Help End Prison Gerrymandering Prison gerrymandering funnels political power away from urban communities to legislators who have prisons in their (often white, rural) districts. More than two decades ago, the Prison Policy Initiative put numbers on the problem and sparked the movement to end prison gerrymandering.

Can you help us continue the fight? Thank you.

—Peter Wagner, Executive DirectorDonate

Massachusetts correctional populations of Census 2020 vintage

We recommend using these addresses only for guidance in identifying prison populations in the Census data and warn against assuming that the prisons were in fact counted at that particular location.

Facility Name Prisoners Type Address City Zip County Survey Date
Bay State Correctional Center 329 State 28 Clark Street Norfolk 02324 Plymouth 6/30/2012
Berkshire Co. Jail & House of Corr. 262 Local 12/31/2013
Boston Pre Release Center 198 State 430 Canterbury Street Roslindale 02131 Suffolk 6/30/2012
Bridgewater State Hospital 358 State 20 Administration Road Bridgewater 02324 Plymouth 6/30/2012
Bristol County House of Corrections, Jail, & Female Facility 1,333 Local 12/31/2013
Community Resources For Justice- Brooke House 17 Private 107 Park Drive Borston 02215 Suffolk 6/30/2012
Coolidge House 88 Private 307 Huntington Avenue Boston 02115 Suffolk 6/30/2012
Devens Camp 135 Federal 42 Patton Road Ayer 01432 Middlesex 6/30/2012
Devens FMC 1,038 Federal 42 Patton Road Ayer 01432 Middlesex 6/30/2012
Devens FMC 921 Federal Medical Center 42 Patton Road Ayer 01432 Middlesex 4/2/2020
Devens-Camp 107 Federal Medical Center 42 Patton Road Ayer 01432 Middlesex 4/2/2020
Essex Co. Women In Transition 23 Local 12/31/2013
Essex County Correctional Facility 1,213 Local 12/31/2013
Franklin Co. Jail & House of Corr. 242 Local 12/31/2013
Hampden County Correctional Center 903 Local 12/31/2013
Hampden County Pre-Release Center 169 Local 12/31/2013
Hampden County Western Massachusetts Alcohol Center 162 Local 12/31/2013
Hampshire Co. Jail & House of Corr. 257 Local 12/31/2013
Lawrence Correctional Alternative Center 285 Local 12/31/2013
Lemuel Shattuck Hospital Correctional Unit 16 State 180 Morton St Jamaica Plain 02130 Suffolk 6/30/2012
Massachusetts Treatment Center 609 State 30 Administration Road Bridgewater 02324 Plymouth 6/30/2012
Massachusetts Alcohol And Substance Abuse Center 167 State 2 Administration Rd Bridgewater 02324 Plymouth 6/30/2012
Massachusetts Correctional Inst - Cedar Junction 869 State 2405 Main Street South Walpole 02071 Norfolk 6/30/2012
Massachusetts Correctional Inst - Concord 1,344 State 965 Elm Street Concord 01742 Middlesex 6/30/2012
Massachusetts Correctional Inst - Framingham 665 State 99 Loring Drive Framingham 01701 Middlesex 6/30/2012
Massachusetts Correctional Inst - Norfolk 1,500 State 2 Clark Street Norfolk 02056 Norfolk 6/30/2012
Massachusetts Correctional Inst - Plymouth 207 State 1 Bumps Pond Road Plymouth 02360 Plymouth 6/30/2012
Massachusetts Correctional Inst - Shirley 1,205 State Harvard Road Shirley 01464 Middlesex 6/30/2012
Massachusetts Correctional Inst Shirley Minimum 325 State Harvard Road Shirley 01464 Middlesex 6/30/2012
Middlesex Co. Jail & House of Corr. 900 Local 12/31/2013
Norfolk Sheriffs office 614 Local 12/31/2013
North Central Correctional Inst At Gardner 1,012 State 500 Colony Road Gardner 01440 Worcester 6/30/2012
Northeastern Correctional Center 265 State Barretts Mill Road West Concord 01742 Middlesex 6/30/2012
Old Colony Correctional Center 942 State 1 Administration Road Bridgewater 02324 Plymouth 6/30/2012
Plymouth County House of Corrections & Jail 1,236 Local 12/31/2013
Pondville Correctional Center 196 State Industries Drive Norfolk 02056 Norfolk 6/30/2012
South Bay House of Correction 1,140 Local 12/31/2013
South Middlesex Correctional Center 144 State 135 Western Ave Framingham 01701 Middlesex 6/30/2012
Souza Baranowski Correctional Center 1,360 State Harvard Road Shirley 01464 Middlesex 6/30/2012
Spectrum Women And Children Program 7 Private 153 Oak Street Westboro 01581 Worcester 6/30/2012
Suffolk Co. Jail 667 Local 12/31/2013
Western Massachusetts Women's Regional Correctional Center: Women 151 Local 12/31/2013
Worcester County Jail & House of Corrections 870 Local 12/31/2013

This table draws data from four sources:

  • Federal prisons on April 2, 2020: The Prison Policy Initiative downloaded the weekly population list from the Bureau of Prisons for that date.
  • State and federal correctional facilities on June 30, 2012 were extracted from: United States Department of Justice. Office of Justice Programs. Bureau of Justice Statistics. Census of State and Federal Adult Correctional Facilities, 2012. ICPSR37294-v1. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2020-02-06. doi:10.3886/ICPSR37294.v1. County data retrieved from postal service database.
  • Local jails' average daily populations from January 1, 2013 to December 31, 2013 were extracted from: United States Department of Justice. Office of Justice Programs. Bureau of Justice Statistics. Census of Jail Facilities, 2013. ICPSR36128-V4. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2018-04-25. doi:10.3886/ICPSR36128.v4
  • Jails in Indian Country populations on June 30, 2016 were extracted from: United States Department of Justice. Office of Justice Programs. Bureau of Justice Statistics. Annual Survey of Jails in Indian Country, 2016. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2018-05-23. doi:10.3886/ICPSR37006.v1

Military prisons and state halfway houses are not included in the above table as we were not able to locate an appropriate national database of these types of facilities. Juvenile facilities are not included in the above because the Census Bureau counts these facilities separately from the adult correctional institutions that are the focus of our work. Where necessary, state-specific sources will be more useful for identifying juvenile facilities.

We do, however, have a list (without population information) of all federal halfway houses as of April 2, 2020 [XLSX].

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