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Illinois has an incarceration rate of 433 per 100,000 people (including prisons, jails, immigration detention, and juvenile justice facilities), meaning that it locks up a higher percentage of its people than almost any democratic country on earth. Read on to learn more about who is incarcerated in Illinois and why.

53,000 people from Illinois are behind bars

Additionally, the number of people impacted by county and city jails in Illinois is much larger than the graph above would suggest, because people cycle through local jails relatively quickly. Each year, at least 173,000 different people are booked into local jails in Illinois.

Rates of imprisonment have grown dramatically in the last 40 years

Also see these Illinois graphs:

• total numbers rather than rates.
• Women’s prisons: Incarceration Rates | Total Population
• Men’s prisons: Incarceration Rates | Total Population

Today, Illinois’s incarceration rates stand out internationally

In the U.S., incarceration extends beyond prisons and local jails to include other systems of confinement. The U.S. and state incarceration rates in this graph include people held by these other parts of the justice system, so they may be slightly higher than the commonly reported incarceration rates that only include prisons and jails. Details on the data are available in States of Incarceration: The Global Context. We also have a version of this graph focusing on the incarceration of women.

People of color are overrepresented in prisons and jails

Illinois's criminal justice system is more than just its prisons and jails

See detailed data on incarceration and supervision numbers and rates by state.

Reports and briefings about Illinois's criminal legal system:

Filter to show Most recent All Big picture Communication Exploitation Health Jails & bail Parole and probation Poverty Prison gerrymandering Racial justice Women, gender, & families

• People on probation in Illinois are saddled with onerous rules and conditions they must follow every day or risk incarceration.
• Prisons in Illinois have tablets, but they may be being used to restrict incarcerated people’s access to books and sap them of the little money they have.
• With an incarceration rate of 433 per 100,000 residents, Illinois locks up a higher percentage of its people than almost any democratic country on earth.
• Prisons in Illinois force incarcerated people and their families — some of the most vulnerable members of society — to subsidize mass incarceration.
• 77% of people in Illinois jails have not been convicted of a crime, meaning they're legally innocent. There are simple steps the state can take to reduce this number. Why isn't it?
• Illinois releases roughly 219,818 men and 58,038 women from its prisons and jails each year. What is it doing to support them upon reentry?
• The prison construction woes of Thomson Prison in Illinois should serve as a warning to other states around the nation.
• People on parole in Illinois can be sent back to prison for "associating" with anyone else on supervision — even loved ones who are trying to support them
• Illinois is expanding pretrial electronic monitoring, a flawed, untested and invasive technology, to 70 counties
• Black people in Illinois are incarcerated at a rate 7.5 times higher than white people.
• The cost of incarcerating older people is incredibly high, and their risk of reincarceration is incredibly low, yet 12% of people in Illinois prisons are over the age of 55. Why is the state keeping so many older people locked up?
• Data from Cook County and other jurisdictions shows: Releasing people pretrial doesn't harm public safety
• Illinois makes it difficult or even risky for incarcerated journalists to tell their stories.
• Detailed Illinois data show that hundreds of people in shadowy "civil commitment" facilities are being held past their sentences and subjected to psychologically damaging treatment
• In Illinois, 53,000 people are incarcerated and another 106,000 are on probation or parole.
• Illinois charges up to 15¢ for an e-message to or from prison.
• Illinois passed a caregiver mitigation and diversion law that allows primary caregivers to submit a Family Impact Statement at sentencing — which could allow them to remain in the community.
• Jails in Illinois charge up to $3.15 for a 15-minute phone call, reaping profits for companies, while prisons charge 15¢ for a 15-minute call.
• Illinois has two jail-based polling locations — in Cook County and Will county — that enable people detained in the facilities to cast ballots in elections
• In some Illinois prisons, incarcerated people are forced to drink and breathe contaminants
• Illinois is one of the handful of states that does not charge medical copays in prisons.
• People in Illinois prisons who have more than $5 in their commissary account likely do not qualify for assistance to purchase essentials like hygiene products and postage.
• Illinois prisons charge families up to a 35% fee to transfer money to an incarcerated loved one.
• We gave Illinois a "D" grade in September 2021 for its response to the coronavirus in prisons.
• In February 2021, Illinois passed a law ending prison gerrymandering.
• How many COVID-19 cases in Illinois communities can be linked to outbreaks in correctional facilities? (data from our report Mass Incarceration, COVID-19, and Community Spread)
• We graded the parole release systems of all 50 states - Illinois gets an F-
• New data: Low incomes — but high fees — for people on probation in Illinois
• The Company Store: A deeper look at prison commissaries in Illinois
• Illinois incarcerates women at a rate of 78 per 100,000 residents — higher than almost any democratic country on earth.
• People in Illinois prisons earn as little as 9¢ an hour for their work.
• Importing Constituents: Prisoners and Political Clout in Illinois

Other resources

• Research on Illinois in our Research Library