The long-term decline in the number of individuals in state prisons has led to a demographic shift towards an older incarcerated population, and necessitates increased attention to policies and costs associated with this population, according to a report by State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli today that examines post-COVID trends in the state’s aging prison population.
“The share of older people in New York’s prisons has grown over time,” DiNapoli said. “We need careful evaluation of policies related to sentencing, parole, compassionate release, geriatric and health costs, and reentry support for this older population to determine an approach that ensures public safety and protects taxpayers, while reducing incarceration where warranted.”
DiNapoli’s 2022 report on the prison population revealed that demographic changes in the state’s prison population over the last two decades led to an increasing share of older incarcerated individuals (aged 50 and over). The decline in the overall prison population accelerated with a drop of 26% (10,861 individuals) between March 2020 and March 2021, which included a decrease of 1,603 individuals aged 50 or over (17%). The share of older incarcerated individuals peaked at 24.3% in 2021.
Since 2008, the average age of New York’s incarcerated population has risen by four years (40.2 years). One contributing factor is that a greater number of older incarcerated individuals are meeting their conditional release date in prison instead of being granted parole.
Pre- and Post-COVID Shifts in Age Groups
In 2022, there was another slight decline in the state’s prison population, but the three most recent data years (2023-2025) show a rise of 1,957 individuals in state prisons. The older prison population has remained relatively steady since 2022.
As the overall prison population declined, the percentage of incarcerated individuals who are 50 and older increased. In 2019, this older population made up 21% of those incarcerated in New York, up from 12% in 2008. Between 2022 and 2025, as the size of the overall prison population increased, the share of older incarcerated individuals dropped from its 2021 peak to 22.3%. This is still 1.3 percentage points higher than it was in 2019.
Since at least 2008, incarcerated individuals under the age of 50 account for more than 75% of the state’s prison population and more than 90% of its overall decline.
The number of incarcerated people between the ages of 50 to 59 grew by 10% between 2008 and 2020, but declined 32% between 2020 to 2025. In contrast, those ages 60 to 69 years old and 70 years old and over have grown in number and as a share of the total population. Together, they were nearly 9% of the overall prison population in 2025.
Prison Release and Recidivism for Older Incarcerated People
As the prison population has declined, so has the overall number of releases per year. In 2024, older incarcerated individuals were released from prison at a lower rate (23.1%) than the total population (28.5%).
Between 2019 and 2024, the share of conditional releases grew by 14 percentage points for the older incarcerated population to 48.6% of all releases. The share of releases for those aged 50 and over based on a discretionary Board of Parole decision has declined from 57.2% in 2019 to 48.9% in 2024.
When older individuals are released into the community, data published by the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) show they present lower rates of recidivism. For releases that occurred between 2008 and 2021, the rate of recidivism within three years for a new felony offense is 3.3% for those ages 60 to 69 and 1.7% for those age 70 and over.
Costs for Older Incarcerated Individuals
As healthcare costs have risen and New York’s incarcerated population has shrunk, the per person cost of health services spent by DOCCS has risen from $5,850 per person in State Fiscal Year (SFY) 2013 to $13,923 in SFY 2025, a 138% increase. More granular data that would allow for analysis of health care expenses for the older incarcerated population is not publicly available. As of SFY 2025, overall DOCCS’ healthcare spending has risen to $450.6 million, $53.9 million higher than the previous peak in SFY 2017.
Recent Policy Changes
Since 2017, New York has enacted and implemented a series of criminal justice changes, such as Raise the Age, limits on pre-trial detention, limits on parole revocations, and the legalization of cannabis. These changes may not have had as much of an impact on older incarcerated individuals as they did on younger individuals.
Medical Parole and Compassionate Release are also available for people in prison who have serious medical conditions and pose no reasonable danger to society. DOCCS’ most recent annual report on Medical Parole indicated that, of the 138 medical parole applications submitted to the Board of Parole from 2018 to 2022, 84% (116) were for individuals aged 50 or older. Compassionate Release provides the board discretion to release an incarcerated individual who has already served the minimum period of their indeterminate sentence, has previously appeared before the board and been denied, and later is medically certified as so debilitated (terminal or significantly incapacitated) that they pose no reasonable danger to society.
Other initiatives have been introduced in the state legislature that would allow some people aged 55 or older to be considered for parole, would expand merit time for earlier release of incarcerated individuals, or would provide a second look at long sentences.
Report
Post-COVID Trends in New York’s Aging Prison Population
Related Reports
New York State’s Aging Prison Population