Recidivism Rate by State

The recidivism rates in Alabama are 28.7%, ranking the state ninth in the country. It has one of the lowest recidivism rates in the country despite facing an important prison crisis, with a prison homicide rate ten times the national average. Overall the state of Alabama has seen the number of people imprisoned increase by 179% between 1983 to 2015.

The recidivism rates in Alaska are 62.6%, the highest in the United States. It is ranked forty-second out of all the 50 states. The high rate of recidivism has driven state officials to attempt to correct this with legislation, such as Senate Bill 91, and the late 2017 Senate Bill 54, which put pre-trial risk assessments in place.

Recidivism rates in Arizona are 36.3%. The state ranks twentieth out of the other 50 states and Arizona defines recidivism as returning to prison within three years of release. To reduce recidivism rates, state officials have passed legislation such as HB 2067, which allows people who have been convicted of certain criminal offenses to seek a Certificate of Second Chance. It provides them with better employment and housing opportunities.

Recidivism rates in Arkansas are relatively high at 47.5%, as they count re-arrests within a three-year period, while most other states do not. Arkansas has a relatively high recidivism rate in comparison to other states: it is ranked thirty-seventh. In 2022, the Arkansas Department of Corrections put forward a proposal, “A Roadmap to Reform”, on how to tackle recidivism in the state. It included providing and improving education in state penitentiaries as levels of recidivism decrease with higher levels of education.

Colorado has consistently been ranked as having one of the highest recidivism rates in the US at 44.9% ranking thirty-fourth. Colorado’s government has sought to amend recidivism by providing inmates with paid jobs to prepare them for life outside prison walls.

Ranking thirty-eighth compared to the rest of the country, recidivism rates in Connecticut are at 49%.

Recidivism rates in Delaware are 60.2%, ranking the state forty-first in the country. Efforts have been taken in 2021 and 2022 to reform the criminal justice system within the state, with the hopes of lowering the rate at which criminals return to prison after being released.

Recidivism rates in Florida are 25.4%, the state ranks sixth and holds one of the lowest percentages in the United States.

The recidivism rates in Idaho among criminal offenders is lower than average, the state is ranked twentieth with a recidivism rate of 36.3%. Idaho has one of the lowest rates in the country but some of the highest incarceration rates.

The recidivism rates in Illinois are 38.5% ranking the state twenty-fifth in the country. A report published in 2018 showed that recidivism within the state would cost taxpayers more than $13 billion dollars by the year 2023.

Recidivism rates in Indiana are 38.2% ranking the state twenty-fourth. In 2022, the state government proposed legislation that sought to reduce the recidivism rate among juvenile offenders. The legislation aimed at offering juvenile offenders certain types of counseling for mental health and behavioral issues.

Recidivism rates in Iowa are 38.7% and have fallen below the national average as of 2021, in part thanks to the Recidivism Reduction Act. The state ranks twenty-seventh.

Recidivism rates in Kansas are 34.7%, ranking the state eighteenth in comparison to the rest of the country. To fight recidivism, the state formed a specific commission in 2020 whose goal was to review criminal sentences in order to ensure that they were proportionate to the crime committed. In 2016, the state government enacted a law that helped to reduce the recidivism rate among juvenile offenders.

Higher than average, recidivism rates in Kentucky are 46.4% ranking the state thirty-fifth in the country. In 2011, the state government enacted reforms to its criminal justice system in hopes of cutting both the recidivism rates and the costs associated with it.

Recidivism rates in Louisiana are remarkably low at 29.6%, placing the state eleventh out of 50.

Maine has one of the lowest recidivism rates in the country with a recidivism rate of 26.3%, the state ranks seventh.

Recidivism rates in Maryland are relatively low, it has a rate of 40.5% and ranks twenty-eighth in the country. In 2022, a bill sponsored by the state government was intended to reduce recidivism rates in Baltimore, Maryland, by funneling defendants into an opportunity for job training in certain instances, such as a condition of their parole.

Ranked sixteenth in the country, recidivism rates in Massachusetts at 33% are among one of the lowest along the East Coast. The state sees 33% of individuals going back to criminal activity. In 2018, the state government passed a criminal justice reform bill, which was designed to eliminate certain types of mandatory minimum sentencing, heavily restrict the implementation of solitary confinement, and reduce the state's recidivism rate.

Recidivism rates in Michigan are one of the lowest at 26.6%, ranking the state eighth in the country.

Ranking fifth in the country, recidivism rates in Minnesota at 25% are one of the lowest recidivism rates across the entire United States. In 2021, state officials issued an executive order that was aimed at reducing the recidivism rate in the state.

