Every year the median US state spends $64,865 per incarcerated person, but state spending on prisoners across the nation actually ranges from as little as $23,000 to as much as $307,468.

Using 2021 data from the Census Bureau, USAFacts mapped the amount of money each state spends per imprisoned person every year. The figures are in inflation-adjusted 2023 dollars.

While Southern states allocate the least money to prison inmates, they have some of the highest incarceration rates in the US. Mississippi, for example, spends less than $24,000 per prisoner, but has 859 sentenced prisoners under state or federal jurisdiction per 100,000 adults, as of 2022.

Massachusetts is home to the highest expenditure by far, with around $307,500 allocated for every incarcerated person — that's more than double the amount spent by any other state.

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Via USAFacts.