Since 2017, the United States has more than doubled its spending on mass incarceration and criminalization, despite a decline in both incarceration rates and correctional staff. This new Prison Policy Initiative report reveals who reaps the benefits and who bears the burden of this spending.
Of the $445 billion spent annually, only $34.3 billion goes towards direct costs for the care and legal representation of people who are incarcerated: $7.9 billion for public defense, $14.6 billion for healthcare, $3.2 billion for food, $5.9 billion for construction, and $2.7 billion for utilities. That is less than 8 percent of total spending, and only 16 percent of the policing budget alone. The overwhelming majority of spending flows to those who run the system, with nearly half of correctional spending going to staff salaries.
Most concerning, the families of people who are incarcerated pay an estimated $27.7 billion annually through fines and fees, bail premiums, and commissary and communication costs. These costs often exceed what families can afford, yet commissary and phone vendors represent a larger industry than private prisons.
By comprehensively mapping the financial flows of mass incarceration across all government levels, this report provides advocates and policymakers with the data needed to challenge existing policy priorities. It clarifies that meaningful reform requires not only addressing private companies’ profits from mass incarceration, but the much larger public investments and interests that sustain the current system.
Key Findings
- Fines and fees account for $15.1 billion paid into the prison system every year.
- Private prisons represent $3.1 billion of total spending, less than one percent of the $445 billion.
- At 57 percent, state government spending makes up the majority of corrections costs, but local governments make up close to a third.
- Commissary and phone vendors represent a larger industry than private prisons.
Read the full report here.