§ 01 — The Dashboard
One hundred forty-two thousand
six hundred ninety-two people.
Every figure below comes from the full Michigan public-record mirror — 142,592 individuals, 520,719 sentences. Counts are real; names are not.
Total people in system
142,592
Complete MDOC database, 1960s – present
Currently incarcerated
30,147
21.1% · cf. 33,000 state capacity
Total sentences recorded
522,415
3.7 per person, on average
Michigan counties covered
83
All 83. Data is statewide.
Race — system vs. Michigan population
Incarcerated share vs. 2020 Census share of the state
Dashed line = share of Michigan's general population. Fill = share of the system.
Current status
Where the 142,592 are today
Discharged40.1%57,102
Probationer23.1%32,884
Prisoner21.2%30,147
Absconder (Prob.)7.5%10,632
Parolee6.1%8,731
Other1.6%2,330
Absconder (Parole)0.5%650
Top fifteen offenses
Across 520,719 sentences · color by category
WeaponDrugViolentPropertyDUI
How cases resolve
Plea bargains account for three in four
Plea74.7%390,072
Nolo Contendere13.1%68,569
Jury Trial9.0%46,788
Bench Trial1.6%8,528
Unknown1.4%7,427
Other0.2%1,031
Sentencing volume by decade
Sentences issued per decade · the modern surge
Age distribution — today
Current age of people in the system
4,676
33,801
43,387
30,139
19,611
10,946
18–24
25–34
35–44
45–54
55–64
65+
Minimum sentences
261,120 prison sentences · how long people must serve
8,613
142,812
33,622
32,089
22,780
13,529
10,151
0–1 yr
1–3 yr
3–5 yr
5–10 yr
10–20 yr
20–40 yr
Life/40+
Maximum sentences
The upper bound the system can hold
55,232
227,933
84,303
69,958
49,671
33,051
0–2 yr
2–5 yr
5–10 yr
10–20 yr
20–40 yr
Life/40+
The geography of a sentence
Where in Michigan a case originates — heat and circle area = sentence volume
Counties — by volume
Wayne (Detroit) alone is 23.8% of all sentences
Race, by county — the disparity is not uniform
Bars show racial composition of sentences. Dashed line = that county's Black share of residents.
blackwhiteHispanic / LatinonativeotherCounty census baseline (Black)
Wayne
124,366 sentences
77.9%
Black · base 38.1%
Oakland
51,997 sentences
55.7%
Black · base 15.4%
Macomb
35,517 sentences
47%
Black · base 14.7%
Genesee
28,671 sentences
56.2%
Black · base 21.8%
Kent
26,441 sentences
51.7%
Black · base 10.3%
Saginaw
19,179 sentences
60.8%
Black · base 19.2%
Muskegon
13,772 sentences
53.9%
Black · base 13.2%
Washtenaw
12,396 sentences
63%
Black · base 12.4%
Kalamazoo
11,959 sentences
54.7%
Black · base 12%
Berrien
10,188 sentences
54.7%
Black · base 14.9%
Ingham
10,094 sentences
53.9%
Black · base 11.5%
St. Clair
9,967 sentences
23.9%
Black · base 2.5%
In every top-12 county, the Black share of sentences exceeds the Black share of the county's residents — often by 2–3×. Click a row to focus.
Largest facilities
Current prisoner head-counts across the state's 30 prisons