Report Finds Stark Racial Disparities in Wisconsin Prisons
Racial disparities in Wisconsin prisons are among the worst in the country, according to a report recently published by the Wisconsin Policy Forum, a public policy think tank. The report found that Black Wisconsinites were 12 times more likely than white residents to be locked up in state prisons, as of 2022, the most recent year for which data was available. The only other state with a higher disparity is Vermont.
While there are many factors behind Wisconsin’s skewed prisoner demographics, one of the main contributors is that the state is deeply segregated by race and income. More than two-thirds of Black Wisconsinites live in Milwaukee, a city with a poverty rate of 22%, per the U.S. Census Bureau. Given that these communities face a stronger police presence, “crimes in those areas are more likely … to result in an arrest,” Andy Tisdel, a co-author of the report, told Wisconsin Public Radio.
Though still overrepresented among Wisconsin’s roughly 24,000 state prisoners held in frequently overcrowded facilities, the number of incarcerated Black Wisconsinites has been steadily decreasing in recent years. The trend has been the opposite, however, for Indigenous Wisconsin prisoners, whose numbers have risen. “If these trends continue, we would likely see the American Indian population as the most heavily incarcerated population in the state,” Wisconsin Policy Forum research director Joe Peterangelo said. See: Cross Examination: A Comprehensive Review of Wisconsin’s Criminal Justice System, Wisconsin Policy Forum (Apr. 2026).
Additional Source: Wisconsin Public Radio
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