# Characteristics of Correctional Facilities by State **URL:** \ **Category:** General\ **Created:** [September 28, 2021, 3:52pm UTC](https://forum.ipums.org/t/characteristics-of-correctional-facilities-by-state/4326 "2021-09-28T15:52:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ivan\_Corredor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c4cdca/32.png) [@Ivan\_Corredor](https://forum.ipums.org/u/Ivan_Corredor)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2021, 3:52pm UTC](https://forum.ipums.org/t/characteristics-of-correctional-facilities-by-state/4326/1 "2021-09-28T15:52:35Z")
Dear all, I would like to have access to the information collected by the ACS but specifically for correctional facilities by State. Can somebody tell me if that information is available? ---
**Author:** ![Matthew\_Bombyk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/34f0e0/32.png) [@Matthew\_Bombyk](https://forum.ipums.org/u/Matthew_Bombyk)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2021, 4:34pm UTC](https://forum.ipums.org/t/characteristics-of-correctional-facilities-by-state/4326/2 "2021-09-30T16:34:22Z")
Are you interested in the correctional facilities themselves or the inmates? IPUMS has no data on the facilities themselves. The only way of identifying inmates in the ACS data is through the variable [GQ](https://usa.ipums.org/usa-action/variables/GQ#description_section). Inmates are included in the category “institutional group quarters.” However, this also includes other types of institutions such as nursing homes and mental institutions. As far as I know there is no way to identify prisoners directly in the public-use ACS files. It may be possible to identify these people in a restricted version of the data, but this would likely require a lengthy application process. Please email [ipums@umn.edu](mailto:ipums@umn.edu) if you’d like more information on this. You might find what you need from the [Bureau of Justice Statistics](https://bjs.ojp.gov/data-collection/national-prisoner-statistics-nps-program#publications-0). ![](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/uploads/ipums/original/1X/2daeaa8b5f19f0bc209d976c02bd6acb51b00b0a.gif) ---
**Author:** ![JonathanSchroeder](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/forum.ipums.org/jonathanschroeder/32/70_2.png) [@JonathanSchroeder](https://forum.ipums.org/u/JonathanSchroeder)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2021, 6:28pm UTC](https://forum.ipums.org/t/characteristics-of-correctional-facilities-by-state/4326/3 "2021-09-30T18:28:02Z")
Matthew’s response applies to the ACS microdata available through IPUMS USA. The ACS summary files, available through [IPUMS NHGIS](https://www.nhgis.org), provide counts of population in group quarters by state broken down, separately, by sex and age, race, educational attainment, and several other characteristics. Most of these tables distinguish population in correctional facilities as a distinct category. ---
**Author:** ![Matthew\_Bombyk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/34f0e0/32.png) [@Matthew\_Bombyk](https://forum.ipums.org/u/Matthew_Bombyk)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2021, 8:17pm UTC](https://forum.ipums.org/t/characteristics-of-correctional-facilities-by-state/4326/4 "2021-09-30T20:17:13Z")
Thanks @JonathanSchroeder, I discovered those tables after my earlier post. An example is [Table S2601A](https://data.census.gov/cedsci/table?q=Group%20Quarters%20Population&tid=ACSST5Y2019.S2601A) which gives demographics of the population in correctional facilities. This can be broken down by state or other geographic regions, and is also available through IPUMS NHGIS. ---
**Author:** ![Ivan\_Corredor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c4cdca/32.png) [@Ivan\_Corredor](https://forum.ipums.org/u/Ivan_Corredor)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2021, 9:54pm UTC](https://forum.ipums.org/t/characteristics-of-correctional-facilities-by-state/4326/5 "2021-10-05T21:54:53Z")
Thank you very much to both of you! Your answers were very useful! Best regards, Federico