Among adult residents in 2001, an estimated 1.7% of black females, 0.7% of Hispanic females and 0.3% of white females had ever been incarcerated in a prison.

Among both men and women who had ever been confined in prison in 2001, blacks outnumbered whites in each age category under age 45; whites outnumbered blacks in nearly every age category 45 or older (table 6). The percentage of blacks declined steadily among each older age group (dropping from 44% among those ages 18 to 24 to 29% among persons 65 or older). The percentage of Hispanics also declined among older age groups (dropping from 24% among those ages 18 to 24 to 8% among those age 65 or older). In contrast, at yearend 2001 the percentage white among all adults ever incarcerated increased from 27% of those ages 18 to 24 to 52% among persons age 65 or older.

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Table 6. Number ever incarcerated in a State or Federal prison, by
gender, race, Hispanic origin, and age, 2001
Number of adults ever incarcerated in a State or Federal prison,
by age--
18-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65 or
older
Gender
Male 385,000 1,157,000 1,460,000 1,014,000 492,000 529,000
Female 24,000 129,000 205,000 118,000 47,000 59,000
Race/Hispanic origin
White* 112,000 391,000 628,000 497,000 271,000 304,000
Male 104,000 351,000 555,000 452,000 248,000 269,000
Female 8,000 41,000 73,000 45,000 23,000 35,000
Black* 181,000 567,000 681,000 406,000 162,000 169,000
Male 172,000 509,000 597,000 361,000 146,000 151,000
Female 9,000 58,000 84,000 45,000 16,000 18,000
Hispanic 99,000 295,000 309,000 181,000 69,000 46,000
Male 93,000 271,000 279,000 165,000 63,000 41,000
Female 6,000 24,000 3,0000 16,000 6,000 5,000
Note: Estimates were rounded to the nearest 1,000. See Methodology for estimation procedures."
*Excludes persons of Hispanic origin.
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Regardless of gender, race or Hispanic origin, prevalence rates highest among persons age 35 to 44

Although there was wide variation by race, Hispanic origin, and gender, within each subgroup, persons ages 35 to 44 had the highest percents ever incarcerated in 2001. Among men, the percent ever incarcerated rose for each age group to a peak of 6.5% of those ages 35 to 44 and then declined to 3.1% of those age 65 or older (table 7).

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Table 7. Percent of adult population ever incarcerated in a State or
Federal prison, by gender, race, Hispanic origin, ang age, 2001
Percent of adult population ever incarcerated in a State
or Federal prison, by age--"
18-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65 or older
Gender
Male 2.7% 6.0% 6.5% 5.3% 4.0% 3.1%
Female 0.2 0.7 0.9 0.6 0.3 0.2
Race/Hispanic origin
White* 0.6% 1.6% 2.0% 1.7% 1.4% 1.1%
Male 1.1 2.8 3.5 3.1 2.5 2.0
Female 0.1 0.3 0.5 0.3 0.2 0.2
Black* 4.4% 10.9% 12.1% 9.5% 6.7% 5.9%
Male 8.5 20.4 22.0 17.7 13.0 11.6
Female 0.4 2.1 2.8 1.9 1.1 0.9
Hispanic 2.2% 5.1% 5.8% 5.2% 3.6% 2.2%
Male 4.0 9.0 10.0 9.5 6.6 4.1
Female 0.3 0.8 1.1 0.9 0.6 0.3
Note: Percents were based on intercensal resident population
estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau. See Methodology for data
sources.
*Excludes persons of Hispanic origin.
U.S. adult resident population, 2001
18-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65 or
older
Gender
Male 14,417,325 8,939,186 22,389,203 19,117,478 12,022,028 14,607,040
Female 13,795,256 19,089,714 22,555,935 19,879,361 13,119,592 20,275,786
Race/Hispanic origin
White* 18,303,498 24,885,780 31,782,158 29,517,823 19,800,209 28,884,741
Male 9,375,574 12,489,397 15,944,122 14,647,562 9,615,049 12,145,733
Female 8,927,925 12,396,383 15,838,036 14,870,261 10,185,160 16,739,009
Black* 4,076,908 5,196,820 5,624,914 4,297,967 2,409,671 2,860,327
Male 2,008,858 2,472,112 2,666,839 1,963,452 1,043,119 1,133,328
Female 2,068,051 2,724,708 2,958,076 2,334,515 1,366,552 1,726,999
Hispanic 4,394,592 5,737,009 5,334091 3,448,416 1,936,521 2,098,875
Male 2,299,849 2,940,171 2,734938 1,696,233 896,361 885,418
Female 2,094,743 2,796,838 2,599153 1,752,183 1,040,160 1,213,457
Note: Because of estimation and other rounding procedures, some
detail may not add to totals and may not match precisely totals
in other tables.
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There was a similar pattern among women, though the percents were lower than for men. An estimated 0.9% of women ages 35 to 44 had ever been in prison, compared to 0.2% for women ages 18 to 24 and age 65 or older.

When rates were estimated separately by race and Hispanic origin, the variations among age groups remained unchanged. In every gender and racial/ethnic group in 2001, the percent of ever having been incarcerated was lowest among the youngest group (those ages 18 to 24)and the oldest age group (age 65 or older).

Among persons ages 35 to 44, more than 22.0% of black males had ever been incarcerated in prison, over twice as high as Hispanic males (10.0%), and over 6 times higher than white males (3.5%). In this same age group, black women (2.8%) were over twice as likely as Hispanic women (1.1%), and nearly 6 times as likely as white women (0.5%) to have been in prison.

Impact of rising first incarceration rate varies by birth cohort