Private Prisons in the US

"• At year-end 2019, privately operated facilities held an estimated 116,000 prisoners, which was about 7% (88,500) of all state prisoners and 16% (27,400) of all federal prisoners (table 18).

"• The number of state prisoners held in privately operated facilities decreased by 2% from 2018 to 2019, while the number of federal prisoners in private facilities decreased by 1%.

"• Five states housed more than 20% of their prison population in privately operated facilities at year-end 2019: Montana (47%), New Mexico (36%), Tennessee (29%), Oklahoma (25%), and Hawaii (24%).

"• Eighteen states that reported data to the NPS did not hold prisoners in privately operated facilities at yearend 2019.

"• California held 1,100 prisoners in private prisons at year-end 2019, down from 4,000 at year-end 2018 after ending contracts with private out-of-state providers and returning prisoners to state-operated facilities."