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

Williamson County, Texas

According to the 2000 Census, Williamson County, Texas has a population of 249,967 people. Of those, 205,994 (82%) are White, 12,790 (5%) are Black, and 42,990 (17%) are Latino[1]. However, 1,936 (or 1% of the 249,967 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 Williamson County a population of 248,031 with a demographic that is 83% White, 5% Black, and 17% Latino.

Reported in
Census 2000		 Incarcerated
population		 Actual
population
Total 249,967 1,936 248,031
White 205,994 996 204,998
Black 12,790 627 12,163
Latino 42,990 380 42,610


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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