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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—Peter Wagner, Executive DirectorDonate

Greene County, Pennsylvania

According to the 2000 Census, Greene County, Pennsylvania has a population of 40,672 people. Of those, 38,665 (95%) are White, 1,585 (4%) are Black, and 357 (1%) are Latino[1]. However, 2,212 (or 5% of the 40,672 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 Greene County a population of 38,460 with a demographic that is 98% White, 1% Black, and 0% Latino.

Reported in
Census 2000		 Incarcerated
population		 Actual
population
Total 40,672 2,212 38,460
White 38,665 842 37,823
Black 1,585 1,356 229
Latino 357 186 171


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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