100,000 state prisoners within each demographic group,

by cause of death and decedent characteristics, 2001–19

TABLE 11. Mortality rate per 100,000 federal prisoners, by cause of death, 2001–2019

TABLE 12. Deaths of federal prisoners in federally and privately operated prison facilities, by cause of

death, 2015–2019

TABLE 13. Deaths of federal prisoners in federally and privately operated prison facilities, by decedent

characteristics, 2015–2019

TABLE 14. Number of deaths of state and federal prisoners, by jurisdiction, 2001–2019

TABLE 15. Mortality rate per 100,000 state and federal prisoners, by jurisdiction, 2001–2019

TABLE 16. Number of deaths of state and federal prisoners, by cause of death and jurisdiction, 2001–19

TABLE 17. Average annual mortality rate per 100,000 state and federal prisoners, by cause of death

and jurisdiction, 2001–19

List of figures

FIGURE 1. Number of unnatural deaths of state prisoners, by cause of death, 2001–2019

FIGURE 2. Mortality rate per 100,000 state and federal prisoners, 2001–2019

FIGURE 3. Adjusted illness mortality rate per 100,000 U.S. residents, by cause of death, 2019

FIGURE 4. Adjusted rate of unnatural deaths per 100,000 U.S. residents, by cause of death, 2019

FIGURE 5. Mortality rate per 100,000 state prisoners, by race or ethnicity, 2009 and 2019

Continued on next page

Mortality in State and Federal Prisons, 2001–2019 – Statistical Tables | December 2021

List of appendix tables

APPENDIX TABLE 1. Estimated number of state and federal prisoners in custody, by prisoner

characteristics, 2001–2019

APPENDIX TABLE 2. Illness mortality rate per 100,000 state prisoners within each demographic

group, by decedent characteristics, 2003–2019 (3-year rolling averages)

APPENDIX TABLE 3. Cancer mortality rate per 100,000 state prisoners within each demographic

group, by decedent characteristics, 2003–2019 (3-year rolling averages)

APPENDIX TABLE 4. Heart disease mortality rate per 100,000 state prisoners within each

demographic group, by decedent characteristics, 2003–2019 (3-year rolling averages)

APPENDIX TABLE 5. Liver disease mortality rate per 100,000 state prisoners within each

demographic group, by decedent characteristics, 2003–2019 (3-year rolling averages)

APPENDIX TABLE 6. Respiratory disease mortality rate per 100,000 state prisoners within each

demographic group, by decedent characteristics, 2003–2019 (3-year rolling averages)

APPENDIX TABLE 7. Mortality rate due to all other illnesses per 100,000 state prisoners within each

demographic group, by decedent characteristics, 2003–2019 (3-year rolling averages)

APPENDIX TABLE 8. Rate of unnatural deaths per 100,000 state prisoners within each demographic

group, by decedent characteristics, 2003–2019 (3-year rolling averages)

Mortality in State and Federal Prisons, 2001–2019 – Statistical Tables | December 2021

TABLE 1

Deaths of state and federal prisoners, by cause of death, 2001–19

Cause of death

State prisoners

Federal prisoners

Number of deaths Percent of deaths

Mortality rate

per 100,000 Number of deaths Percent of deaths

Mortality rate

per 100,000

All causes 65,027 100% 273 7,125 100% 233

Illness 56,454 86.8% 237 6,359 89.2% 208

Heart disease 16,911 26.0 71 ... ... ...

Cancer 17,866 27.5 75 ... ... ...

Liver disease 5,543 8.5 23 ... ... ...

AIDS-related

1,949 3.0 8 167 2.3 5

Respiratory disease 4,095 6.3 17 ... ... ...

All other illnesses

10,090 15.5 42 ... ... ...

Suicide 4,183 6.4% 18 342 4.8% 11

Drug/alcohol intoxication 1,493 2.3% 6 ... ... ...

Accident

651 1.0% 3 118 1.7% 4

Homicide

1,405 2.2% 6 193 2.7% 6

Other causes 445 0.7% 2 0 0% 0

Missing/unknown 396 0.6% 2 113 1.6% 4

Note: Data may have been revised from previously published statistics. Details may not sum to totals due to rounding. Mortality rates are per

100,000 prisoners held in the custody of state prisons or the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Mortality rates are based on the annual number of deaths and

a 1-day custody population on December 31. Excludes executions. For execution data, see Capital Punishment, 2019 – Statistical Tables (NCJ 300381,

BJS, June 2021). See Methodology.

...Not available

Includes deaths in private state facilities.

Data on cause of death for federal prisoners were not available for all causes. Excludes deaths in private federal facilities.

Includes persons who died of illness and were identied as HIV-positive or having AIDS at the time of death.

Includes other specied illnesses (such as cerebrovascular disease, inuenza, and other nonleading natural causes of death) and unspecied illnesses.

Includes death by intoxication among federal prisoners.

Includes homicides committed by other prisoners, incidental to the use of force by sta, and resulting from assaults sustained prior to incarceration.

Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Mortality in Correctional Institutions, 2001–19; and Federal Bureau of Prisons, 2001–19.

Mortality in State and Federal Prisons, 2001–2019 – Statistical Tables | December 2021

TABLE 2

Number of deaths of state and federal prisoners, by cause of death, 2001–2019

Cause of death 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

Total 3,170 3,270 3,498 3,456 3,556 3,561 3,757 3,851 3,793 3,620 3,738 3,707 3,878 3,928 4,163 4,122 4,335 4,515 4,234

Federal

301 335 346 333 388 328 368 399 376 387 387 350 400 444 455 388 381 378 381

State

2,869 2,935 3,152 3,123 3,168 3,233 3,389 3,452 3,417 3,233 3,351 3,357 3,478 3,484 3,708 3,734 3,954 4,137 3,853

Illness 2,567 2,616 2,830 2,783 2,817 2,830 2,980 3,036 3,027 2,865 2,979 2,959 3,081 3,032 3,251 3,202 3,273 3,282 3,044

Heart disease 743 803 801 842 835 854 840 845 850 830 854 804 897 896 994 1,029 1,101 1,055 1,038

Cancer 691 681 811 733 805 806 772 907 978 927 1,028 1,024 1,065 1,050 1,125 1,130 1,112 1,139 1,082

Liver disease 307 296 306 283 318 303 316 318 332 288 339 304 355 313 304 261 245 214 141

AIDS-related

275 241 209 147 156 132 120 99 98 73 57 74 52 64 45 31 37 22 17

Respiratory disease 147 163 200 199 213 196 207 251 200 212 205 223 198 238 243 222 253 290 235

All other illnesses

404 432 503 579 490 539 725 616 569 535 496 530 514 471 540 529 525 562 531

Suicide 168 168 199 199 213 219 215 197 202 215 185 205 192 249 219 254 261 312 311

Drug/alcohol intoxication 35 37 23 22 37 56 41 58 51 41 58 33 56 50 81 105 203 253 253

Accident 22 29 26 34 28 32 28 26 32 32 38 50 34 39 41 41 44 43 32

Homicide

39 48 49 49 56 55 57 40 54 70 70 85 90 83 83 96 114 124 143

Other causes 0 0 25 36 17 41 16 95 17 7 12 14 18 10 20 23 28 38 28

Missing/unknown 38 37 0 0 0 0 52 0 34 3 9 11 7 21 13 13 31 85 42

Note: Data may have been revised from previously published statistics. Excludes executions. For execution data, see Capital Punishment, 2019 – Statistical Tables (NCJ 300381, BJS, June 2021). See Methodology.

Until 2015, federal deaths were submitted as an aggregate count by the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP), with limited details regarding cause of death, and excluded deaths in private federal facilities. See

table 10 for deaths from 2015 to 2019 in federal prison facilities operated by the BOP or operated privately under a BOP contract.

Includes deaths in private state facilities.

Includes persons who died of illness and were identied as HIV-positive or having AIDS at the time of death.

Includes other specied illnesses (such as cerebrovascular disease, inuenza, and other nonleading natural causes of death) and unspecied illnesses.

Includes homicides committed by other prisoners, incidental to the use of force by sta, and resulting from assaults sustained prior to incarceration.

Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Mortality in Correctional Institutions, 2001–2019; and Federal Bureau of Prisons,

2001–2019.

Mortality in State and Federal Prisons, 2001–2019 – Statistical Tables | December 2021

TABLE 3

Percent of deaths of state prisoners, by cause of death, 2001–2019

Cause of death 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

All causes 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100%

Illness 89.5% 89.1% 89.8% 89.1% 88.9% 87.5% 87.9% 87.9% 88.6% 88.6% 88.9% 88.1% 88.6% 87.0% 87.7% 85.8% 82.8% 79.3% 78.9%

Heart disease 25.9 27.4 25.4 27.0 26.4 26.4 24.8 24.5 24.9 25.7 25.5 23.9 25.8 25.7 26.8 27.6 27.8 25.5 26.9

Cancer 24.1 23.2 25.7 23.5 25.4 24.9 22.8 26.3 28.6 28.7 30.7 30.5 30.6 30.1 30.3 30.3 28.1 27.5 28.1

Liver disease 10.7 10.1 9.7 9.1 10.0 9.4 9.3 9.2 9.7 8.9 10.1 9.1 10.2 9.0 8.2 7.0 6.2 5.2 3.7

AIDS-related

9.6 8.2 6.6 4.7 4.9 4.1 3.5 2.9 2.9 2.3 1.7 2.2 1.5 1.8 1.2 0.8 0.9 0.5 0.4

Respiratory disease 5.1 5.6 6.3 6.4 6.7 6.1 6.1 7.3 5.9 6.6 6.1 6.6 5.7 6.8 6.6 5.9 6.4 7.0 6.1

All other illnesses

14.1 14.7 16.0 18.5 15.5 16.7 21.4 17.8 16.7 16.5 14.8 15.8 14.8 13.5 14.6 14.2 13.3 13.6 13.8

Suicide 5.9% 5.7% 6.3% 6.4% 6.7% 6.8% 6.3% 5.7% 5.9% 6.7% 5.5% 6.1% 5.5% 7.1% 5.9% 6.8% 6.6% 7.5% 8.1%

Drug/alcohol intoxication 1.2% 1.3% 0.7% 0.7% 1.2% 1.7% 1.2% 1.7% 1.5% 1.3% 1.7% 1.0% 1.6% 1.4% 2.2% 2.8% 5.1% 6.1% 6.6%

Accident 0.8% 1.0% 0.8% 1.1% 0.9% 1.0% 0.8% 0.8% 0.9% 1.0% 1.1% 1.5% 1.0% 1.1% 1.1% 1.1% 1.1% 1.0% 0.8%

Homicide

1.4% 1.6% 1.6% 1.6% 1.8% 1.7% 1.7% 1.2% 1.6% 2.2% 2.1% 2.5% 2.6% 2.4% 2.2% 2.6% 2.9% 3.0% 3.7%

Other causes 0% 0% 0.8% 1.2% 0.5% 1.3% 0.5% 2.8% 0.5% 0.2% 0.4% 0.4% 0.5% 0.3% 0.5% 0.6% 0.7% 0.9% 0.7%

Missing/unknown 1.3% 1.3% 0% 0% 0% 0% 1.5% 0% 1.0% 0.1% 0.3% 0.3% 0.2% 0.6% 0.4% 0.3% 0.8% 2.1% 1.1%

Note: Data may have been revised from previously published statistics. Details may not sum to totals due to rounding. Includes deaths in private state facilities. Excludes executions. For execution data, see

Capital Punishment, 2019 – Statistical Tables (NCJ 300381, BJS, June 2021). See Methodology.

Includes persons who died of illness and were identied as HIV-positive or having AIDS at the time of death.

Includes other specied illnesses (such as cerebrovascular disease, inuenza, and other nonleading natural causes of death) and unspecied illnesses.

Includes homicides committed by other prisoners, incidental to the use of force by sta, and resulting from assaults sustained prior to incarceration.

Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Mortality in Correctional Institutions, 2001–2019.

