§ 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
29,673
20.8% · cf. 33,000 state capacity
Total sentences recorded
521,554
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
Discharged38.1%54,279
Probationer23.9%34,013
Prisoner20.8%29,673
Absconder (Prob.)7.5%10,695
Parolee7.6%10,854
Other1.6%2,251
Absconder (Parole)0.5%714
Top fifteen offenses
Across 520,719 sentences · color by category
WeaponDrugViolentPropertyDUI
How cases resolve
Plea bargains account for three in four
Plea74.7%389,439
Nolo Contendere13.1%68,363
Jury Trial9.0%46,769
Bench Trial1.6%8,524
Unknown1.4%7,430
Other0.2%1,029
Sentencing volume by decade
Sentences issued per decade · the modern surge
Age distribution — today
Current age of people in the system
4,848
34,200
43,246
29,968
19,493
10,802
18–24
25–34
35–44
45–54
55–64
65+
Minimum sentences
261,120 prison sentences · how long people must serve
8,622
142,408
33,537
32,040
22,763
13,529
10,148
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
55,284
227,516
84,121
69,771
49,560
33,035
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
124,238 sentences
77.9%
Black · base 38.1%
Oakland
51,903 sentences
55.6%
Black · base 15.4%
Macomb
35,452 sentences
47%
Black · base 14.7%
Genesee
28,565 sentences
56.3%
Black · base 21.8%
Kent
26,419 sentences
51.7%
Black · base 10.3%
Saginaw
19,123 sentences
60.8%
Black · base 19.2%
Muskegon
13,752 sentences
53.9%
Black · base 13.2%
Washtenaw
12,375 sentences
63%
Black · base 12.4%
Kalamazoo
11,942 sentences
54.7%
Black · base 12%
Berrien
10,177 sentences
54.7%
Black · base 14.9%
Ingham
10,070 sentences
53.9%
Black · base 11.5%
St. Clair
9,959 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