Numbers and profiles

• There were an estimated 140,000 veterans held in state and federal prisons. State prisons held 127,500 of these veterans, and federal prisons held 12,500.
• Male veterans were half as likely as other men to be held in prison (630 prisoners per 100,000 veterans, compared to 1,390 prisoners per 100,000 non-veteran U.S. residents). This gap had been increasing since the 1980s.
• Veterans in both state and federal prison were almost exclusively male (99 percent).
• The median age (45) of veterans in state prison was 12 years older than that of non-veterans (33). Non-veteran inmates (55 percent) were nearly four times more likely than veterans (14 percent) to be under the age of 35.
• Veterans were much better educated than other prisoners. Nearly all veterans in state prison (91 percent) reported at least a high school diploma or GED, while an estimated 40 percent of non-veterans lacked either.

Military backgrounds

• The U.S. Army accounted for 46 percent of veterans living in the United States but 56 percent of veterans in state prison.
• In 2004, the percentage of state prisoners who reported prior military service in the U.S. Armed Forces (10 percent) was half of the level reported in 1986 (20 percent).
• Most state prison veterans (54 percent) reported service during a wartime era, while 20 percent saw combat duty. In federal prison two-thirds of veterans had served during wartime, and a quarter had seen combat.
• Six in 10 incarcerated veterans received an honorable discharge.

Convictions and sentencing

• Veterans had shorter criminal histories than non-veterans in state prison.
• Veterans reported longer average sentences than non-veterans, regardless of offense type.
• Over half of veterans (57 percent) were serving time for violent offenses, compared to 47 percent of non-veterans.
• Nearly one in four veterans in state prison were sex offenders, compared to one in 10 non-veterans.
• Veterans were more likely than other violent offenders in state prison to have victimized females and minors.
• More than a third of veterans in state prison had maximum sentences of at least 20 years, life or death.