Mortality in State and Federal Prisons, 2001–2019 – Statistical Tables | December 2021

TABLE 4

Mortality rate per 100,000 state prisoners, by cause of death, 2001–2019

Cause of death 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

All causes 242 243 257 251 251 249 258 261 259 246 260 266 274 276 298 304 327 347 330

Illness 217 216 231 224 223 218 226 229 229 218 231 234 243 241 261 261 270 275 261

Heart disease 63 66 65 68 66 66 64 64 64 63 66 64 71 71 80 84 91 89 89

Cancer 58 56 66 59 64 62 59 68 74 71 80 81 84 83 90 92 92 96 93

Liver disease 26 24 25 23 25 23 24 24 25 22 26 24 28 25 24 21 20 18 12

AIDS-related

23 20 17 12 12 10 9 7 7 6 4 6 4 5 4 3 3 2 1

Respiratory disease 12 13 16 16 17 15 16 19 15 16 16 18 16 19 20 18 21 24 20

All other illnesses

34 36 41 47 39 42 55 47 43 41 38 42 40 37 43 43 43 47 46

Suicide 14 14 16 16 17 17 16 15 15 16 14 16 15 20 18 21 22 26 27

Drug/alcohol intoxication 3 3 2 2 3 4 3 4 4 3 4 3 4 4 7 9 17 21 22

Accident 2 2 2 3 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 4 3 3 3 3 4 4 3

Homicide

3 4 4 4 4 4 4 3 4 5 5 7 7 7 7 8 9 10 12

Other causes 0 0 2 3 1 3 1 7 1 1 ! 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 3 2

Missing/unknown 3 3 0 0 0 0 4 0 3 0 ! 1 ! 1 1 ! 2 1 1 3 7 4

Note: Data may have been revised from previously published statistics. Includes deaths in private state facilities. Excludes executions. For execution data, see Capital Punishment, 2019 – Statistical Tables

(NCJ 300381, BJS, June 2021). See Methodology. Mortality rates are per 100,000 prisoners held in the custody of state prisons. Mortality rates are based on the annual number of deaths and a 1-day custody

population on December 31.

! Interpret with caution. Estimate is based on 10 or fewer cases. See Interpreting rates among small populations in Methodology.

Includes persons who died of illness and were identied as HIV-positive or having AIDS at the time of death.

Includes other specied illnesses (such as cerebrovascular disease, inuenza, and other nonleading natural causes of death) and unspecied illnesses.

Includes homicides committed by other prisoners, incidental to the use of force by sta, and resulting from assaults sustained prior to incarceration.

Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Mortality in Correctional Institutions, 2001–2019; and National Prisoner Statistics, 2001–2019.

Mortality in State and Federal Prisons, 2001–2019 – Statistical Tables | December 2021

TABLE 5

Crude and adjusted mortality rate per 100,000 U.S. residents, by cause of death, 2019

Cause of death

Crude rate per 100,000

adult U.S. residents

Adjusted rate per 100,000

adult U.S. residents

Rate per 100,000

state prisoners

All causes 1,110 435 308

Illness 1,039 355 248

Heart disease 265 99 85

Cancer 241 83 88

Liver disease 23 15 12

AIDS-related

2 4 1

Respiratory disease 109 27 19

All other illnesses

400 127 43

Suicide 18 22 25

Drug/alcohol intoxication 28 43 21

Accident

23 11 3

Homicide

2 4 11

Note: Includes deaths in private state facilities. Excludes persons younger than age 18 and federal prisoners.

Population adjusted to resemble the sex, race or ethnicity, and age distribution of the state prison population.

Mortality rates may dier from those presented elsewhere in this report due to the removal of state prisoners

younger than age 18 from both the numerator (deaths) and denominator (state prison population) and the

exclusion of deaths for which cause of death was unknown or missing. These changes were made solely to table 5

to make the mortality rates comparable to those in the U.S. resident population.

Includes persons who died of illness and were identied as HIV-positive or having AIDS at the time of death.

Includes other specied illnesses (such as cerebrovascular disease, inuenza, and other nonleading natural

causes of death) and unspecied illnesses.

Excludes causes of death that are unlikely to occur in a state prison setting, including motor vehicle accidents;

homicides due to explosives or rearms not related to law enforcement, motor vehicle assault, or neglect; and

rearm discharges not related to law enforcement.

Includes homicides committed by other prisoners, incidental to the use of force by sta, and resulting from

assaults sustained prior to incarceration.

Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Mortality in Correctional Institutions, 2019, National Prisoner Statistics, 2019,

Survey of Inmates in State Correctional Facilities, 2004, and Survey of Prison Inmates, 2016; and Centers for

Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics, CDC WONDER online database, Underlying

Cause of Death 2019 (released in 2020).

Mortality in State and Federal Prisons, 2001–2019 – Statistical Tables | December 2021

TABLE 6

Number of deaths of state prisoners, by decedent characteristics, 2001–2019

Characteristic 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

Total 2,869 2,935 3,152 3,123 3,168 3,233 3,389 3,452 3,417 3,233 3,351 3,357 3,478 3,484 3,708 3,734 3,954 4,137 3,853

Sex

Male 2,769 2,816 3,024 2,987 3,025 3,103 3,252 3,289 3,267 3,116 3,208 3,244 3,337 3,330 3,558 3,591 3,822 3,955 3,686

Female 100 119 127 136 143 130 137 163 150 117 143 113 141 154 150 143 131 180 146

Race/ethnicity

White

1,340 1,401 1,590 1,546 1,623 1,627 1,719 1,822 1,774 1,680 1,912 1,789 1,901 1,921 2,051 2,065 2,159 2,201 2,144

Black

1,161 1,152 1,200 1,179 1,162 1,148 1,225 1,157 1,199 1,121 1,037 1,113 1,104 1,108 1,204 1,204 1,275 1,350 1,174

Hispanic 322 332 308 332 324 404 383 400 372 359 329 379 402 368 367 382 438 503 419

American Indian/

Alaska Native

25 20 24 29 32 25 34 36 31 36 36 40 37 43 52 51 47 48 44

Asian

a,b

11 19 15 20 18 10 18 22 24 21 22 24 25 29 25 24 23 29 30

Other

a,c

5 5 6 16 4 15 2 15 3 4 3 6 8 15 8 5 4 1 15

Age

17 or younger 2 1 3 1 1 1 1 3 0 3 2 0 0 2 0 1 1 0 0

18–24 86 62 57 81 78 60 68 67 69 69 50 69 69 56 69 72 60 66 59

25–34 256 248 277 255 243 250 226 222 210 217 200 190 221 221 230 247 308 327 308

35–44 656 662 666 619 599 561 513 468 467 382 397 360 334 335 346 381 412 421 412

45–54 893 908 980 963 1,009 1,061 1,031 1,063 1,039 956 930 876 861 821 804 721 698 776 628

55 or older 972 1,054 1,164 1,202 1,238 1,300 1,550 1,629 1,631 1,606 1,771 1,862 1,993 2,049 2,257 2,300 2,475 2,545 2,441

Note: Data may have been revised from previously published statistics. Details may not sum to totals due to missing data. Includes deaths in private state facilities. Excludes executions. For execution data, see

Capital Punishment, 2019 – Statistical Tables (NCJ 300381, BJS, June 2021). See Methodology.

Excludes persons of Hispanic origin (e.g., “white” refers to non-Hispanic whites and “black” refers to non-Hispanic blacks).

Includes Asians, Native Hawaiians, and Other Pacic Islanders.

Includes persons of two or more races and other races.

Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Mortality in Correctional Institutions, 2001–2019.

Mortality in State and Federal Prisons, 2001–2019 – Statistical Tables | December 2021

TABLE 7

Percent of deaths of state prisoners, by decedent characteristics, 2001–2019

Characteristic 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

Total 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100%

Sex

Male 96.5% 96.0% 95.9% 95.7% 95.5% 96.0% 96.0% 95.3% 95.6% 96.4% 95.7% 96.6% 96.0% 95.6% 96.0% 96.2% 96.7% 95.6% 95.7%

Female 3.5 4.1 4.0 4.4 4.5 4.0 4.0 4.7 4.4 3.6 4.3 3.4 4.1 4.4 4.1 3.8 3.3 4.4 3.8

Race/ethnicity

White

46.7% 47.7% 50.4% 49.5% 51.2% 50.3% 50.7% 52.8% 51.9% 52.0% 57.1% 53.3% 54.7% 55.1% 55.3% 55.3% 54.6% 53.2% 55.6%

Black

40.5 39.3 38.1 37.8 36.7 35.5 36.2 33.5 35.1 34.7 31.0 33.2 31.7 31.8 32.5 32.2 32.3 32.6 30.5

Hispanic 11.2 11.3 9.8 10.6 10.2 12.5 11.3 11.6 10.9 11.1 9.8 11.3 11.6 10.6 9.9 10.2 11.1 12.2 10.9

American Indian/

Alaska Native

0.9 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0 0.8 1.0 1.0 0.9 1.1 1.1 1.2 1.1 1.2 1.4 1.4 1.2 1.2 1.1

Asian

a,b

0.4 0.7 0.5 0.6 0.6 0.3 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.8 0.7 0.6 0.6 0.7 0.8

Other

a,c

0.2 0.2 0.2 0.5 0.1 0.5 0.1 0.4 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.2 0.2 0.4 0.2 0.1 0.1 0 0.4

Age

17 or younger <0.1% <0.1% 0.1% <0.1% <0.1% <0.1% <0.1% <0.1% 0% <0.1% <0.1% 0% 0% <0.1% 0% <0.1% <0.1% 0% 0%

18–24 3.0 2.1 1.8 2.6 2.5 1.9 2.0 1.9 2.0 2.1 1.5 2.1 2.0 1.6 1.9 1.9 1.5 1.6 1.5

25–34 8.9 8.5 8.8 8.2 7.7 7.7 6.7 6.4 6.2 6.7 6.0 5.7 6.4 6.3 6.2 6.6 7.8 7.9 8.0

35–44 22.9 22.6 21.1 19.8 18.9 17.4 15.1 13.6 13.7 11.8 11.9 10.7 9.6 9.6 9.3 10.2 10.4 10.2 10.7

45–54 31.1 30.9 31.1 30.8 31.9 32.8 30.4 30.8 30.4 29.6 27.8 26.1 24.8 23.6 21.7 19.3 17.7 18.8 16.3

55 or older 33.9 35.9 36.9 38.5 39.1 40.2 45.7 47.2 47.7 49.7 52.9 55.5 57.3 58.8 60.9 61.6 62.6 61.5 63.4

Capital Punishment, 2019 – Statistical Tables (NCJ 300381, BJS, June 2021). See Methodology.

Excludes persons of Hispanic origin (e.g., “white” refers to non-Hispanic whites and “black” refers to non-Hispanic blacks).

Includes Asians, Native Hawaiians, and Other Pacic Islanders.

Includes persons of two or more races and other races.

Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Mortality in Correctional Institutions, 2001–2019.

Mortality in State and Federal Prisons, 2001–2019 – Statistical Tables | December 2021

TABLE 8

Mortality rate per 100,000 state prisoners, by decedent characteristics, 2001–2019

Characteristic 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

Total 242 243 257 251 251 249 258 261 259 246 260 266 274 276 298 304 327 347 330

Sex

Male 250 249 265 258 258 257 266 267 266 255 267 276 283 285 308 315 341 359 341

Female 131 148 154 158 162 141 146 173 163 128 160 131 159 171 168 161 148 204 171

Race/ethnicity

White

333 335 367 353 361 358 385 408 407 390 456 436 464 474 518 536 566 586 581

Black

226 226 241 238 237 230 244 230 243 232 221 245 246 255 286 294 320 347 309

Hispanic 155 153 138 144 139 165 148 156 141 134 126 150 156 143 142 144 166 192 165

American Indian/

Alaska Native

112 94 119 141 158 117 166 180 160 187 200 235 238 249 310 309 275 282 253

Asian

a,b

34 102 62 123 100 66 86 139 151 130 134 120 112 197 152 129 144 162 174

Other

a,c

26 ! 22 ! 19 ! 11 11 ! 3 9 ! 5 4 ! 4 ! 4 ! 7 ! 8 ! 2 2 ! 4 ! 1 ! 4 ! 4

Age

17 or younger 68 ! 38 ! 117 ! 45 ! 46 ! 42 ! 41 ! 115 ! 0 140 ! 111 ! 0 0 206 ! 0 120 ! 127 ! 0 0

18–24 39 29 26 39 39 31 35 34 35 35 26 38 40 35 47 53 48 58 54

25–34 64 61 68 61 58 58 52 51 48 50 47 46 53 53 56 62 78 85 82

35–44 181 181 182 168 163 151 140 131 136 114 123 113 104 104 107 118 127 129 129

45–54 584 549 557 509 495 482 444 442 427 389 384 368 364 349 350 321 320 365 302

55 or older 2,032 2,010 2,070 1,966 1,855 1,762 1,927 1,859 1,737 1,580 1,632 1,615 1,619 1,563 1,623 1,580 1,637 1,620 1,580

population on December 31.

! Interpret with caution. Estimate is based on 10 or fewer cases. See Interpreting rates among small populations in Methodology.

Excludes persons of Hispanic origin (e.g., “white” refers to non-Hispanic whites and “black” refers to non-Hispanic blacks).

Includes Asians, Native Hawaiians, and Other Pacic Islanders.

Includes persons of two or more races and other races.

Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Mortality in Correctional Institutions, 2001–2019; National Prisoner Statistics, 2001–2019; Survey of Inmates in State Correctional Facilities, 2004; and Survey of Prison

Inmates, 2016.

