Racial and ethnic gaps shrink in U.S. the population Sentenced federal and state prisoners by race and Hispanic origin, 2007-2017
Blacks have long outnumbered whites in U.S. prisons. But a significant decline in the number of black prisoners has steadily narrowed the gap over the past decade, according to new data from the Bureau of Justice Statistics.
At the end of 2017, federal and state prisons in the United States held about 475,900 inmates who were black and 436,500 who were white – a difference of 39,400, according to BJS. Ten years earlier, there were 592,900 black and 499,800 white prisoners – a difference of 93,100. (This analysis counts only inmates sentenced to more than a year.) The decline in the black-white gap between 2007 and 2017 was driven by a 20% decrease in the number of black inmates, which outpaced a 13% decrease in the number of white inmates.
The gap between white and Hispanic imprisonment also narrowed between 2007 and 2017, but not because of a decrease in Hispanic prisoners. Instead, the number of white prisoners fell while the number of Hispanic inmates increased slightly. At the end of 2017, there were 100,000 more white inmates than Hispanic inmates (436,500 vs. 336,500), down from an inmate difference of 169,400 in 2007 (499,800 white inmates vs. 330,400 Hispanic inmates).
Racial and ethnic gaps shrink in U.S.  | the population  | Sentenced federal and state prisoners by race  | and Hispanic origin, 2007-2017  | 592,900  | Black  | 499,800  | 475,900  | White  | 436,500  | 336,500  | 330,400  | Hispanic  | '07  | '09  | 11  | '13  | '15  | '17  | Note: Whites and blacks include those who report being only  | one race and ware non-Hispanic. Hispanics are of any race  | Prison population is defined was inmates sentenced to more  | than a year in federal or state prison.  | Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics.  | PEW RESEARCH CENTER 