Measuring the cost of incarceration is difficult, because costs are both direct and indirect. The average estimate of the three sources below was $378.96 Billion, but their methods differed significantly.
| Datapoint | Source | Value | Type | Year | | Total Spending | Who Pays? The True Cost of Incarceration on Families | $80 Billion | Federal and State Spending | 2015 | | Full Cost | The Economic Burden of Incarceration in the U.S. | $1.014 Trillion | Study | 2016 | | State Spending | 2015 Estimate of spending on incarceration | $42.89 Billion | Survey | 2016 |
In the paper The Economic Burden of Incarceration in the U.S., researchers argue that the cost of operating correctional institutions only represents 9% of the full social cost of Incarceration. Their estimate of $1.014 Trillion in total costs is 52% borne by families, children, and communities, and 39% borne by the prisoners themselves. The two tables below illustrate the latter two categories of costs.
| Cost | $ (Billions) | | Reduction in lifetime earnings of incarcerated persons | 230.0 | | Lost wages while incarcerated | 70.5 | | Higher mortality rate of formerly incarcerated persons | 62.6 | | Nonfatal injuries to incarcerated persons | 28.0 | | Fatal injuries to incarcerated persons | 1.7 | Total | 392.6 |
| Cost | $ (Billions) | | Criminogenic nature of prison | 285.8 | | Increased criminality of children of incarcerated parents | 130.6 | | Children's education level and subsequent wages as an adult | 30.0 | | Marginal excess burden | 17.8 | | Divorce | 17.7 | | Decreased property values | 11.0 | | Adverse health effects | 10.2 | | Reduced marriage | 9.0 | | Child welfare | 5.3 | | Interest on criminal justice debt | 5.0 | | Reentry programs, nonprofits, movement to end mass incarceration | 2.9 | | Homelessness of formerly incarcerated persons | 2.2 | | Infant mortality | 1.2 | | Children rendered homeless by parental incarceration | 0.9 | | Visitation costs | 0.8 | | Moving costs | 0.5 | | Eviction costs | 0.2 | | Total | 531.0 |
In the 2015 report Who Pays? The True Cost of Incarceration on Families, Saneta deVuono-powell, Chris Schweidler, Alicia Walters, and Azadeh Zohrabi published a widely cited estimate suggesting that the cost of incarceration to the US Economy was $80 Billion a year.
- The research included surveys with 712 formerly incarcerated people, 368 family members of the formerly incarcerated, 27 employers, and 34 focus groups with family members and individuals impacted by incarceration.
- Nearly 2 in 3 families (65%) with an incarcerated member were unable to meet their family’s basic needs. More than half of those entering the criminal justice system live at or below the poverty line ($11,770 per year annual income) when sentenced and over two-thirds of those in jail reported incomes of less than $12,000 per year.
In their 2015 Estimate of spending on incarceration, The Vera Institute conducted a survey of state prison expenditures. It contains the following findings:
- 45 States spent $42.89 Billion on incarceration in 2015.
- California alone spent $8 Billion.
- Alaska, California, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, and Vermont had a cost per inmate above $50,000.