Mortality in State and Federal Prisons, 2001–2019 – Statistical Tables | December 2021

TABLE 9

Number of deaths of state prisoners, by cause of death and decedent characteristics, 2001–19

Characteristic All causes

Illness

Suicide

Drug/alcohol

intoxication Accident Homicide

Heart disease Cancer Liver disease AIDS-related

Respiratory

disease

All other

illnesses

Total 65,027 16,911 17,866 5,543 1,949 4,095 10,090 4,183 1,493 651 1,405

Sex

Male 62,379 16,343 17,192 5,342 1,851 3,891 9,541 3,965 1,445 629 1,396

Female 2,623 566 673 201 98 204 548 217 47 22 9

Race/ethnicity

White

34,265 9,060 9,932 3,100 442 2,358 4,769 2,444 764 372 621

Black

22,273 6,246 6,087 1,233 1,284 1,293 3,829 891 384 174 512

Hispanic 7,123 1,326 1,544 1,063 203 385 1,283 657 284 85 231

American Indian/

Alaska Native

690 155 150 101 11 29 102 69 40 11 15

Asian

e,f

409 71 94 30 5 15 60 89 14 6 19

Other

e,g

140 33 33 6 3 9 29 16 5 0 4

Age

17 or younger 22 2 4 1 0 1 1 11 0 1 1

18–24 1,267 148 78 15 19 63 140 513 79 42 146

25–34 4,656 755 399 88 249 211 577 1,338 389 113 416

35–44 8,991 2,053 1,426 638 745 412 1,364 1,200 472 154 360

45–54 17,018 4,037 4,670 2,369 661 807 2,757 756 369 138 263

55 or older 33,039 9,911 11,285 2,429 275 2,600 5,247 363 184 202 218

Capital Punishment, 2019 – Statistical Tables (NCJ 300381, BJS, June 2021). See Methodology. Sex was unknown for 25 prisoners, race or ethnicity for 125, and age for 34.

Includes other causes not specied and missing and unknown causes.

Includes persons who died of illness and were identied as HIV-positive or having AIDS at the time of death.

Includes other specied illnesses (such as cerebrovascular disease, inuenza, and other nonleading natural causes of death) and unspecied illnesses.

Includes homicides committed by other prisoners, incidental to the use of force by sta, and resulting from assaults sustained prior to incarceration.

Excludes persons of Hispanic origin (e.g., “white” refers to non-Hispanic whites and “black” refers to non-Hispanic blacks).

Includes Asians, Native Hawaiians, and Other Pacic Islanders.

Includes persons of two or more races and other races.

Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Mortality in Correctional Institutions, 2001–19.

Mortality in State and Federal Prisons, 2001–2019 – Statistical Tables | December 2021

TABLE 10

Average annual mortality rate per 100,000 state prisoners within each demographic group, by cause of death and decedent characteristics, 2001–19

Characteristic All causes

Illness

Suicide

Drug/alcohol

intoxication Accident Homicide

Heart disease Cancer Liver disease AIDS-related

Respiratory

disease

All other

illnesses

Total 273 71 75 23 8 17 42 18 6 3 6

Sex

Male 282 74 78 24 8 18 43 18 7 3 6

Female 157 34 40 12 6 12 33 13 3 1 1

Race/ethnicity

White

433 115 126 39 6 30 60 31 10 5 8

Black

253 71 69 14 15 15 44 10 4 2 6

Hispanic 150 28 33 22 4 8 27 14 6 2 5

American Indian/

Alaska Native

193 43 42 28 3 8 29 19 11 3 4

Asian

e,f

163 28 37 12 2 ! 6 24 35 6 2 ! 8

Other

e,g

8 2 2 <1 ! <1 ! <1 ! 2 1 <1 ! 0 <1 !

Age

17 or younger 65 6 ! 12 ! 3 ! 0 3 ! 3 ! 33 0 3 ! 3 !

18–24 38 4 2 0 1 2 4 15 2 1 4

25–34 59 10 5 1 3 3 7 17 5 1 5

35–44 138 32 22 10 11 6 21 18 7 2 6

45–54 414 98 114 58 16 20 67 18 9 3 6

55 or older 1,697 509 580 125 14 134 269 19 9 10 11

population on December 31.

! Interpret with caution. Estimate is based on 10 or fewer cases. See Interpreting rates among small populations in Methodology.

Includes other causes not specied and missing and unknown causes.

Includes persons who died of illness and were identied as HIV-positive or having AIDS at the time of death.

Includes other specied illnesses (such as cerebrovascular disease, inuenza, and other nonleading natural causes of death) and unspecied illnesses.

Includes homicides committed by other prisoners, incidental to the use of force by sta, and resulting from assaults sustained prior to incarceration.

Excludes persons of Hispanic origin (e.g., “white” refers to non-Hispanic whites and “black” refers to non-Hispanic blacks).

Includes Asians, Native Hawaiians, and Other Pacic Islanders.

Includes persons of two or more races and other races.

Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Mortality in Correctional Institutions, 2001–19; National Prisoner Statistics, 2001–19; Survey of Inmates in State Correctional Facilities, 2004; and Survey of Prison Inmates, 2016.

Mortality in State and Federal Prisons, 2001–2019 – Statistical Tables | December 2021

TABLE 11

Mortality rate per 100,000 federal prisoners, by cause of death, 2001–2019

Cause of death 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

Total 220 233 228 210 244 201 222 241 220 224 220 198 230 262 283 252 246 250 259

Illness 196 213 217 197 222 188 195 217 198 203 204 182 213 238 249 220 208 190 210

AIDS-related

16 12 9 11 17 7 6 8 4 ! 4 ! 2 ! 3 ! 2 ! 0 1 ! 1 ! 4 ! 0 0

Suicide 13 12 4 ! 7 8 7 11 13 12 6 10 11 8 14 12 12 16 19 20

Accident

4 ! 3 ! 3 ! 4 ! 4 ! 1 ! 0 4 ! 3 ! 1 ! 1 ! 2 ! 2 ! 1 ! 10 9 5 ! 9 11

Homicide

6 ! 2 ! 3 ! 2 ! 9 5 ! 7 8 4 ! 10 5 ! 3 ! 7 8 10 9 6 8 7

Other/unknown 0 3 ! 1 ! 0 0 0 9 1 ! 4 ! 3 ! 1 ! 1 ! 1 ! 0 2 ! 2 ! 11 24 12

Note: Excludes deaths in private federal facilities. Until 2015, federal deaths were submitted as an aggregate count by the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP), with limited details regarding cause of death, and

excluded deaths in private federal facilities. See table 10 for deaths from 2015 to 2019 in federal prison facilities operated by the BOP or operated privately under a BOP contract. For execution data, see Capital

Punishment, 2019 – Statistical Tables (NCJ 300381, BJS, June 2021). See Methodology. Mortality rates are per 100,000 prisoners held in the custody of the BOP or private prison facilities contracted to the BOP.

Mortality rates are based on the annual number of deaths and a 1-day custody population on December 31.

! Interpret with caution. Estimate is based on 10 or fewer cases. See Interpreting rates among small populations in Methodology.

Includes persons who died of illness and were identied as HIV-positive or having AIDS at the time of death.

Includes deaths due to drug or alcohol intoxication.

Includes homicides committed by other prisoners, incidental to the use of force by sta, and resulting from assaults sustained prior to incarceration.

Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, National Prisoner Statistics, 2001–2019; and Federal Bureau of Prisons, 2001–2019.

Mortality in State and Federal Prisons, 2001–2019 – Statistical Tables | December 2021

TABLE 12

Deaths of federal prisoners in federally and privately

operated prison facilities, by cause of death,

2015–2019

2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

Number of deaths 464 395 388 383 390

Illness

407 343 323 292 315

AIDS-related

1 1 6 0 0

Suicide 21 19 24 29 29

Accident

16 14 8 14 18

Homicide

16 15 10 12 11

Other/unknown 3 3 17 36 17

Mortality rate per

100,000 federal

prisoners 237 210 213 214 224

Illness

209 183 181 163 181

AIDS-related

1 ! 1 ! 3 ! 0 0

Suicide 11 10 13 16 17

Accident

8 7 4 ! 8 10

Homicide

8 8 5 7 6

Other/unknown 2 ! 2 ! 9 20 10

Note: Includes deaths in federal prison facilities operated by the Federal

Bureau of Prisons (BOP) or operated privately under a BOP contract.

Until 2015, federal deaths were submitted as an aggregate count by the

BOP, with limited details regarding cause of death, and excluded private

federal facilities. Excludes executions. For execution data, see Capital

Punishment, 2019 – Statistical Tables (NCJ 300381, BJS, June 2021). See

Methodology. Mortality rates are per 100,000 prisoners held in the

custody of the BOP or private prison facilities contracted to the BOP.

Mortality rates are based on the annual number of deaths and a 1-day

custody population on December 31.

! Interpret with caution. Estimate is based on 10 or fewer cases. See

Interpreting rates among small populations in Methodology.

Excludes AIDS-related deaths.

Includes persons who died of illness and were identied as HIV-

positive or having AIDS at the time of death.

Includes deaths due to drug or alcohol intoxication.

Includes homicides committed by other prisoners, incidental to

the use of force by sta, and resulting from assaults sustained prior

to incarceration.

Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, National Prisoner Statistics,

2015–2019; and Federal Bureau of Prisons, 2015–2019.

TABLE 13

Deaths of federal prisoners in federally and privately

operated prison facilities, by decedent characteristics,

2015–2019

2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

Number of deaths 464 395 388 383 390

Sex

Male 449 380 371 373 375

Female 15 15 17 9 15

Race/ethnicity

White

235 195 194 167 222

Black

135 121 114 130 90

Hispanic 73 60 63 65 56

American Indian/

Alaska Native

14 13 13 16 16

Asian

a,b

7 6 4 4 6

Age

17 or younger 0 0 0 0 0

18–24 4 7 1 3 1

25–34 34 20 23 24 13

35–44 49 56 50 62 50

45–54 101 91 73 84 86

55 or older 274 216 239 209 240

Mortality rate per

100,000 federal

prisoners 237 210 213 214 224

Sex

Male 246 216 219 224 231

Female 117 119 137 72 ! 122

Race/ethnicity

White

571 486 494 422 561

Black

215 200 194 224 161

Hispanic 100 87 95 102 91

American Indian/

Alaska Native

430 390 371 449 453

Asian

a,b

235 ! 215 ! 147 ! 151 ! 230 !

Age

17 or younger 0 0 0 0 0

18–24 42 ! 79 ! 12 ! 38 ! 15 !

25–34 60 38 46 49 28

35–44 72 85 79 100 82

45–54 256 236 193 222 230

55 or older 1,250 984 1,089 939 1,055

Note: Data may have been revised from previously published statistics.

Details may not sum to totals due to missing data. Includes deaths

in private federal facilities. Excludes executions. For execution data,

see Capital Punishment, 2019 – Statistical Tables (NCJ 300381, BJS,

June 2021). See Methodology. Mortality rates are per 100,000 prisoners

held in the custody of the BOP or private prison facilities contracted to

the BOP. Mortality rates are based on the annual number of deaths and

a 1-day custody population on December 31.

! Interpret with caution. Estimate is based on 10 or fewer cases. See

Interpreting rates among small populations in Methodology.

Excludes persons of Hispanic origin (e.g., “white” refers to non-Hispanic

whites and “black” refers to non-Hispanic blacks).

Includes Asians, Native Hawaiians, and Other Pacic Islanders.

Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics

, National Prisoner Statistics,

2015–2019; and Federal Bureau of Prisons, 2015–2019.

