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.

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Pike County, Missouri

According to the 2000 Census, Pike County, Missouri has a population of 18,351 people. Of those, 16,230 (88%) are White, 1,682 (9%) are Black, and 295 (2%) are Latino[1]. However, 1,906 (or 10% of the 18,351 people) are not residents by choice but are people in prison.

Even though prisoners cannot participate in the local community, the Census Bureau nevertheless counts them as residents of the county where they are incarcerated.

A more accurate description would not include the prisoners. This would give Pike County a population of 16,445 with a demographic that is 94% White, 4% Black, and 2% Latino.

Reported in
Census 2000		 Incarcerated
population		 Actual
population
Total 18,351 1,906 16,445
White 16,230 852 15,378
Black 1,682 993 689
Latino 295 22 273


Notes:

[1]The numbers for Whites, Blacks and Latinos may not add up to the total number because we have not included racial groups other than Whites and Blacks and because the Census Bureau considers "Latino" to be an ethnicity, not a race. Most of the people reported as being Latino are also counted as being White or Black.



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