Neighborhood Incarceration Rate Hot Spots in Maryland

Alexander Din
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development

The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not represent the official positions or policies of the Office of Policy Development and Research, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, or the U.S. Government.

Maryland’s 2010 No Representation Without Population Act requires that census data used for political redistricting be adjusted so that Marylanders incarcerated in state and federal prisons will be enumerated at their last known address rather than their place of incarceration. This report briefly describes why this population adjustment process is important and then uses spatial analysis to identify neighborhood incarceration rate clusters, also referred to as hot spots or cold spots, and outliers. The results are mapped to visualize Maryland’s areas of incarceration hot spot and cold spot clusters and outlier areas.