Recidivism rates in Mississippi are 36.8%, ranking the state twenty-first in the U.S. The state legislature signed a bill in 2022 with the intent of repealing a law that formed a non-profit organization called the Mississippi Prison Industries Corporation (MPIC). The organization was created to reduce the recidivism rate among prisoners, but it was managed so poorly that it had a less than 1% participation rate and failed to collect data to demonstrate the organization's effect on recidivism.

Recidivism rates in Missouri are 37.2% and ranking the state twenty-second in the country. A unique way that the state is attempting to reduce recidivism within the state is by enacting legislation that will create nurseries within the Missouri Department of Corrections. These nurseries would allow mothers to be with their children born behind bars for a maximum of eighteen months.

In spite of having one of the smallest prison populations in the country, recidivism rates in Montana are relatively high at 38.6%, ranking the state twenty-sixth in the country.

The recidivism rate in Nebraska is 30.2% ranking the state twelfth. To reduce recidivism rates, government officials passed a bill in 2022 to test whether or not its rehabilitation programs would be effective.

Recidivism rates in Nevada are one of the lowest in the country at 24.6% and the state is ranked fourth out of the other 50 states.

While New Hampshire has the smallest probation population in the country, its recidivism rates are 41.5% which is above the national average. The state ranks thirtieth.

Although New Jersey has a prison population that is higher than average, recidivism rates in the state at 30.4% are the thirteenth lowest in the country.

Recidivism rates in New Mexico are at 49.1%, ranking the state thirty-ninth in the U.S.

Recidivism rates in New York are at 43%, ranking the state thirty-first in the country 31. In 2021, the state government signed a series of new legislation in an attempt to apply reforms to New York state's criminal justice system. One piece of that legislation, which gives prisoners certificates for good behavior when they're granted an early discharge, is aimed at reducing the state's high recidivism rate.

In addition to having the second-lowest prison population of any state, recidivism rates in North Dakota are at 41.2%, ranking the state twenty-ninth in the country. North Dakota also has some of the lowest probation and parole rates in the United States.

Ranked fifteenth in the country, recidivism rates in Ohio are at 32.7%. A bill was introduced in 2022 to help mitigate the chances that released criminals who served their jail sentences would become repeat offenders. One of the bill's top priorities is the rehabilitation of prisoners.

Recidivism rates in Oklahoma are the second lowest in the United States at 22.6%. In 2022, the state government implemented a prison reform bill that explicitly targets recidivism within the state and seeks to reduce the rate at which criminals become second-time offenders.

Along with having the highest overall population of people on parole, recidivism rates in Pennsylvania are at 47.1%, one of the nation’s highest rates. The state ranks thirty-sixth in the country. The state government has attempted to counter recidivism by instituting the Recidivism Risk Reduction Incentive (RRRI), which incentivizes good behavior in exchange for early release and completing programs that aid inmates in transitioning back into society.

With a recidivism rate in Rhode Island of 50%, the state has one of the highest recidivism rates in the United States. Rhode Island is ranked fortieth compared to other states. In 2017, the state government signed into law the Justice Reinvestment Act, which aims, in part, to reduce recidivism by providing routes for rehabilitation.

Recidivism rates in South Carolina are at 21% which is the lowest of any state within the U.S.

Recidivism rates in South Dakota are at 44%, ranking the state thirty-third in the country.

Recidivism rates in Vermont are at 43.8%, ranking the state thirty-second in the U.S.

Recidivism rates in Virginia are at 23.3% which is the third lowest in the U.S. In 2022, the state government made an amendment to a previously passed law that would have dramatically reduced prison sentences for inmates who demonstrated good behavior.

Recidivism rates in Washington are at 30.7% and ranking the state fourteenth in the country. A 2021 state bill, intended to expand Washington state's graduated reentry program, would grant inmates the opportunity to finish the final segment of the reentry program at home under electronic surveillance.

Recidivism rates in West Virginia are at 29.3%, ranking the state tenth in the country. In 2013, the state of West Virginia passed the Justice Reinvestment Act which requires the state to annually invest in different rehabilitation services for inmates to reduce the state's level of recidivism.

The recidivism rates in Wisconsin are at 38.1%, ranking the state twenty-third compared to the other states.

Recidivism rates in Wyoming are at 33.8% ranking the state seventeenth in the country. In 2019, the state governor signed the Justice Reinvestment Legislation to decrease the rates of recidivism in the state by at least 25% as soon as 2024.