§ 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
31,849
22.3% · cf. 33,000 state capacity
Total sentences recorded
520,719
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
Discharged37.5%53,435
Probationer23.8%33,965
Prisoner22.4%31,849
Absconder (Prob.)7.5%10,695
Parolee6.7%9,594
Other1.6%2,247
Absconder (Parole)0.5%672
Top fifteen offenses
Across 520,719 sentences · color by category
WeaponDrugViolentPropertyDUI
How cases resolve
Plea bargains account for three in four
Plea74.7%388,843
Nolo Contendere13.1%68,197
Jury Trial9.0%46,692
Bench Trial1.6%8,528
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
5,305
35,064
43,015
29,542
19,187
10,438
18–24
25–34
35–44
45–54
55–64
65+
Minimum sentences
261,120 prison sentences · how long people must serve
8,574
141,951
33,437
31,994
22,704
13,457
10,189
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
55,273
227,335
83,830
69,591
49,449
32,973
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
124,185 sentences
77.9%
Black · base 38.1%
Oakland
51,842 sentences
55.6%
Black · base 15.4%
Macomb
35,382 sentences
46.9%
Black · base 14.7%
Genesee
28,531 sentences
56.3%
Black · base 21.8%
Kent
26,377 sentences
51.7%
Black · base 10.3%
Saginaw
19,096 sentences
60.8%
Black · base 19.2%
Muskegon
13,721 sentences
53.9%
Black · base 13.2%
Washtenaw
12,362 sentences
63%
Black · base 12.4%
Kalamazoo
11,922 sentences
54.7%
Black · base 12%
Berrien
10,164 sentences
54.7%
Black · base 14.9%
Ingham
10,053 sentences
53.8%
Black · base 11.5%
St. Clair
9,929 sentences
23.8%
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