How Many Deaths Did COVID Cause In U.S. Prisons?

Prison inmates of all ages had significantly increased COVID-19 death rates relative to the general population.

U.S. prisons were especially susceptible to COVID-19 infection and death; however, data limitations have precluded a national accounting of prison mortality (including but not limited to COVID-19 mortality) during the pandemic. Our analysis of mortality data collected from public records requests (supplemented with publicly available data) from 48 Departments of Corrections provides the most comprehensive understanding to date of in-custody mortality during 2020. 

We find that total mortality increased by 77% in 2020 relative to 2019, corresponding to 3.4 times the mortality increase in the general population, and that mortality in prisons increased across all age groups (49 and under, 50 to 64, and 65 and older). COVID-19 was the primary driver for increases in mortality due to natural causes; some states also experienced substantial increases due to unnatural causes. 

These findings provide critical information about the pandemic’s toll on some of the country’s most vulnerable individuals while underscoring the need for data transparency and standardized reporting in carceral settings.

Naomi F. Sugie, et al., "Excess mortality in U.S. prisons during the COVID-19 pandemic", 9(48) Science Advances (December 1, 2023) (open access).

From the results section:

Across 49 DOCs (including 47 states, the Federal BOP, and Washington, D.C.), the number of people who died in U.S. prisons was substantially higher in 2020 (6088 deaths) than in 2019 (4206 deaths). This comparison of total deaths does not account for changing custody populations, which decreased during the 2020 pandemic; therefore, rates of in-custody deaths were even higher in 2020. For DOCs with information about manner of death in 2020 (N = 41 DOCs, N = 5134 deaths), 4118 deaths (80%) were due to natural causes, 534 deaths (10%) were due to unnatural causes, and 482 deaths (9%) were due to unknown causes. For DOCs with information about COVID-19–related deaths (N = 19 states, N = 1714 total deaths), 496 deaths (29%) were related to COVID-19.