Mortality in State and Federal Prisons, 2001–2019 – Statistical Tables | December 2021

TABLE 14

Number of deaths of state and federal prisoners, by jurisdiction, 2001–2019

Jurisdiction 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

Federal

301 335 346 333 388 328 368 399 376 387 387 350 400 444 455 388 381 378 381

State

2,869 2,935 3,152 3,123 3,168 3,233 3,389 3,452 3,417 3,233 3,351 3,357 3,478 3,484 3,708 3,734 3,954 4,137 3,853

Alabama 87 85 92 65 66 61 54 75 80 66 104 86 107 102 112 118 116 125 129

Alaska

8 14 4 8 4 6 10 14 7 13 12 11 8 12 15 10 9 11 3

Arizona 64 73 84 66 78 72 61 77 85 85 86 87 95 99 105 126 133 131 114

Arkansas 42 31 39 34 38 37 46 41 50 54 50 43 56 57 54 71 81 76 76

California 287 337 333 348 366 424 395 371 395 414 388 368 365 317 353 334 384 449 398

Colorado 42 51 47 39 54 31 42 38 49 48 37 48 40 35 51 57 41 55 49

Connecticut

30 30 36 33 40 25 27 32 29 21 19 24 20 24 23 17 14 28 19

Delaware

16 15 19 13 19 13 15 15 12 23 15 10 14 18 17 14 10 16 13

Florida 182 183 221 226 244 261 249 291 278 275 297 324 305 346 354 356 428 440 400

Georgia 93 103 126 90 122 103 143 128 125 112 121 103 122 121 131 133 173 163 157

Hawaii

7 13 8 8 8 5 13 14 11 12 6 12 14 8 4 9 4 6 14

Idaho 17 9 12 12 13 18 14 18 13 13 13 9 10 23 18 16 15 22 25

Illinois 86 72 80 97 72 94 104 71 75 94 97 85 78 88 120 90 104 83 94

Indiana 46 49 56 56 45 70 54 70 91 69 74 59 66 70 85 70 68 67 93

Iowa 9 11 13 15 19 12 17 21 14 13 12 20 16 15 19 29 16 19 16

Kansas 21 22 32 30 19 16 20 24 20 22 25 17 28 21 25 35 26 33 35

Kentucky 36 41 45 42 43 46 46 68 57 42 60 55 40 44 60 42 70 50 63

Louisiana 71 78 70 94 89 72 82 117 108 100 108 116 118 118 139 128 127 116 102

Maine 6 7 2 4 0 6 1 2 4 3 5 2 3 7 5 5 4 8 8

Maryland 70 71 67 78 57 61 57 69 56 40 41 46 58 43 62 49 57 57 61

Massachusetts 29 20 30 25 37 39 39 29 29 39 33 42 39 45 34 34 37 42 34

Michigan 114 113 127 138 140 138 117 99 148 93 119 124 124 121 118 106 106 135 116

Minnesota 13 15 13 6 13 9 13 17 12 16 19 14 20 14 11 18 6 6 10

Mississippi 36 33 58 51 61 58 77 54 52 52 47 41 68 50 45 65 76 76 73

Missouri 57 65 65 77 68 66 78 87 81 88 74 71 92 97 106 99 94 106 84

Montana 6 5 12 12 12 5 5 9 3 2 6 11 7 19 13 16 13 5 8

Nebraska 7 8 7 7 8 8 12 6 11 12 17 11 16 13 17 9 16 10 17

Nevada 27 25 24 31 28 23 39 35 35 41 34 37 35 44 47 42 47 29 34

New Hampshire 2 9 6 6 8 6 6 5 9 4 10 5 8 5 8 9 5 8 8

New Jersey 69 60 47 57 60 70 60 66 58 56 66 48 46 50 52 49 39 33 43

New Mexico 11 15 11 16 18 13 22 29 21 16 16 14 17 24 19 16 18 22 18

New York 175 185 198 153 170 131 148 133 142 124 117 115 142 123 115 147 143 138 112

North Carolina 66 59 74 94 69 90 99 117 86 87 71 79 81 94 90 127 104 118 119

North Dakota 3 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 1 1 3 1 0 0 4 2 0 1

Ohio 115 113 91 126 121 106 123 101 120 116 111 126 124 111 138 133 149 151 136

Continued on next page

Mortality in State and Federal Prisons, 2001–2019 – Statistical Tables | December 2021

TABLE 14 (continued)

Number of deaths of state and federal prisoners, by jurisdiction, 2001–2019

Jurisdiction 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

Oklahoma 51 64 71 53 74 80 98 88 79 60 85 79 87 107 107 93 86 113 100

Oregon 24 33 25 34 37 40 36 31 34 39 40 26 30 31 37 47 25 34 39

Pennsylvania 122 126 147 161 149 124 150 145 165 141 157 157 157 145 166 171 181 166 157

Rhode Island

3 8 8 7 2 8 9 6 7 7 10 6 4 7 5 2 8 5 3

South Carolina 69 45 63 50 75 65 72 83 49 70 55 58 66 66 76 79 105 100 70

South Dakota 4 11 11 5 4 4 8 6 4 8 11 9 6 7 7 5 12 6 12

Tennessee 51 61 97 71 76 84 73 74 69 74 59 84 82 83 94 102 96 121 103

Texas 408 396 383 395 351 443 435 469 426 375 417 462 438 409 418 403 469 505 448

Utah 5 9 10 11 8 7 7 11 17 13 12 15 23 23 16 21 20 17 21

Vermont

3 2 5 1 6 7 1 3 3 5 0 2 8 6 4 7 4 2 5

Virginia 71 69 93 86 84 78 103 86 87 93 99 86 82 90 90 90 93 106 90

Washington 29 30 31 36 45 36 39 35 44 35 21 33 39 38 42 28 40 36 37

West Virginia 17 8 15 13 10 13 19 19 18 20 23 24 26 24 28 26 29 34 28

Wisconsin 48 49 41 40 29 45 43 44 42 25 48 46 43 58 46 66 43 52 49

Wyoming 5 3 2 2 8 3 8 9 7 2 3 4 4 12 7 11 8 6 9

Note: Data may have been revised from previously published statistics. Details may not sum to totals due to missing data. Excludes executions. For execution data, see Capital Punishment, 2019 – Statistical Tables

(NCJ 300381, BJS, June 2021). See Methodology.

Excludes deaths in private federal facilities.

Includes deaths in private state facilities. Includes nine prisoner deaths reported by the District of Columbia in 2001. As of December 30, 2001, sentenced felons from the District of Columbia were the

responsibility of the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

Prisons and jails form one integrated system. Counts include deaths only in state-operated prisons and jails and exclude deaths in 15 locally operated jails.

Prisons and jails form one integrated system. Data include total prison and jail population.

Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Mortality in Correctional Institutions, 2001–2019; and Federal Bureau of Prisons, 2001–2019.

Mortality in State and Federal Prisons, 2001–2019 – Statistical Tables | December 2021

TABLE 15

Mortality rate per 100,000 state and federal prisoners, by jurisdiction, 2001–2019

Jurisdiction 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

Federal

220 233 228 210 244 201 222 241 220 224 220 198 230 262 283 252 246 250 259

State

242 243 257 251 251 249 258 261 259 246 260 266 274 276 298 304 327 347 331

Alabama 352 339 333 254 271 253 214 296 294 241 388 321 399 390 444 497 531 588 588

Alaska

175 ! 322 89 ! 176 ! 83 ! 119 ! 194 280 128 ! 242 193 174 157 ! 190 286 205 207 ! 260 69 !

Arizona 231 249 270 204 234 201 162 195 210 212 215 217 232 235 249 299 317 312 269

Arkansas 366 262 323 270 305 288 347 312 375 380 355 306 392 374 342 448 510 488 483

California 183 211 206 212 218 246 230 217 234 254 263 277 272 236 276 258 299 356 330

Colorado 243 274 242 198 256 141 185 164 216 211 169 236 198 171 256 294 209 275 252

Connecticut

171 160 200 183 223 132 139 161 153 113 106 140 115 143 144 113 103 212 155

Delaware

234 226 287 193 280 185 211 216 182 361 229 149 206 267 264 221 163 287 257

Florida 251 243 278 272 282 289 262 291 274 269 294 325 302 343 356 363 443 460 425

Georgia 202 217 267 176 250 195 264 243 233 212 229 205 250 253 278 275 355 336 316

Hawaii

137 ! 256 145 ! 144 ! 139 ! 91 ! 238 257 227 227 110 ! 227 271 148 ! 74 ! 174 ! 78 ! 120 ! 292

Idaho 323 165 ! 216 208 208 270 198 256 181 180 174 117 ! 139 307 249 222 196 280 304

Illinois 194 169 184 220 160 208 230 156 166 194 200 172 160 182 260 206 253 208 246

Indiana 234 241 262 255 198 281 215 265 340 253 270 210 200 251 283 243 266 254 349

Iowa 113 ! 131 152 176 217 136 196 241 157 137 132 229 184 170 214 320 178 202 173

Kansas 245 245 349 334 209 181 229 281 231 243 268 179 291 220 262 363 268 332 358

Kentucky 336 354 386 315 289 295 299 446 380 290 429 423 329 363 502 354 583 407 516

Louisiana

361 390 359 483 459 346 401 561 543 526 573 624 628 631 754 850 838 780 678

Maine 358 ! 377 ! 101 ! 199 ! 0 288 ! 47 ! 98 ! 193 ! 154 ! 253 ! 101 ! 145 ! 318 ! 228 ! 212 ! 171 ! 338 ! 375 !

Maryland 295 294 282 335 253 269 246 298 254 175 178 211 267 202 296 242 288 300 327

Massachusetts 284 202 305 254 358 362 352 260 260 349 288 377 367 431 358 380 422 502 434

Michigan 233 223 257 283 283 268 233 203 325 211 277 284 284 279 277 258 267 348 305

Minnesota 203 219 172 75 ! 149 102 ! 141 188 126 170 204 149 213 146 115 189 66 ! 66 ! 113

Mississippi 238 215 366 312 379 354 441 302 302 316 305 260 436 383 322 474 561 572 544

Missouri 199 218 218 251 224 219 262 289 265 288 239 228 292 304 328 305 292 354 327

Montana 215 ! 174 ! 393 444 425 170 ! 172 ! 309 ! 97 ! 64 ! 192 ! 355 224 ! 609 409 500 417 133 ! 190 !

Nebraska 179 ! 198 ! 172 ! 169 ! 182 ! 182 ! 273 134 ! 245 260 365 233 319 249 331 174 ! 317 193 308

Nevada 274 248 227 281 240 180 293 272 278 336 280 294 274 347 355 304 355 217 272

New Hampshire 83 ! 364 ! 247 ! 246 ! 330 ! 224 ! 217 ! 175 ! 309 ! 153 ! 413 195 ! 305 ! 184 ! 301 ! 346 ! 197 ! 318 ! 325 !

New Jersey 265 228 183 224 234 274 237 266 241 229 279 208 207 234 256 252 203 173 235

New Mexico 194 250 177 250 274 196 342 459 319 240 239 211 251 345 267 231 250 332 271

New York 259 276 303 239 270 206 236 221 243 220 212 213 266 235 223 290 289 295 257

North Carolina 205 179 218 264 188 239 259 293 214 215 179 211 218 252 244 353 284 336 345

North Dakota 276 ! 90 ! 91 ! 88 ! 76 ! 75 ! 0 0 0 71 ! 72 ! 212 ! 63 ! 0 0 244 ! 126 ! 0 57 !

Ohio 256 250 205 285 268 219 247 198 236 224 218 248 240 215 264 255 289 300 270

Continued on next page

Mortality in State and Federal Prisons, 2001–2019 – Statistical Tables | December 2021

TABLE 15 (continued)

Mortality rate per 100,000 state and federal prisoners, by jurisdiction, 2001–2019

Jurisdiction 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

Oklahoma 235 291 313 234 323 350 412 372 328 248 358 324 343 404 392 353 315 415 396

Oregon 219 283 205 269 287 303 269 229 248 281 291 184 205 214 252 322 171 231 271

Pennsylvania 324 317 360 397 355 282 329 298 327 293 316 313 314 295 340 354 383 358 346

Rhode Island

89 ! 230 ! 224 ! 221 ! 59 ! 215 ! 240 ! 160 ! 205 ! 222 ! 330 197 ! 126 ! 223 ! 168 ! 69 ! 298 ! 194 ! 116 !

South Carolina 318 197 275 221 334 283 305 350 207 304 246 265 306 315 372 388 541 539 386

South Dakota 143 ! 374 364 164 ! 120 ! 121 ! 244 ! 179 ! 118 ! 236 ! 309 250 ! 166 ! 200 ! 198 ! 133 ! 308 156 ! 322

Tennessee 292 333 507 367 394 435 379 382 346 369 298 424 395 399 475 474 436 619 532

Texas 275 260 250 252 223 279 274 295 269 234 261 298 282 265 274 266 311 337 307

Utah 121 ! 210 ! 216 233 158 ! 139 ! 136 ! 214 324 239 227 283 427 433 331 467 403 327 412

Vermont

214 ! 147 ! 335 ! 51 ! 289 ! 316 ! 47 ! 142 ! 135 ! 241 ! 0 98 ! 385 ! 303 ! 229 ! 403 ! 300 ! 117 ! 300 !

Virginia 226 223 301 277 273 253 312 264 281 291 324 289 273 300 296 287 313 360 308

Washington 190 184 191 218 268 214 231 204 255 206 123 195 220 221 244 163 226 207 207

West Virginia 500 224 ! 396 326 248 298 387 388 356 394 447 450 456 409 473 441 490 583 474

Wisconsin 231 226 185 181 132 199 188 197 189 113 214 205 192 257 201 285 183 221 209

Wyoming 336 ! 183 ! 123 ! 113 ! 382 ! 147 ! 415 ! 528 ! 402 ! 96 ! 139 ! 183 ! 175 ! 507 292 ! 468 331 ! 245 ! 378 !

Mortality rates are per 100,000 prisoners held in the custody of state prisons or the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP). Mortality rates are based on the annual number of deaths and a 1-day custody population on

December 31.

! Interpret with caution. Estimate is based on 10 or fewer cases. See Interpreting rates among small populations in Methodology.

Excludes deaths in private federal facilities.

responsibility of the BOP.

