Most Serious Offenses For Which People Serving Time in State Prisons Were Convicted, By Gender

"Violent offenders represented more than half (54%) of the sentenced male state prisoners. More than a third (36%) of female prisoners were violent offenders. Eighteen percent (223,700) of male state prisoners and 28% (26,000) of females were sentenced for property offenses. Twenty-five percent of female state prisoners (23,500 females) and 15% of male state prisoners (182,700 males) were sentenced for drug offenses.
A smaller percentage of whites were serving sentences of more than 1 year in state prison for violent offenses (47% or 210,400 prisoners) than blacks (58% or 263,800) or Hispanics (59% or 152,900). This pattern was consistent across racial and ethnic groups for murder or nonnegligent manslaughter, robbery, and assault. Whites had a higher percentage of sentenced prisoners serving time in state facilities for rape or sexual assault (16%) than blacks (8%) or Hispanics (13%). Whites also had a higher percentage offenders serving a sentence of more than 1 year in state prison for property crimes (25%) than blacks (16%) and Hispanics (14%) at yearend 2014. The proportion of prisoners sentenced to more than 1 year in state prison for drug offenses was roughly equal between whites, blacks, and Hispanics (15.0% or 67,800 white prisoners, 14.9% or 68,000 black prisoners, and 14.6% or 28,800 Hispanic prisoners)."

Table: Number of Sentenced Prisoners Under State Jurisdiction in the US Whose Most Serious Offense Was A Drug Charge, By Gender, 2006-2014.