Probation and Parole in the United States, 2021

• NCJ Number: 305589
• Author(s): Danielle Kaeble
• Date Published: February 2023
• Length: 35 pages
• Agencies: BJS
• Publication Type: Publication; Statistics

Abstract

This report is the 30th in a series that began in 1981. It includes characteristics of the population such as sex, race or ethnicity, and most serious offense of adult U.S. residents under correctional supervision in the community. The report details how people move onto and off community supervision, such as completing their term of supervision, being incarcerated, absconding, or other unsatisfactory outcomes while in the community.

Highlights:

• At yearend 2021, an estimated 3,745,000 adults were under community supervision (probation or parole), down 136,600 from January 1, 2021.
• An estimated 1 in 69 adult U.S. residents were under community supervision at the end of 2021, the lowest rate since 1987.
• During 2021, the probation population decreased in 31 states and the U.S. federal system and increased in 18 states and the District of Columbia.
• The rate of adults on probation at yearend 2021 (1,143 per 100,000 adult U.S. residents) was at its lowest point in 36 years.