Prisons and jails form one integrated system. Counts include deaths only in state-operated prisons and jails and exclude deaths in 15 locally operated jails.

Prisons and jails form one integrated system. Data include total prison and jail population.

In 2019, Louisiana held 52.4% of its prison population in local jails. Since the calculation of mortality rates is based on the custody populations, which exclude prisoners held in local jails, the mortality rates for

Louisiana prisoners will be high because the prisoners held in jails are generally healthier according to the Louisiana Department of Corrections.

Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Mortality in Correctional Institutions, 2001–2019, and National Prisoner Statistics, 2001–2019; and Federal Bureau of Prisons, 2001–2019.

Mortality in State and Federal Prisons, 2001–2019 – Statistical Tables | December 2021

TABLE 16

Number of deaths of state and federal prisoners, by cause of death and jurisdiction, 2001–19

Jurisdiction All causes

Illness

Suicide

Drug/alcohol

intoxication Accident Homicide

Heart disease Cancer Liver disease AIDS-related

Respiratory

disease

All other

illnesses

Federal

7,125 ... ... ... 167 ... 6,192 342 ... 118 193

State

65,027 16,911 17,866 5,543 1,949 4,095 10,090 4,183 1,493 651 1,405

Alabama 1,730 404 433 137 38 113 306 46 27 17 63

Alaska

179 42 29 17 1 4 24 36 10 9 4

Arizona 1,721 419 455 211 35 96 210 123 87 15 55

Arkansas 976 319 264 65 25 48 100 63 52 14 16

California 7,026 1,183 1,728 656 116 512 1,429 596 402 54 304

Colorado 854 164 178 136 1 61 151 79 39 15 29

Connecticut

491 117 69 69 11 27 99 80 5 6 7

Delaware

287 74 65 25 21 14 36 33 6 1 2

Florida 5,660 1,247 1,654 419 310 366 994 197 186 69 158

Georgia 2,369 780 597 125 83 187 300 145 12 22 89

Hawaii

176 33 46 17 4 8 25 28 4 2 7

Idaho 290 76 73 24 4 13 44 39 5 5 4

Illinois 1,684 487 530 83 65 96 222 137 15 16 18

Indiana 1,258 336 336 106 23 84 180 87 50 18 32

Iowa 306 67 104 16 5 31 40 34 3 1 2

Kansas 471 131 136 51 2 29 67 31 9 8 3

Kentucky 950 323 307 67 30 46 133 25 3 5 6

Louisiana 1,953 611 564 152 110 98 269 42 10 23 9

Maine 82 24 24 6 1 6 8 4 2 1 5

Maryland 1,100 278 232 83 109 48 122 82 66 9 51

Massachusetts 656 186 180 61 10 29 92 61 11 11 4

Michigan 2,296 681 783 170 39 132 245 134 42 25 27

Minnesota 245 51 72 33 1 10 45 27 4 1 1

Mississippi 1,073 390 265 48 24 52 151 58 5 13 33

Missouri 1,555 422 476 159 26 91 227 72 37 9 24

Montana 169 34 46 26 2 10 26 19 3 1 2

Nebraska 212 47 50 27 4 11 22 20 6 3 7

Nevada 657 154 159 46 9 32 131 40 6 4 12

New Hampshire 127 27 47 12 3 7 14 12 5 0 0

New Jersey 1,029 329 244 60 83 62 137 53 25 10 14

New Mexico 336 78 89 56 4 18 41 29 7 1 12

New York 2,711 726 784 197 221 127 246 247 61 34 30

North Carolina 1,724 476 571 131 75 114 220 68 13 26 19

Continued on next page

Mortality in State and Federal Prisons, 2001–2019 – Statistical Tables | December 2021

TABLE 16 (continued)

Number of deaths of state and federal prisoners, by cause of death and jurisdiction, 2001–19

Jurisdiction All causes

Illness

Suicide

Drug/alcohol

intoxication Accident Homicide

Heart disease Cancer Liver disease AIDS-related

Respiratory

disease

All other

illnesses

North Dakota 21 4 5 2 1 0 4 4 1 0 0

Ohio 2,311 654 801 120 34 177 316 134 24 8 33

Oklahoma 1,575 424 400 169 30 89 204 92 46 32 65

Oregon 642 136 189 87 7 29 81 37 14 7 10

Pennsylvania 2,887 802 848 244 38 182 531 169 23 16 21

Rhode Island

115 27 21 3 5 5 11 27 5 3 1

South Carolina 1,316 499 281 81 36 54 198 79 17 7 61

South Dakota 140 35 34 18 1 14 13 17 1 4 3

Tennessee 1,554 470 426 158 43 77 201 77 38 13 39

Texas 8,050 2,015 2,039 816 173 632 1,619 527 39 79 83

Utah 266 63 59 20 0 11 48 41 5 4 9

Vermont

74 19 15 11 3 1 11 11 3 0 0

Virginia 1,676 450 565 157 55 87 223 65 28 10 15

Washington 674 153 196 72 9 59 104 48 11 11 8

West Virginia 394 156 104 26 6 17 59 11 3 2 7

Wisconsin 857 244 275 52 11 69 93 88 13 6 1

Wyoming 113 42 18 15 1 9 16 9 2 1 0

(NCJ 300381, BJS, June 2021). See Methodology.

...Not available.

Includes other causes not specied and missing and unknown causes.

Includes persons who died of illness and were identied as HIV-positive or having AIDS at the time of death.

Includes other specied illnesses (such as cerebrovascular disease, inuenza, and other nonleading natural causes of death) and unspecied illnesses. Includes natural and illness-related federal prisoner

deaths for which the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) could not provide details.

Includes homicides committed by other prisoners, incidental to the use of force by sta, and resulting from assaults sustained prior to incarceration.

Excludes deaths in private federal facilities.

responsibility of the BOP.

Prisons and jails form one integrated system. Counts include deaths only in state-operated prisons and jails and exclude deaths in 15 locally operated jails.

Prisons and jails form one integrated system. Data include total prison and jail population.

Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Mortality in Correctional Institutions, 2001–19; and Federal Bureau of Prisons, 2001–19.

Mortality in State and Federal Prisons, 2001–2019 – Statistical Tables | December 2021

TABLE 17

Average annual mortality rate per 100,000 state and federal prisoners, by cause of death and jurisdiction, 2001–19

Jurisdiction All causes

Illness

Suicide

Drug/alcohol

intoxication Accident Homicide

Heart disease Cancer Liver disease AIDS-related

Respiratory

disease

All other

illnesses

Federal

233 ... ... ... 5 ... 203 11 ... 4 6

State

273 71 75 23 8 17 42 18 6 3 6

Alabama 363 85 91 29 8 24 64 10 6 4 13

Alaska

187 44 30 18 1 ! 4 ! 25 38 10 9 ! 4 !

Arizona 239 58 63 29 5 13 29 17 12 2 8

Arkansas 370 121 100 25 9 18 38 24 20 5 6

California 247 42 61 23 4 18 50 21 14 2 11

Colorado 219 42 46 35 0 ! 16 39 20 10 4 7

Connecticut

151 36 21 21 3 8 ! 30 25 2 ! 2 ! 2 !

Delaware

231 60 52 20 17 11 29 27 5 ! 1 ! 2 !

Florida 319 70 93 24 17 21 56 11 10 4 9

Georgia 250 82 63 13 9 20 32 15 1 2 9

Hawaii

175 33 46 17 4 ! 8 25 28 4 ! 2 ! 7 !

Idaho 220 58 55 18 3 ! 10 33 30 4 ! 4 ! 3 !

Illinois 198 57 62 10 8 11 26 16 2 2 2

Indiana 257 69 69 22 5 17 37 18 10 4 7

Iowa 182 40 62 10 3 ! 18 24 20 2 ! 1 ! 1 !

Kansas 269 75 78 29 1 ! 17 38 18 5 ! 5 ! 2 !

Kentucky 381 129 123 27 12 18 53 10 1 ! 2 ! 2 !

Louisiana

554 173 160 43 31 28 76 12 3 7 3 !

Maine 208 61 61 15 ! 3 ! 15 ! 20 ! 10 ! 5 ! 3 ! 13 !

Maryland 263 67 56 20 26 11 29 20 16 2 ! 12

Massachusetts 341 97 94 32 5 15 48 32 6 6 2 !

Michigan 267 79 91 20 5 15 28 16 5 3 3

Minnesota 147 31 43 20 1 ! 6 27 16 2 ! 1 ! 1 !

Mississippi 367 134 91 16 8 18 52 20 2 ! 4 11

Missouri 269 73 82 27 4 16 39 12 6 2 ! 4

Montana 286 57 78 44 3 ! 17 44 32 5 ! 2 ! 3 !

Nebraska 239 53 56 30 5 ! 12 25 23 7 ! 3 ! 8 !

Nevada 282 66 68 20 4 ! 14 56 17 3 ! 2 ! 5

New Hampshire 259 55 96 24 6 ! 14 ! 29 24 10 ! 0 0

New Jersey 234 75 55 14 19 14 31 12 6 2 3

New Mexico 269 62 71 45 3 ! 14 33 23 6 ! 1 ! 10

New York 250 67 72 18 20 12 23 23 6 3 3

North Carolina 247 68 82 19 11 16 32 10 2 4 3

Continued on next page

Mortality in State and Federal Prisons, 2001–2019 – Statistical Tables | December 2021

TABLE 17 (continued)

Average annual mortality rate per 100,000 state and federal prisoners, by cause of death and jurisdiction, 2001–19

Jurisdiction All causes

Illness

Suicide

Drug/alcohol

intoxication Accident Homicide

Heart disease Cancer Liver disease AIDS-related

Respiratory

disease

All other

illnesses

North Dakota 77 15 ! 18 ! 7 ! 4 ! 0 15 ! 15 ! 4 ! 0 0

Ohio 247 70 85 13 4 19 34 14 3 1 ! 4

Oklahoma 340 91 86 36 6 19 44 20 10 7 14

Oregon 249 53 73 34 3 ! 11 31 14 5 3 ! 4

Pennsylvania 331 92 97 28 4 21 61 19 3 2 2

Rhode Island

189 44 35 5 ! 8 ! 8 ! 18 44 8 ! 5 ! 2 !

South Carolina 319 121 68 20 9 13 48 19 4 2 ! 15

South Dakota 216 54 52 28 2 ! 22 20 26 2 ! 6 ! 5 !

Tennessee 415 125 114 42 11 21 54 21 10 3 10

Texas 274 69 69 28 6 22 55 18 1 3 3

Utah 281 67 62 21 0 12 51 43 5 ! 4 ! 10 !

Vermont

209 54 42 31 8 ! 3 ! 31 31 8 ! 0 0

Virginia 287 77 97 27 9 15 38 11 5 2 3

Washington 209 47 61 22 3 ! 18 32 15 3 3 2 !

West Virginia 416 165 110 27 6 ! 18 62 12 3 ! 2 ! 7 !

Wisconsin 201 57 64 12 3 16 22 21 3 1 ! 0 !

Wyoming 289 107 46 38 3 ! 23 ! 41 23 ! 5 ! 3 ! 0

December 31.

...Not available.

! Interpret with caution. Estimate is based on 10 or fewer cases. See Interpreting rates among small populations in Methodology.

Includes other causes not specied and missing and unknown causes.

Includes persons who died of illness and were identied as HIV-positive or having AIDS at the time of death.

deaths for which the BOP could not provide details.

Includes homicides committed by other prisoners, incidental to the use of force by sta, and resulting from assaults sustained prior to incarceration.

Excludes deaths in private federal facilities.

responsibility of the BOP.

Prisons and jails form one integrated system. Counts include deaths only in state-operated prisons and jails and exclude deaths in 15 locally operated jails.

Prisons and jails form one integrated system. Data include total prison and jail population.

From 2001 to 2019, Louisiana held between 44.5% and 57.9% of its prison population in local jails. Since the calculation of mortality rates is based on the custody populations, which exclude prisoners held in

local jails, the mortality rates for Louisiana prisoners will be high because the prisoners held in jails are generally healthier according to the Louisiana Department of Corrections.

Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Mortality in Correctional Institutions, 2001–19, and National Prisoner Statistics, 2001–19; and Federal Bureau of Prisons, 2001–19.

December 2021

Methodology

Data collection coverage

e Mortality in Correctional Institutions (MCI),

formerly the Deaths in Custody Reporting Program

(DCRP), was an annual Bureau of Justice Statistics

(BJS) data collection from 2000 to 2019. e MCI

obtained national-, state-, and incident-level data

on persons who died while in the physical custody

of the 50 state departments of corrections (DOCs)

starting in 2001 or in the physical custody of the

approximately 2,800 local jail jurisdictions with

adult populations nationwide starting in 2000. is

methodology pertains to the prison portion of the MCI

collection only. See Mortality in Local Jails, 2000–2019

– Statistical Tables (NCJ 301368, BJS, December 2021)

for data and the methodology on deaths in local jails.

e DCRP began in 2000 in response to the Death in

Custody Reporting Act of 2000 (DICRA; P.L. 106–297)

and was the only national statistical collection

providing comprehensive information about deaths

in adult correctional facilities. Starting in 2001, BJS

collected annual data directly from state prison systems

and maintained a 100% response rate throughout the

19 years of data collection. BJS used these data to track

national trends in the number, cause, and manner

of deaths occurring in state prisons. Until 2015, the

Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) submitted aggregate

counts of the number of male and female deaths to

BJS, by cause of death. e BOP started reporting

decedent-level data to BJS in 2015, including individual

demographic and criminal justice characteristics. In

2017, BJS changed the name of the DCRP to MCI to

more accurately describe the data collection.

