State Incarceration Rate Is Lower Than The National Average. But...

A recent analysis of prison populations shows North Carolina's incarceration rate is higher than most of the rest of the world.

The twist? The state is still below the national average.

The United States incarcerates 716 people per 100,000 residents, according to data from the Prison Policy Initiative. That's higher than any other country on Earth.

North Carolina's rate is lower: 647 per 100,000 residents, ranking the state 27th in the country.

But if North Carolina was a country, it would still have a higher incarceration rate than any other outside the U.S. The next countries in line? Cuba, Rwanda, and Russia.

Aleks Kajstura with the Prison Policy Initiative says the high numbers in the U.S. boil down to a few things.

“We have longer prison sentences and people are incarcerated more often,” Kajstura says. “So, brought together, we just end up with huge incarceration rates because we put people behind bars more often, and then we keep them there for longer.”

And Kajstura adds, those longer sentences actually make it more likely an inmate will return to the correctional system.