New York City's jail system holds approximately 5.8K people on any given day, down 41% from 9,800 in 2016. Yet 82.8% are pre-trial detainees — not convicted of any crime. The city spends $556K per inmate per year, making NYC's per-inmate cost among the highest in the world. The average length of stay has climbed from 42 to 62 days since 2016, even as the total population declined.
NYC spends $556K per inmate per year — roughly 16x what it spends per public school student (~$35,000). The DOC budget of $2.8B serves approximately 5.8K people daily.
82.8% of people in NYC jails are awaiting trial — legally presumed innocent. Pre-trial detention drives both the population count and cost, as individuals remain incarcerated while their cases move through the court system. Average stay: 62 days.
Explore the full criminal justice pipeline — from crime to incarceration to system cost.