BJS ceased collection of mortality data in state and

local correctional facilities aer the 2019 data year.

When DICRA was reauthorized in 2014 (P.L. 113–242),

it included additional enforcement and reporting

compliance requirements that are incompatible with

BJS’s authorizing statute as a federal statistical agency.

e U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) determined it

would be more appropriate for the Bureau of Justice

Assistance (BJA) to administer the program and

collect mortality data for the DOJ starting with the

rst quarter of scal year 2019 (October to December

2019). State DOCs and local jails now report their

death information on a quarterly basis to centralized

state agencies, which compile and submit this to BJA to

comply with all applicable requirements in P.L. 113–242.

Mortality in State and Federal Prisons, 2001–2019 – Statistical Tables |

Mortality data measured by the MCI included the

location and type of facility where the incarcerated

person died, decedent characteristics (sex, race or

ethnicity, and age), admission date, conviction status,

and admission oense. e MCI also collected data on

the circumstances surrounding the death (the cause,

time, and location of death), whether an autopsy was

conducted, and the availability of autopsy results to the

respondent. Data on executions are excluded from this

report but are accessible on the BJS website.

Statistics

for 2001 to 2019 presented in this report are considered

nal as of February 18, 2021.

For more information on mortality in correctional

settings, see—

 Mortality in Local Jails, 2000–2019 – Statistical

Tables

(NCJ 301368, BJS, December 2021)

 Suicide in Local Jails and State and Federal Prisons,

2000–2019 – Statistical Tables (NCJ 300731, BJS,

October 2021)

 Mortality in Local Jails, 2000–2018 – Statistical

Tables (NCJ 256002, BJS, April 2021)

 Mortality in State and Federal Prisons, 2001–2018 –

Statistical Tables (NCJ 255970, BJS, April 2021)

 Assessing Inmate Cause of Death: Deaths in Custody

Reporting Program and National Death Index

(NCJ 249568, BJS, April 2016)

 Suicide and Homicide in State Prisons and Local Jails

(NCJ 210036, BJS, August 2005).

e MCI instruments for collecting state prison

data were administered annually to state DOCs.

Respondents provided an aggregate count of

the number of deaths that occurred during the

referenced calendar year (NPS-4) and provided

forms describing individual deaths (NPS-4A). e

prison survey instruments are available on the BJS

website. Respondents submitted individual records on

decedents at any time during a collection cycle through

a BJS web-based collection system. e BOP submitted

federal prison mortality data directly to BJS.

Determining eligibility for reporting to the

Mortality in Correctional Institutions

In the MCI, custody refers to the physical holding of

a person in a facility or to the period during which a

correctional authority maintains a chain of custody

See Capital Punishment, 2019 – Statistical Tables (NCJ 300381,

BJS, June 2021).

Mortality in State and Federal Prisons, 2001–2019 – Statistical Tables | December 2021

over such person. For instance, if a prison transports

an ill prisoner to a hospital for medical services and

that prisoner dies in the hospital while in the chain of

custody of the prison, then that death is counted as a

death in custody. A death that occurs when a prisoner

is not in the custody of a correctional authority is

considered beyond the scope of the MCI. Deaths were

considered out of scope for prisoners who were on

escape status or under the supervision of community

corrections, such as on probation, parole, or home

electronic monitoring. For state prisons responding

to the survey, prisoners in physical custody include

those held in any private prison facility under contract

to the responding states’ DOCs or in any of their

state-operated facilities, such as halfway houses, prison

camps or farms, training or treatment centers, and

prison hospitals. BOP data submitted to the MCI

exclude deaths of federal prisoners that occurred in

privately operated facilities.

State and federal prison ocials were asked to exclude

deaths of prisoners serving sentences in the custody of

local jails while under the jurisdiction of a state DOC

or the BOP. e MCI obtains information about such

deaths through the jail reports.

Identifying and excluding duplicate records

Duplicate and out-of-scope records are excluded from

analysis in this report. Duplicate death records may

occur in the MCI due to overlapping correctional

populations or overlapping duties within correctional

facilities. For example, a state prison system may report

the death of a prisoner who was transferred to a local

jail while serving a prison sentence. is death would

be counted by the local jail that had custody of the

prisoner at the time of death. e duplicate record

from the prison would be deleted.

To identify duplicate records, BJS reconciles the

aggregate summary counts of deaths that occurred

during a calendar year with the number of individual

records of death that were obtained from a reporting

prison system. When discrepancies are identied,

reporting prison systems are contacted for clarication.

Information on cause of death

MCI respondents are instructed to report on the

cause of death as determined by autopsy or another

ocial medical investigation. For this collection,

deaths due to intoxication, accidents, suicides, and

homicides are considered discrete causes of death.

Although the manner and cause of death are distinct

from one another, no such distinction is made in the

MCI. When reporting a death due to illness, accident,

suicide, intoxication, or homicide, BJS requests that

respondents describe the events surrounding these

deaths. Clinical data specialists convert text entries

that describe illness-related deaths into standard

medical codes from the World Health Organization’s

International Statistical Classication of Diseases and

Related Health Problems, Tenth Revision.

Homicides include all types of intentional homicide

and involuntary manslaughter as determined by a

medical examiner or pathologist at autopsy. Homicide

counts include legal intervention homicides committed

while a prisoner was trying to escape. Homicides also

encompass cases that are ruled a homicide at autopsy

when events that led to the death occurred prior to

incarceration, such as a prisoner who was shot outside

of custody and who later died from complications of

the gunshot wound while in custody.

Other BJS sources of correctional mortality data

BJS collects other data reported to the MCI on prisoner

mortality. ese other collections include—

 Capital Punishment, which provides data on legal

executions. Additional details on executions are

available on the BJS website.

 the National Prisoner Statistics (NPS) program,

which collects counts of deaths by cause of death,

including deaths due to execution; illness; AIDS

and AIDS-related causes, such as HIV; suicide;

accident; and homicide. Detailed counts by cause

of death were discontinued in 2007. e NPS

currently collects a total count of deaths as a type of

release from prison. Aer 2006, the BOP submitted

counts of deaths by cause of death to the MCI

but discontinued submitting counts to the NPS.

Additional details on the NPS are available on the

BJS website.

Reported statistics

Mortality data in this report include the number of

deaths and mortality rates by year, the cause of death,

selected decedent characteristics, and the state where

the death occurred.

Mortality rates are calculated per 100,000 prisoners,

with the denominators providing estimates of the

number of person-years of exposure in custody in

institutional corrections (person-years combines time

in jail with the number of inmates to measure actual

exposure to a jail setting). e mortality rate in state or

Mortality in State and Federal Prisons, 2001–2019 – Statistical Tables | December 2021

federal prisons is calculated as the number of deaths

per year divided by the December 31 population of

state or federal prisoners in custody, with the resulting

quotient multiplied by 100,000. e population of

state prisoners used in rate calculations includes

prisoners held in privately operated facilities, while

the population in federal prisons does not. To improve

comparability between years, this report includes

mortality rates of state prisons that were reestimated

for prior years using updated year-end custody

populations, including privately operated facilities.

Data on the source of the denominator allow annual

mortality rates to be calculated separately by group

or characteristic. e National Center for Health

Statistics (NCHS) calculates crude mortality rates

as the number of events for a period, divided by the

population estimate at the midpoint of the period. For

general population mortality statistics, the NCHS uses

the midyear population to approximate the average

population that was exposed to risk of death during

any given year.

e crude mortality rates that are reported in the

MCI annual statistical tables use a year-end, rather

than midyear, population for the denominator. e

composition of the general population diers by sex,

race or ethnicity, and age from the population in

state and federal prisons, which in turn diers from

the population in local jails. In 2019, BJS adjusted

the general population in table 5 and gures 3 and

4 of this report to reect the sex, race or ethnicity,

and age distribution of state prisons to permit direct

comparisons. For details on this adjustment, see

Comparison of state prison mortality rates to the U.S.

resident population.

Estimating population characteristics of

prisoners to calculate mortality rates by

demographic subgroups

Sex and age distributions of the state prison population

are estimated using the NPS and National Corrections

Reporting Program (NCRP) data collections. Rates

for race or ethnicity are also derived from these

collections. ey have been updated from previous

years and will not match previously reported rates.

Race or ethnicity reported in the NPS and NCRP come

from administrative records of prisoners and may not

reect self-reporting by prisoners. Distributions of race

or ethnicity were adjusted based on self-reported data

See Siegel, J. S., & Swanson, D. A. (Eds.). (2004). e methods and

materials of demography (2nd ed., p. 269). Elsevier Academic Press.

collected from interviews with prisoners through BJS’s

national prisoner surveys. Previously, distributions

of race or ethnicity were derived from BJS’s 2004

Survey of Inmates in State and Federal Correctional

Facilities. In 2017, BJS updated estimates of prisoners’

race or ethnicity using new data from the 2016 Survey

of Prison Inmates (formerly the Survey of Inmates

in State and Federal Correctional Facilities). Annual

distributions of race or ethnicity were weighted by

the number of years from the most recent prisoner

survey (2004 or 2016). For complete details on the

methodology used to estimate distributions of race

or ethnicity, see Prisoners in 2016 (NCJ 251149, BJS,

January 2018).

Comparison of state prison mortality rates to the

U.S. resident population

e state prison population diers substantially from

the U.S. resident population in terms of age, race or

ethnicity, and sex distributions. ese dierences

preclude direct comparison of mortality rates between

state prisoners and U.S. residents. To allow for

direct comparisons, BJS adjusted the U.S. resident

population’s mortality rates to the age-by-sex-by-race/

ethnicity (ASR) distribution of state prisoners in 2019.

U.S. resident population mortality data were obtained

from the WONDER (Wide-ranging Online Data

for Epidemiological Research) Underlying Cause of

Death database (https://wonder.cdc.gov/ucd-icd10.

html), created by the Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention. Because state prisons hold fewer than 800

persons age 17 or younger, BJS limited the WONDER

death data to residents who had a known age at death

and were age 18 or older in 2019. In addition, BJS

excluded causes of death that are unlikely to occur in

a prison setting, including motor vehicle accidents;

homicides due to explosives or rearms not related to

law enforcement, motor vehicle assault, or neglect; and

rearm discharges not related to law enforcement.

For each cause of death, BJS parsed the WONDER

death data to match ASR categories from the MCI

and calculated crude mortality rates for the adult U.S.

resident population for each ASR category. Next, the

total state prison population was divided into the same

ASR categories based on data from the NPS and NCRP

and then weighted to the race or ethnicity distribution

from BJS’s self-reported prisoner surveys using the

process described above. e crude mortality rates for

the adult U.S. resident population were then multiplied

by the total state prison population by weighted ASR

category. is approach allowed BJS to generate a

Mortality in State and Federal Prisons, 2001–2019 – Statistical Tables | December 2021

cause-specic expected count of deaths that, when

summed, gave the total number of expected deaths in

the U.S. resident population due to that cause for 2019,

if the demographic distribution of the U.S. population

resembled that of the state prison population. To

obtain the adjusted mortality rate per 100,000 shown

in table 5 and gures 3 and 4, BJS divided these

cause-specic mortality rates by the total state prison

population and multiplied by 100,000.

Rolling averages

Rolling averages were computed to examine trends

for certain causes of death in prisons while smoothing

short-term uctuations. Data were divided into 17

3-year periods spanning 19 years. e rolling averages

in this report describe some changes in cause-specic

mortality rates over time, such as whether the overall

rise in the mortality rate for cancer was steady or

the increase in unnatural deaths was recent. Rolling

averages were not computed for all causes of death in

custody due to small cell sizes.

Interpreting rates among small populations

MCI data on deaths in state prisons are not subject

to sampling error because the data represent a full

enumeration of deaths. However, according to

Brillinger and NCHS, mortality data from a complete

enumeration may be subject to random error because

“the number of deaths that actually occurred may

be considered as one of a large series of possible

results that could have arisen under the same set of

circumstances.”

5,6

e random variation can be large

when the number of deaths is small. erefore, caution

is warranted when interpreting statistics that are based

on small numbers of deaths.

