WASHINGTON — The number of women under correctional supervision in the United States is projected to reach 1.1 million by 2035, increasing correctional costs by an estimated $8 billion and renewing questions about whether lengthy incarceration is the most effective response for women in the justice system, according to new research released by the Council on Criminal Justice.
The report, released June 23 by the Council on Criminal Justice’s Women’s Justice Commission and titled The Rising Cost of Women’s Justice System Involvement, finds that it costs 25% to 75% more to imprison a woman than a man. The report attributes the disparity to smaller correctional facilities, staffing and classification challenges, and higher healthcare needs.
The analysis projects that the number of women under correctional supervision will increase 10% from 2022 levels by 2035, with the female prison population expected to rise 27%, the jail population 20% and the number of women on community supervision 7%.
Researchers estimate annual spending on women under correctional supervision will grow from between $23 billion and $26 billion in 2025 to between $30 billion and $34 billion by 2035—an increase of about 34%, or roughly $8 billion—driven by both population growth and rising per-person correctional costs.
The report states that, despite women generally posing lower public safety risks than men, the criminal justice system continues to spend “substantially more per person” to incarcerate women.
“In 2025, imprisonment cost about $70,000 per person per year on average, while this report estimates annual costs of $87,000 to $122,000 per woman—25% to 75% higher,” the report stated. “The difference reflects factors such as smaller facilities, mixed security classifications, greater healthcare needs and heavier use of external medical providers.”
According to the report, the financial consequences extend beyond correctional budgets. Researchers estimate that women incarcerated in 2025 will account for $2.8 billion in lost household production annually, with those losses projected to increase to $3.8 billion by 2035 because many incarcerated women serve as caregivers and financial contributors to their families.
A companion report released by the commission suggests that reducing the amount of time women spend in prison could substantially lower correctional costs while producing only modest increases in criminal justice involvement.
“Using data from Illinois and North Carolina, the analysis finds that reducing women’s time served in prison by 50% would produce an estimated 100 additional annual arrests in each state,” the report stated. “About 90% of those arrests would likely be for nonviolent crimes, while saving each state $60 million or more per year.”
The companion report, What Happens When Women Serve Less Time in Prison?, modeled the effects of reducing prison terms by half. Researchers concluded the policy would significantly reduce correctional spending while increasing annual arrests by only about 0.2% to 0.3%.
“Prison is one of the most costly responses for women who break the law, yet the public safety returns on that investment are not always clear,” Women’s Justice Commission Director Stephanie Akhter said. “As the number and cost of incarcerating women grow, policymakers have an opportunity to pursue approaches that better enhance accountability, public safety, fiscal responsibility and the well-being of families and communities.”
According to the report, roughly nine out of every 10 projected additional arrests resulting from shorter prison terms would involve property offenses, drug offenses or parole violations rather than violent crimes.
The analysis also estimates that Illinois and North Carolina would each realize net annual savings ranging from $61.8 million to $102.7 million under the modeled policy changes.
“The point of this research is not simply that women’s incarceration is expensive,” John K. Roman, a co-author of the reports, said. “It’s that the costs, benefits and tradeoffs look different for women than they do for men. Policymakers need estimates that reflect those differences if they want to make good decisions.”
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