TABLE 1.
Demographic and Socioeconomic Characteristics of US Jail Inmates: Survey of Inmates in Local Jails, 2002
| Characteristics | Unweighted Sample Size | % of Inmatesa | % of Mena | % of Womenab |
| Gender | ||||
| Male | 4994 | 88.4 | … | … |
| Female | 1988 | 11.6 | … | … |
| Age, y | ||||
| < 25 | 2451 | 33.7 | 34.9 | 24.1 |
| 26–35 | 2097 | 31.0 | 30.7 | 33.5 |
| 36–45 | 1736 | 24.6 | 23.5 | 32.9 |
| ≥ 46 | 695 | 10.8 | 11.0 | 9.5 |
| Race | ||||
| Non-Hispanic White | 2548 | 36.0 | 35.0 | 43.4 |
| Non-Hispanic Black | 2768 | 40.1 | 40.5 | 36.7 |
| Hispanic | 1246 | 18.5 | 19.1 | 13.6 |
| Other | 397 | 5.5 | 5.4 | 6.3 |
| Never married | 4163 | 60.1 | 61.6 | 48.4 |
| Education | ||||
| Eighth grade or less | 737 | 10.5 | 10.6 | 9.3 |
| Some high school | 3200 | 45.2 | 45.9 | 40.1 |
| High school completed | 2008 | 29.6 | 29.5 | 30.3 |
| Any college | 1037 | 14.7 | 13.9 | 20.3 |
| No job or business | 2191 | 29.0 | 26.7 | 45.8 |
| Homeless | 856 | 12.7 | 12.1 | 17.4 |
| Offense type | ||||
| Drug | 1724 | 24.7 | 24.2 | 29.2 |
| Property | 1800 | 24.4 | 23.3 | 32.4 |
| Violent | 1699 | 25.4 | 26.5 | 17.1 |
| Public order | 1630 | 24.9 | 25.5 | 20.8 |
| Other | 43 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.6 |
| Time held in jail before interview | ||||
| 7 d or less | 947 | 13.4 | 13.1 | 16.2 |
| 8–14 d | 673 | 9.2 | 8.7 | 13.1 |
| 15–30 d | 1031 | 14.9 | 14.6 | 16.9 |
| 31–60 d | 1126 | 16.0 | 15.9 | 16.7 |
| 61–180 d | 1949 | 28.6 | 29.0 | 26.1 |
| 181–364 d | 723 | 11.3 | 11.9 | 7.3 |
| ≥ 1 y | 392 | 6.5 | 6.9 | 3.7 |
a
Weighted to represent the midyear national population of jail inmates in 2001 (n = 631 241).
b
For differences between the weighted values for men and women, P < .001 for all characteristics.