Continuing to use the NCHS and Brillinger methods,

BJS quantied random variation by assuming that

the appropriate underlying probability distribution

for the number of deaths was a Poisson distribution.

is provided a simple and reasonable approach for

estimating variances in mortality statistics when the

probability of dying is low. Variances were calculated

based on the assumption of a Poisson process. From

these variances, estimates of relative random error

were calculated. ese estimates are comparable to the

relative standard error because the relative random

error is the ratio of random error derived from the

Poisson variance to the number of deaths. Following

NCHS practice, when the relative random error

exceeded 30%, estimated mortality rates were agged

with an “!” symbol to show the instability of the rate.

(Interpret with caution. Estimate is based on 10 or

fewer cases.)

See Brillinger, D. R. (1986). e natural variability of vital rates

and associated statistics. Biometrics, 42(4), 693–734.

See Xu, J., Kochanek, K. D., Murphy, S. L., & Tejada-Vera, B.

(2010). Deaths: Final data for 2007 (National Vital Statistics

Reports, Vol. 58, No. 19). National Center for Health Statistics.

https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr58/nvsr58_19.pdf

Mortality in State and Federal Prisons, 2001–2019 – Statistical Tables | December 2021

APPENDIX TABLE 1

Estimated number of state and federal prisoners in custody, by prisoner characteristics, 2001–2019

Characteristic

Custody

population,

2001–2019 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

Total 26,872,800 1,322,600 1,352,600 1,377,900 1,403,100 1,420,400 1,460,600 1,482,100 1,489,800 1,490,600

Federal

3,053,100 137,100 143,500 151,900 158,900 159,300 163,100 166,000 165,300 171,000

State

23,819,700 1,185,500 1,209,100 1,226,000 1,244,200 1,261,100 1,297,500 1,316,100 1,324,500 1,319,600

Sex

Male 22,148,200 1,109,400 1,129,000 1,143,300 1,158,100 1,172,800 1,205,400 1,222,500 1,230,600 1,227,500

Female 1,671,500 76,100 80,100 82,700 86,100 88,300 92,100 93,600 93,900 92,100

Race/ethnicity

White

7,907,000 401,900 418,100 433,200 437,400 449,900 455,100 446,600 446,900 436,200

Black

8,791,200 514,500 508,600 498,200 496,000 490,500 498,200 501,400 502,600 493,500

Hispanic 4,740,600 208,300 217,000 223,900 231,300 232,800 244,800 259,100 256,900 263,700

American Indian/

Alaska Native

357,500 22,300 21,300 20,100 20,600 20,200 21,300 20,500 20,000 19,400

Asian

c,d

251,400 11,800 11,700 12,900 12,200 12,000 12,100 12,800 13,000 13,200

Other

c,e

1,771,700 26,800 32,300 37,700 46,600 55,700 66,000 75,800 85,100 93,600

Age

17 or younger 33,600 2,900 2,700 2,600 2,200 2,200 2,400 2,400 2,600 2,500

18–24 3,376,400 218,000 217,400 216,100 207,700 200,000 196,700 196,700 197,900 198,700

25–34 7,862,400 401,700 405,800 408,800 416,200 420,600 431,900 437,700 439,200 437,300

35–44 6,503,000 362,000 365,600 366,400 367,700 367,900 372,600 366,600 356,600 343,700

45–54 4,113,700 153,000 165,300 175,900 189,200 203,700 220,200 232,200 240,600 243,500

55 or older 1,947,000 47,800 52,400 56,200 61,100 66,700 73,800 80,400 87,600 93,900

Continued on next page

Mortality in State and Federal Prisons, 2001–2019 – Statistical Tables | December 2021

APPENDIX TABLE 1 continued

Estimated number of state and federal prisoners in custody, by prisoner characteristics, 2001–2019

Characteristic 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

Total 1,487,500 1,466,400 1,438,600 1,443,600 1,429,700 1,404,200 1,383,000 1,365,500 1,342,800 1,311,700

Federal

173,100 176,200 176,500 173,800 169,500 160,700 154,200 154,600 151,500 147,000

State

1,314,400 1,290,200 1,262,100 1,269,800 1,260,200 1,243,500 1,228,800 1,210,900 1,191,300 1,164,700

Sex

Male 1,222,900 1,201,100 1,175,700 1,180,900 1,170,000 1,154,400 1,139,900 1,122,400 1,102,900 1,079,300

Female 91,500 89,100 86,400 88,900 90,200 89,100 88,900 88,500 88,400 85,400

Race/ethnicity

White

430,400 419,500 410,100 409,500 405,200 395,600 385,400 381,200 375,800 368,700

Black

482,600 468,700 453,600 449,400 434,500 420,500 409,600 398,800 389,400 380,500

Hispanic 267,100 261,900 253,300 257,900 257,900 258,000 266,000 264,600 261,800 254,200

American Indian/

Alaska Native

19,200 18,000 17,000 15,600 17,300 16,800 16,500 17,100 17,000 17,400

Asian

c,d

13,100 13,400 13,300 13,400 13,700 14,500 14,700 14,600 14,800 14,400

Other

c,e

102,000 108,700 114,800 124,000 131,500 138,100 136,600 134,600 132,400 129,400

Age

17 or younger 2,100 1,800 1,400 1,100 1,000 900 800 800 600 600

18–24 196,000 189,100 180,400 173,700 161,300 145,500 134,800 124,000 112,800 109,500

25–34 434,800 424,400 413,800 415,300 417,700 407,700 400,000 393,000 382,800 373,800

35–44 334,200 324,100 318,200 320,500 323,700 322,500 322,600 323,800 325,700 318,700

45–54 245,600 242,300 238,000 236,500 235,000 229,400 224,900 218,200 212,300 208,000

55 or older 101,700 108,500 115,300 123,100 131,100 139,100 145,600 151,200 157,100 154,200

Note: Data are rounded to the nearest 100. Data may have been revised from previously published statistics. Details may not sum to totals due to missing data. All populations are based on a custody count as of

December 31.

Excludes prisoners in private federal facilities.

Includes prisoners in private state facilities.

Excludes persons of Hispanic origin (e.g., “white” refers to non-Hispanic whites and “black” refers to non-Hispanic blacks).

Includes Asians, Native Hawaiians, and Other Pacic Islanders.

Includes persons of two or more races and other races.

Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Mortality in Correctional Institutions, 2001–2019, National Prisoner Statistics, 2001–2019, Survey of Inmates in State and Federal Correctional Facilities, 2004, and Survey of

Prison Inmates, 2016; and Federal Bureau of Prisons, 2001–2019.

Mortality in State and Federal Prisons, 2001–2019 – Statistical Tables | December 2021

APPENDIX TABLE 2

Illness mortality rate per 100,000 state prisoners within each demographic group, by decedent characteristics, 2003–2019 (3-year rolling averages)

Characteristic 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

Total 221 224 226 222 223 225 228 226 226 228 236 239 248 254 264 269 269

Sex

Male 228 230 232 228 230 231 235 232 233 236 244 247 256 263 274 278 279

Female 129 134 141 135 132 136 144 137 132 122 132 133 144 142 138 145 148

Race/ethnicity

White

305 310 318 313 321 333 349 352 367 377 400 402 425 441 463 469 474

Black

214 218 222 218 218 213 218 215 214 213 216 225 237 250 262 268 263

Hispanic 127 123 116 122 124 131 126 121 112 114 120 123 121 116 120 127 129

American Indian/

Alaska Native

88 98 118 116 116 126 140 143 145 160 182 193 218 225 228 209 200

Asian

a,b

49 63 56 48 52 53 77 77 78 85 99 116 105 101 97 101 103

Other

a,c

9 ! 15 13 16 9 12 7 7 3 ! 4 5 7 7 6 3 1 ! 4

Age

17 or younger 12 ! 13 ! 14 ! 15 ! 14 ! 27 ! 13 ! 42 ! 47 ! 57 ! 23 ! 29 ! 33 ! 74 ! 80 ! 91 ! 50 !

18–24 13 13 13 14 13 14 15 15 14 14 15 15 16 14 13 10 11

25–34 39 38 38 35 32 29 26 25 25 24 24 23 24 25 28 27 27

35–44 155 151 143 130 120 110 106 98 94 85 81 75 71 70 70 69 63

45–54 534 507 488 461 435 416 397 382 364 346 338 324 317 299 284 272 257

55 or older 1,992 1,964 1,916 1,805 1,791 1,777 1,766 1,658 1,598 1,558 1,568 1,538 1,546 1,531 1,547 1,527 1,515

Note: Based on 3-year rolling averages. Labels show the most recent year only (for example, 2001–2003 is shown as 2003). Includes deaths in private state facilities. Mortality rates are per 100,000 prisoners held

in the custody of state prisons. Mortality rates are based on the annual number of deaths and a 1-day custody population on December 31. See Methodology.

! Interpret with caution. Estimate is based on 10 or fewer cases. See Interpreting rates among small populations in Methodology.

Excludes persons of Hispanic origin (e.g., “white” refers to non-Hispanic whites and “black” refers to non-Hispanic blacks).

Includes Asians, Native Hawaiians, and Other Pacic Islanders.

Includes persons of two or more races and other races.

Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Mortality in Correctional Institutions, 2001–2019; National Prisoner Statistics

, 2001–2019; Survey of Inmates in State Correctional Facilities, 2004; and Survey of Prison

Inmates, 2016.

Mortality in State and Federal Prisons, 2001–2019 – Statistical Tables | December 2021

APPENDIX TABLE 3

Cancer mortality rate per 100,000 state prisoners within each demographic group, by decedent characteristics, 2003–2019 (3-year rolling averages)

Characteristic 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

Total 60 60 63 62 62 63 67 71 75 77 82 83 86 89 91 93 93

Sex

Male 63 62 65 64 64 65 70 73 77 80 84 86 89 91 95 97 97

Female 26 33 33 33 31 33 35 40 48 44 45 43 51 53 49 49 47

Race/ethnicity

White

93 91 95 91 96 102 112 118 128 133 144 143 149 154 163 167 173

Black

53 55 59 59 58 58 62 66 68 71 75 80 84 89 90 91 87

Hispanic 27 28 26 29 25 25 25 30 31 33 33 35 37 38 40 42 42

American Indian/

Alaska Native

24 26 36 34 31 32 32 43 39 53 55 56 58 57 62 55 54

Asian

a,b

25 ! 27 ! 19 ! 25 ! 27 37 49 59 48 38 35 45 46 40 39 39 43

Other

a,c

2 ! 4 ! 4 ! 7 4 ! 4 ! 1 ! 1 ! 1 ! 2 ! 1 ! 2 ! 2 ! 2 ! 1 ! <1 ! 1 !

Age

17 or younger 0 0 0 0 0 14 ! 13 ! 14 ! 16 ! 19 ! 23 ! 0 0 37 ! 80 ! 91 ! 50 !

18–24 2 2 2 1 ! 2 ! 1 ! 2 3 4 4 3 2 2 2 ! 2 ! 2 ! 3

25–34 5 5 6 5 5 4 4 4 5 5 6 5 6 6 6 5 5

35–44 29 29 29 26 22 22 20 22 21 21 22 22 21 19 17 16 14

45–54 142 130 128 122 119 113 115 117 118 113 116 114 114 104 100 95 89

55 or older 696 670 665 612 580 577 592 584 584 573 572 553 550 558 560 558 553

in the custody of state prisons. Mortality rates are based on the annual number of deaths and a 1-day custody population on December 31. See Methodology.

! Interpret with caution. Estimate is based on 10 or fewer cases. See Interpreting rates among small populations in Methodology.

Excludes persons of Hispanic origin (e.g., “white” refers to non-Hispanic whites and “black” refers to non-Hispanic blacks).

Includes Asians, Native Hawaiians, and Other Pacic Islanders.

Includes persons of two or more races and other races.

Inmates, 2016.

Mortality in State and Federal Prisons, 2001–2019 – Statistical Tables | December 2021

APPENDIX TABLE 4

Heart disease mortality rate per 100,000 state prisoners within each demographic group, by decedent characteristics, 2003–2019 (3-year rolling averages)

Characteristic 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

Total 65 66 66 67 65 64 64 64 65 64 67 68 74 78 85 88 90

Sex

Male 67 69 69 69 68 67 66 66 67 67 70 71 77 81 88 92 93

Female 35 33 34 30 32 33 37 30 30 27 31 31 35 37 39 37 40

Race/ethnicity

White

97 99 98 100 97 98 98 100 105 106 113 116 127 136 148 153 156

Black

61 63 66 64 65 62 63 64 65 66 67 69 76 83 93 96 96

Hispanic 28 27 25 27 29 32 31 29 26 23 24 24 26 25 28 31 33

American Indian/

Alaska Native

19 29 34 29 26 31 38 36 34 39 51 66 73 65 60 63 70

Asian

a,b

19 ! 19 ! 24 ! 19 ! 27 21 ! 31 18 ! 18 ! 28 37 52 38 37 27 29 30

Other

a,c

2 ! 3 ! 4 ! 4 ! 3 ! 4 ! 2 ! 2 ! 1 ! 1 ! 1 ! 2 ! 2 ! 2 ! 1 ! 1 ! 2 !

