Louisiana's incarceration rate is 5 times that of Iran

At this point it's nearly common knowledge that the United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world, at 716 prisoners per 100,000 residents. But how does that break down by state? The Prison Policy Initiative has constructed a handy chart that breaks it down in comparison with other nations around the world. Here are the biggest offenders (click to enlarge):

Just out of curiosity, I compared Iran to Louisiana, our worst prison state at 1,341 prisoners per 100,000 people. The result: Louisiana imprisons 4.72 times as many people per capita as Iran (at 284). Indeed, Iran is actually closer to the U.K. and France than to us. Our peer nations in mass incarceration are places like Rwanda, Russia, and El Salvador.

Click here to see the rest of the report, and see where your state lands.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
Ryan Cooper

Ryan Cooper is a national correspondent at TheWeek.com. His work has appeared in the Washington Monthly, The New Republic, and the Washington Post.