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Operational capacity: U.S. states ranked (2023)

Measure: Operational capacity. All 46 states with data in Prison capacity and crowding by state, ranked from highest to lowest. Reference period: 2023.

Licence
Public domain (U.S. federal government work).
Data last updated
2026-11-03
Download full table CSVSource: U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics (opens in a new tab)
Washington: 12,892Idaho: 8,253Montana: 1,873North Dakota: 1,509Minnesota: 9,504Michigan: 34,462Ohio: not in this tablePennsylvania: 42,607New York: 43,125Vermont: 1,540New Hampshire: 2,760Maine: 2,636Arizona: 44,209California: 106,210New Mexico: 4,582Texas: 127,522Louisiana: 16,344Mississippi: 13,249Alabama: 22,026Florida: 66,158Georgia: 49,907South Carolina: 19,676North Carolina: 31,055Virginia: 24,590District of Columbia: not in this tableMaryland: 18,769Delaware: 5,566New Jersey: 13,952Connecticut: not in this tableRhode Island: 3,743Massachusetts: 9,518Oregon: 13,848Utah: 6,820Wyoming: 2,070Nevada: 12,332Colorado: 13,795South Dakota: 4,002Nebraska: 5,074Kansas: 8,964Oklahoma: 20,008Iowa: 7,700Missouri: not in this tableWisconsin: 22,295Illinois: 42,189Kentucky: 12,796Arkansas: 16,330Tennessee: 13,959West Virginia: 6,236Indiana: 26,209Alaska: not in this tableHawaii: 3,527

Small states, hard to see on the map:

  • Lowest: 1,509 to 4,582
  • Group 2: 4,582 to 9,518
  • Group 3: 9,518 to 16,330
  • Group 4: 16,330 to 31,055
  • Highest: 31,055 to 127,522
The map is a visual summary; every value is in the table below, which is the keyboard and screen-reader path. Groups are quintiles of the values shown (a derived grouping). Boundaries: Natural Earth (public domain), simplified. Alaska and Hawaii are shown as insets, not to scale.

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

1Texas127,522
2California106,210
3Florida66,158
4Georgia49,907
5Arizona44,209
6New York43,125
7Pennsylvania42,607
8Illinois42,189
9Michigan34,462
10North Carolina31,055
11Indiana26,209
12Virginia24,590
13Wisconsin22,295
14Alabama22,026
15Oklahoma20,008
16South Carolina19,676
17Maryland18,769
18Louisiana16,344
19Arkansas16,330
20Tennessee13,959
21New Jersey13,952
22Oregon13,848
23Colorado13,795
24Mississippi13,249
25Washington12,892
26Kentucky12,796
27Nevada12,332
28Massachusetts9,518
29Minnesota9,504
30Kansas8,964
31Idaho8,253
32Iowa7,700
33Utah6,820
34West Virginia6,236
35Delaware5,566
36Nebraska5,074
37New Mexico4,582
38South Dakota4,002
39Rhode Island3,743
40Hawaii3,527
41New Hampshire2,760
42Maine2,636
43Wyoming2,070
44Montana1,873
45Vermont1,540
46North Dakota1,509

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

Cite this ranking

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

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