Age

17 or younger 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 14 ! 16 ! 19 ! 0 29 ! 33 ! 37 ! 0 0 0

18–24 3 3 4 5 5 4 4 4 4 3 5 5 7 5 4 5 5

25–34 11 12 12 12 10 8 8 8 8 7 7 8 9 10 10 11 11

35–44 40 41 41 38 34 31 31 32 33 30 28 25 24 24 26 27 26

45–54 139 134 127 120 112 106 98 94 90 86 82 80 81 83 86 85 83

55 or older 683 661 614 592 572 550 526 488 468 448 455 450 468 473 493 489 491

in the custody of state prisons. Mortality rates are based on the annual number of deaths and a 1-day custody population on December 31. See Methodology.

! Interpret with caution. Estimate is based on 10 or fewer cases. See Interpreting rates among small populations in Methodology.

Excludes persons of Hispanic origin (e.g., “white” refers to non-Hispanic whites and “black” refers to non-Hispanic blacks).

Includes Asians, Native Hawaiians, and Other Pacic Islanders.

Includes persons of two or more races and other races.

Inmates, 2016.

Mortality in State and Federal Prisons, 2001–2019 – Statistical Tables | December 2021

APPENDIX TABLE 5

Liver disease mortality rate per 100,000 state prisoners within each demographic group, by decedent characteristics, 2003–2019 (3-year rolling averages)

Characteristic 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

Total 25 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 26 26 26 24 22 20 17

Sex

Male 26 25 25 25 25 25 25 25 26 25 27 26 27 24 23 21 17

Female 13 12 14 13 12 10 10 10 9 9 13 14 16 13 11 11 11

Race/ethnicity

White

37 35 37 36 36 37 39 41 43 44 46 46 46 45 41 38 31

Black

15 15 15 15 15 14 14 14 15 14 15 14 15 14 15 13 10

Hispanic 30 26 25 24 27 27 25 22 20 21 24 25 25 19 16 15 15

American Indian/

Alaska Native

22 23 21 29 36 31 33 26 32 26 30 30 34 36 40 32 23

Asian

a,b

16 ! 24 ! 22 ! 17 ! 11 ! 8 ! 10 ! 8 ! 8 ! 13 ! 15 ! 12 ! 12 ! 12 ! 14 ! 7 ! 5 !

Other

a,c

1 ! 1 ! 1 ! 1 ! 0 <1 ! <1 ! <1 ! 0 <1 ! 1 ! 1 ! 1 ! 0 0 0 0

Age

17 or younger 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 14 ! 16 ! 19 ! 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

18–24 0 0 0 <1 ! 1 ! 1 ! 1 ! 1 ! 1 ! <1 ! <1 ! 1 ! 1 ! 1 ! 1 ! 1 ! 1 !

25–34 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 ! 1 1 1 1 ! 1 ! 1 !

35–44 20 17 14 12 11 11 11 9 10 7 7 5 5 5 5 5 4

45–54 94 84 85 81 75 69 67 63 58 53 54 50 48 42 34 27 21

55 or older 130 134 134 128 137 136 136 129 137 139 156 150 146 126 118 107 91

in the custody of state prisons. Mortality rates are based on the annual number of deaths and a 1-day custody population on December 31. See Methodology.

! Interpret with caution. Estimate is based on 10 or fewer cases. See Interpreting rates among small populations in Methodology.

Excludes persons of Hispanic origin (e.g., “white” refers to non-Hispanic whites and “black” refers to non-Hispanic blacks).

Includes Asians, Native Hawaiians, and Other Pacic Islanders.

Includes persons of two or more races and other races.

Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Mortality in Correctional Institutions, 2001–2019; National Prisoner Statistics, 2001–2019; Survey of Inmates in State Correctional Facilities,

2004; and Survey of Prison

Inmates, 2016.

Mortality in State and Federal Prisons, 2001–2019 – Statistical Tables | December 2021

APPENDIX TABLE 6

Respiratory disease mortality rate per 100,000 state prisoners within each demographic group, by decedent characteristics, 2003–2019 (3-year rolling averages)

Characteristic 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

Total 14 15 16 16 16 17 17 17 16 17 16 17 18 19 19 21 22

Sex

Male 14 16 17 16 16 17 17 17 16 17 17 18 19 19 20 21 22

Female 9 11 14 16 15 16 14 12 10 7 10 9 10 11 12 16 14

Race/ethnicity

White

21 23 25 23 25 27 28 28 28 31 32 32 34 36 38 40 42

Black

12 14 16 16 15 14 14 15 13 13 12 14 15 16 16 18 19

Hispanic 7 7 7 7 7 8 9 9 8 8 7 9 8 9 9 10 10

American Indian/

Alaska Native

8 ! 2 ! 2 ! 2 ! 2 ! 6 ! 5 ! 5 ! 4 ! 9 ! 10 ! 10 ! 12 ! 20 18 ! 14 ! 10 !

Asian

a,b

8 ! 11 ! 8 ! 6 ! 3 ! 0 0 3 ! 5 ! 8 ! 15 ! 12 ! 10 ! 2 ! 2 ! 2 ! 5 !

Other

a,c

2 ! 3 ! 2 ! 1 ! 1 ! 0 0 0 0 <1 ! 1 ! 1 ! 1 ! <1 ! 0 0 <1 !

Age

17 or younger 0 0 0 15 ! 14 ! 14 ! 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

18–24 2 2 2 3 2 3 2 2 1 ! 2 ! 2 2 ! 2 ! 1 ! 1 ! 0 <1 !

25–34 3 4 4 3 3 3 3 3 2 3 3 3 2 2 1 2 2

35–44 8 8 9 9 9 8 8 7 6 5 4 4 4 4 5 6 5

45–54 26 26 26 24 22 23 21 21 21 19 18 16 16 16 14 15 14

55 or older 153 158 166 148 144 144 140 137 121 127 120 125 126 126 128 130 134

in the custody of state prisons. Mortality rates are based on the annual number of deaths and a 1-day custody population on December 31. See Methodology.

! Interpret with caution. Estimate is based on 10 or fewer cases. See Interpreting rates among small populations in Methodology.

Excludes persons of Hispanic origin (e.g., “white” refers to non-Hispanic whites and “black” refers to non-Hispanic blacks).

Includes Asians, Native Hawaiians, and Other Pacic Islanders.

Includes persons of two or more races and other races.

Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Mortality in Correctional Institutions, 2001–2019; National Prisoner Statistics, 2001–2019

; Survey of Inmates in State Correctional Facilities, 2004; and Survey of Prison

Inmates, 2016.

Mortality in State and Federal Prisons, 2001–2019 – Statistical Tables | December 2021

APPENDIX TABLE 7

Mortality rate due to all other illnesses per 100,000 state prisoners within each demographic group, by decedent characteristics, 2003–2019

(3-year rolling averages)

Characteristic 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

Total 57 57 56 54 56 57 56 50 47 46 45 45 45 45 46 47 47

Sex

Male 58 58 57 55 57 58 57 51 47 46 46 46 46 46 48 48 48

Female 46 45 47 42 42 45 48 46 36 34 33 35 32 29 28 32 35

Race/ethnicity

White

57 62 62 61 66 70 71 65 62 64 65 65 69 70 73 72 72

Black

72 70 67 64 65 64 64 57 53 49 47 48 47 48 50 51 52

Hispanic 35 35 34 35 36 38 36 31 27 30 31 30 26 25 26 29 29

American Indian/

Alaska Native

16 19 25 23 23 26 32 34 37 33 36 30 40 47 50 45 43

Asian

a,b

16 ! 24 ! 19 ! 17 ! 19 ! 21 ! 28 28 33 30 22 ! 22 ! 19 ! 28 30 39 39

Other

a,c

2 ! 4 ! 3 ! 4 ! 2 ! 4 4 ! 3 ! 1 ! 1 ! 1 ! 2 ! 2 ! 2 ! 1 ! <1 ! 1 !

Age

17 or younger 12 ! 13 ! 14 ! 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

18–24 6 5 5 4 4 5 6 5 5 5 5 5 4 4 4 3 2 !

25–34 18 16 15 13 12 12 11 9 9 8 7 6 6 7 9 9 8

35–44 58 55 50 45 44 40 37 29 25 22 21 19 18 17 17 16 15

45–54 133 132 122 114 107 104 96 87 77 75 68 64 58 54 51 51 49

55 or older 331 342 336 325 358 369 372 320 288 269 264 260 256 250 247 243 245

Note: Excludes cancer; heart, liver, and respiratory diseases; and AIDS-related illnesses. Based on 3-year rolling averages. Labels show the most recent year only (for example, 2001–2003 is shown as 2003).

Includes deaths in private state facilities. Mortality rates are per 100,000 prisoners held in the custody of state prisons. Mortality rates are based on the annual number of deaths and a 1-day custody population

on December 31. See Methodology.

! Interpret with caution. Estimate is based on 10 or fewer cases. See Interpreting rates among small populations in Methodology.

Excludes persons of Hispanic origin (e.g., “white” refers to non-Hispanic whites and “black” refers to non-Hispanic blacks).

Includes Asians, Native Hawaiians, and Other Pacic Islanders.

Includes persons of two or more races and other races.

Inmates, 2016.

Mortality in State and Federal Prisons, 2001–2019 – Statistical Tables | December 2021

APPENDIX TABLE 8

Rate of unnatural deaths per 100,000 state prisoners within each demographic group, by decedent characteristics, 2003–2019 (3-year rolling averages)

Characteristic 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

Total 23 24 25 26 27 26 25 26 27 28 29 31 32 36 42 51 59

Sex

Male 24 25 26 27 28 27 26 26 27 29 30 32 33 37 44 53 62

Female 13 16 14 15 14 15 15 16 18 18 17 20 22 23 19 22 22

Race/ethnicity

White

37 38 40 41 43 43 44 44 46 48 50 53 57 63 71 83 93

Black

14 15 14 15 16 15 15 16 16 18 18 20 22 26 34 44 54

Hispanic 20 20 23 26 25 23 20 21 21 22 24 26 25 26 30 38 43

American Indian/

Alaska Native

19 16 20 21 29 26 25 31 35 46 42 46 46 61 69 75 66

Asian

a,b

36 41 49 47 35 42 41 51 55 53 52 49 65 61 48 52 64

Other

a,c

6 ! 7 ! 5 ! 4 ! 2 ! 2 ! 1 ! 1 ! <1 ! 0 <1 ! 1 ! 1 ! 1 ! 1 ! 1 ! 1 !

Age

17 or younger 61 ! 53 ! 57 ! 29 ! 29 ! 41 ! 40 ! 42 ! 31 ! 38 ! 23 ! 29 ! 33 ! 37 ! 0 0 0

18–24 18 18 21 22 21 18 19 19 18 19 19 22 24 31 36 41 41

25–34 24 24 23 23 23 23 22 23 23 23 24 26 29 30 35 45 53

35–44 23 24 26 29 29 27 26 27 29 30 31 30 33 38 45 52 60

45–54 26 27 28 29 32 30 30 30 32 33 32 35 36 39 44 56 66

55 or older 32 35 35 37 38 40 36 38 39 46 46 51 46 48 55 66 74

Note: Unnatural deaths include deaths caused by suicide, drug or alcohol intoxication, accident, and homicide. Based on 3-year rolling averages. Labels show the most recent year only (for example, 2001–2003

is shown as 2003). Includes deaths in private state facilities. Mortality rates are per 100,000 prisoners held in the custody of state prisons. Mortality rates are based on the annual number of deaths and a 1-day

custody population on December 31. See Methodology.

! Interpret with caution. Estimate is based on 10 or fewer cases. See Interpreting rates among small populations in Methodology.

Excludes persons of Hispanic origin (e.g., “white” refers to non-Hispanic whites and “black” refers to non-Hispanic blacks).

Includes Asians, Native Hawaiians, and Other Pacic Islanders.

Includes persons of two or more races and other races.

Inmates, 2016.

Oce of Justice Programs

Building Solutions • Supporting Communities • Advancing Justice

www.ojp.gov

e Bureau of Justice Statistics of the U.S. Department of Justice is the

principal federal agency responsible for measuring crime, criminal

victimization, criminal oenders, victims of crime, correlates of crime,

and the operation of criminal and civil justice systems at the federal, state,

tribal, and local levels. BJS collects, analyzes, and disseminates reliable

statistics on crime and justice systems in the United States, supports

improvements to state and local criminal justice information systems, and

participates with national and international organizations to develop and

recommend national standards for justice statistics. Doris J. James is the

acting director

is report was written by E. Ann Carson. Emily Buehler and Stephanie

Mueller veried the report.

David Fialko and Edrienne Su edited the report. Carrie Epps-Carey

produced the report.

December 2021, NCJ 300953