Probation and Parole in the United States, 2020

An estimated 3,890,400 adults were under community supervision at yearend 2020, which was a 6.6% decline from the 4,167,100 who were supervised in the community on January 1, 2020. This decline was solely driven by a reduction in people on probation, who made up the majority (79%) of the community supervision population. During 2020, the number of people on probation decreased from 3,330,200 to 3,053,700 (down 8.3%), the largest annual decline since the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) began the probation collection in 1980. The number of adults on parole increased 1.3% during 2020, from 851,000 on January 1, 2020 to 862,100 at yearend. Among all adult U.S. residents, 1 in 66 were supervised in the community at yearend 2020.