Federal Sentencing · National · FY2024
Highest Caseload Districts
The U.S. federal districts that sentenced the most criminal cases in FY2024, ranked from USSC case-level data against the 61,546 sentenced nationwide.
- 8,035
- Largest caseload
- 61,546
- National total FY2024
- 20
- Districts ranked
According to the U.S. Sentencing Commission (USSC), more than 61,000 individuals were sentenced in U.S. federal courts in fiscal year 2024 under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, with the Sentencing Reform Act of 1984 establishing the modern framework. The USSC Annual Report and Sourcebook of Federal Sentencing Statistics are published every March and cover all 94 U.S. district courts. See our methodology for refresh cadence.
The verdict
The Eastern Arkansas district sentenced more federal cases than any other in FY2024: 8,035 cases, 13.1% of the 61,546 sentenced nationwide.
- 8,035
- cases sentenced
- 13.1%
- of national caseload
- 61,546
- U.S. total FY2024
For educational and research purposes only. Not legal advice.
Top 15 Districts by Caseload -- FY2024
Federal criminal cases sentenced in this district
- Eastern Arkansas
Eastern Arkansas
8,035 cases
- Western Texas
Western Texas
6,122 cases
- New Mexico 2,634
New Mexico
2,634 cases
- Montana 1,696
Montana
1,696 cases
- Middle Alabama 1,377
Middle Alabama
1,377 cases
- Northern Texas 1,221
Northern Texas
1,221 cases
- Northern Alabama 1,136
Northern Alabama
1,136 cases
- Southern Texas 1,134
Southern Texas
1,134 cases
- Rhode Island 1,120
Rhode Island
1,120 cases
- Southern New York 1,048
Southern New York
1,048 cases
- Utah 926
Utah
926 cases
- Middle Pennsylvania 830
Middle Pennsylvania
830 cases
- Southern Iowa 829
Southern Iowa
829 cases
- Western Virginia 827
Western Virginia
827 cases
- Kansas 783
Kansas
783 cases
What this shows Eastern Arkansas handled 8,035 federal criminal cases in FY2024 -- the largest caseload of any district. High-volume districts tend to be on major transit corridors (immigration) or in large metro areas, which shapes their average sentences.
| Rank | District | Circuit | Cases | % of National | Avg Sentence | % Non-Citizen |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | Eastern Arkansas Arkansas | 8th | 13.1% | 26.0 mo | 73% | |
| #2 | Western Texas Texas | 5th | 9.9% | 28.3 mo | 67% | |
| #3 | New Mexico New Mexico | 10th | 4.3% | 22.6 mo | 42% | |
| #4 | Montana Montana | 9th | 2.8% | 30.3 mo | 66% | |
| #5 | Middle Alabama Alabama | 11th | 2.2% | 60.4 mo | 46% | |
| #6 | Northern Texas Texas | 5th | 2.0% | 94.4 mo | 21% | |
| #7 | Northern Alabama Alabama | 11th | 1.8% | 90.3 mo | 38% | |
| #8 | Southern Texas Texas | 5th | 1.8% | 84.8 mo | 27% | |
| #9 | Rhode Island Rhode Island | 1st | 1.8% | 71.4 mo | 35% | |
| #10 | Southern New York New York | 2nd | 1.7% | 61.7 mo | 22% | |
| #11 | Utah Utah | 10th | 1.5% | 70.9 mo | 21% | |
| #12 | Middle Pennsylvania Pennsylvania | 3rd | 1.3% | 51.2 mo | 16% | |
| #13 | Southern Iowa Iowa | 8th | 1.3% | 74.3 mo | 8% | |
| #14 | Western Virginia Virginia | 4th | 1.3% | 87.9 mo | 10% | |
| #15 | Kansas Kansas | 10th | 1.3% | 106.1 mo | 7% | |
| #16 | Western North Carolina North Carolina | 4th | 1.3% | 82.4 mo | 18% | |
| #17 | Northern New York New York | 2nd | 1.2% | 64.1 mo | 24% | |
| #18 | Hawaii Hawaii | 9th | 1.1% | 70.3 mo | 25% | |
| #19 | Guam Guam | 9th | 1.1% | 43.5 mo | 34% | |
| #20 | Western Missouri Missouri | 8th | 1.0% | 65.7 mo | 12% |
The bar to make the 20 busiest districts (FY2024)
Every federal district by caseload; the marker is the 642-case cutoff needed to reach this list.
642 77th percentile more than 77% of 87 federal districts
Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more federal districts. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source U.S. Sentencing Commission, Individual Offender Datafiles · FY2024
Ranked by total cases sentenced in FY2024. "% Non-Citizen" reflects the proportion of non-U.S. citizen defendants, which is particularly high in border districts. Source: United States Sentencing Commission.
What this means
The federal docket is geographically concentrated, and case volume and sentence severity answer to different drivers.
- Border and urban districts dominate by volume. Districts near the southern border account for a large share of the federal docket, driven primarily by immigration and drug-transportation prosecutions. These offense types carry shorter guideline ranges, so high-volume districts often rank as lenient on average sentence length. See most lenient districts
- Volume is independent of severity. A district can process many thousands of cases while sentencing at or below the national average, the two measures reflect different aspects of federal enforcement. Compare with the harshest-district ranking to see the contrast. Compare harshest districts
- High-volume courts shape national statistics. Because the 10 busiest districts handle a disproportionate share of all federal cases, their average sentences and compliance rates pull the national averages in their direction. Segmenting by offense type corrects for this when comparing across courts. Explore offenses
For educational and research purposes only. Source: U.S. Sentencing Commission, FY2024. Individual case outcomes depend on factors these district averages cannot capture.
Cite this page
Free to cite and reference with attribution. Figures update automatically as new data is published, compiled from the public-domain USSC datafiles.
PlainSentencing. (FY2024). Federal Districts by Sentencing Caseload. PlainSentencing. Retrieved from https://plainsentencing.com/rankings/most-cases/. Data from the U.S. Sentencing Commission (USSC) Individual Offender Datafiles; public domain (CC0).