Study: Blacks incarcerated at higher rates in Nebraska, Iowa

OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) – A new study by a national nonprofit shows that Nebraska and Iowa are among states with the highest ratios of Blacks to whites among their prison populations.

The study on racial disparity among the incarcerated was released Wednesday by the Prison Policy Initiative, which classifies itself as a nonprofit nonpartisan criminal justice research organization.

The study based on 2021 data from the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics reports that across the U.S., Black people are locked up at six times the rate of white people, on average. Nebraska and Iowa sit above that average, each at 9.1, as do Minnesota and Utah. New Jersey and Wisconsin top the list, at 11.9 and 11.8 respectively. Elsewhere in the Midwest, Kansas ranks closer to the average, at 6.7; as do the Dakotas, with South Dakota sitting at 5.8 and North Dakota at 5 even. Michigan and Ohio also fall below Nebraska and Iowa, at 6.5 and 5.5 respectively.

A closer look at the Nebraska data shows that the state has an incarceration rate — across prisons, jails, immigration detention, and juvenile justice facilities — of 601 per a population of 100,000 people; in Iowa, that rate is 582. In comparison, the U.S. average is 664 per 100,000 people, but the New York state average is 376, and the California average is 549. Internationally, the U.K.’s rate is 129 per 100,000 people, and Canada is 104.

According to organization, Nebraska had about 23,000 residents behind bars or under community supervision; Iowa had about 47,500 by comparison.

Among Nebraska’s jailed populations in 2021, the rate of imprisonment among Native Americans was highest — 2,205 per a population of 100,000 people; followed by Blacks at 1,698. Conversely, Hispanics were 367 per 100,000 people, whites were at 187, and Asians at 92. Two years earlier, those rates were 1,452 per 100,000 for Native Americans, 1,053 for Blacks, 280 for Hispanics, 156 for whites, and 70 for Asians.

The study’s Iowa data reflected similar figures for both years: In 2021, the rate of Native Americans imprisoned was 2,658 per 100,000 people; 1,870 for Blacks, 298 for Hispanics, and 205 for whites, with no data available on Asians. In 2019, the rates were 1,232 per 100,000 people for Native Americans; 1,067 for Blacks; 213 for Hispanics; 119 for whites; and 58 for Asians.

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