More South Jersey Residents Are In Jail Than You May Think

Over the last several years, New Jersey has been making efforts to make Criminal Justice Reform a reality.  Among the changes made in New Jersey include upgrades to the Bail System, creating objective guidelines for Parole over Incarceration as a legitimate option in certain cases, and new Speedy Trial Laws.

However, these upgrades to New Jersey's Criminal Justice System have not fixed all of the problems.  Even though New Jersey has one of the lowest incarceration rates in the United States, NJ has one of the worst Black-to-White Incarceration Disparities in America (12.5 to 1 ratio).

When you look at what New Jersey Counties have the highest incarceration rates, some of South Jersey's counties rank among the highest of NJ's 21 counties.

Which South Jersey Counties Have The Highest Incarceration Rates

The latest research from Vera and PrisonPolicy.org shows that there are high concentrations of citizens from certain New Jersey Counties who are currently in NJ Prisons and Jails. These rates are generated based on the number of incarcerated persons divided by the total population of their county of residence and then multiplied by 100,000.

At the time of this research, there was approximately 31,546 people incarcerated in either New Jersey Jails or Prisons.  Five South Jersey Counties' Residents account for almost a quarter of NJ's Incarcerated Population (24.6%).

The New Jersey County in South Jersey with the highest percentage of NJ's Incarcerated Population is Atlantic County (6.1%).  The second highest is Camden County accounting for 5.3% of New Jersey's Incarcerated Population.

The other South Jersey Counties whose residents account for high percentages of New Jersey's Incarceration Population include Salem County (3.3%) and Cumberland County (3.2%).  Despite the small year-round population, Cape May County is not far behind their South Jersey neighbors at 3.1 percent.

Here's The Top Ten Highest Incarceration Ratio to County Population in New Jersey (per 100K):

1. Salem County (1470)
2. Cape May County (1132)
3. Atlantic County (1075)
4. Camden County (1039)
5. Cumberland (1006)
6. Essex County (916)
7. Passaic County (658)
8. Mercer County (656)
9. Union County (553)
10. Hudson County (467)

If those facts surprised you, here are more things about South Jersey that may shock people who do not live in New Jersey's southernmost counties: