HELP US END MASS INCARCERATION The Prison Policy Initiative uses research, advocacy, and organizing to dismantle mass incarceration. We’ve been in this movement for 22 years, thanks to individual donors like you.

Can you help us sustain this work?

Thank you,
Peter Wagner, Executive Director Donate

Mass Incarceration, COVID-19, and Community Spread

by Gregory Hooks and Wendy Sawyer
December 2020


Appendix Table 1: Impact of mass incarceration on all 50 states and the District of Columbia, by additional COVID-19 confirmed cases (May 1 - August 1)

State Net additional cases Total populationNet additional cases per 100,000 residents
California 113,968.7 39,148,760291.1
Florida 92,981.0 20,598,140 451.4
Texas 55,016.6 27,885,196 197.3
Illinois 47,298.3 12,821,497 368.9
New York 38,915.3 19,618,452 198.4
New Jersey 25,139.2 8,881,845 283
Georgia 24,951.1 10,297,484 242.3
Pennsylvania 20,166.3 12,791,181 157.7
North Carolina 13,277.2 10,155,624 130.7
Maryland 12,513.2 6,003,435 208.4
Virginia 12,040.3 8,413,774 143.1
Louisiana 10,684.6 4,663,616 229.1
Ohio 9,582.8 11,641,879 82.3
Arizona 8,754.8 6,946,685 126
Tennessee 7,866.5 6,651,089 118.3
South Carolina 7,716.4 4,955,925 155.7
Indiana 6,879.4 6,637,426 103.6
Alabama 6,721.5 4,864,680 138.6
Massachusetts 6,681.8 6,830,193 97.8
Connecticut 6,583.0 3,581,504 183.8
Michigan 4,787.3 9,957,488 48
Mississippi 4,545.3 2,988,762 152.8
Washington, DC 3,607.1 684,498 526.9
Wisconsin 3,454.1 5,778,394 59.8
Missouri 3,381.2 6,090,062 55.5
Delaware 3,180.2 949,495 334.9
Washington 2,633.7 7,294,336 36.1
Kentucky 2,455.2 4,440,204 55.3
Arkansas 1,590.6 2,990,671 53.2
Oklahoma 1,589.2 3,918,137 40.6
Minnesota 1,310.3 5,527,358 23.7
Colorado 1,078.2 5,531,141 19.5
Rhode Island 932.0 1,056,611 88.2
Oregon 930.9 4,081,943 22.8
Iowa 875.4 3,132,499 27.9
Kansas 645.8 2,908,776 22.2
West Virginia 469.9 1,829,054 25.7
New Hampshire 332.7 1,343,622 24.8
New Mexico 311.0 2,092,434 14.9
Utah 292.1 3,045,350 9.6
Nebraska 192.5 1,904,760 10.1
Idaho 165.9 1,687,809 9.8
Nevada 165.7 2,922,849 5.7
South Dakota 37.3 849,954 4.4
Maine 22.6 1,332,813 1.7
Wyoming 21.9 581,836 3.8
Vermont 20.0 624,977 3.2
Hawaii 18.9 1,422,029 1.3
North Dakota 9.9 752,201 1.3
Montana 8.1 1,041,732 0.8
Alaska 1.5 730,318 0.2

For details about the data sources and methodology, see Mass Incarceration, COVID-19, and Community Spread: Methodological Appendix [PDF] by Gregory Hooks.



Stay Informed


Get the latest updates:



Share on 𝕏 Donate