Federal Sentencing · National · FY2025
Highest Caseload Districts
The U.S. federal districts that sentenced the most criminal cases in FY2025, ranked from USSC case-level data against the 66,518 sentenced nationwide.
- 10,416
- Largest caseload
- 66,518
- National total FY2025
- 20
- Districts ranked
The U.S. Sentencing Commission's FY2024 Sourcebook records more than 61,000 federal sentencing cases under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines. The Commission's annual Sourcebook and datafiles cover all 94 federal judicial districts; see our methodology for the data refresh cadence and calculation scope.
The verdict
The Western Texas district sentenced more federal cases than any other in FY2025: 10,416 cases, 15.7% of the 66,518 sentenced nationwide - the #20 cutoff to make this list is 662 cases.
- 10,416
- cases sentenced
- 662
- #20 cutoff to make this list
- 15.7%
- of national caseload
- 66,518
- U.S. total FY2025
For educational and research purposes only. Not legal advice.
Top 15 Districts by Caseload -- FY2025
Federal criminal cases sentenced in this district
- Western Texas
Western Texas
10,416 cases
- Southern Texas
Southern Texas
7,545 cases
- Arizona 4,134
Arizona
4,134 cases
- New Mexico 2,699
New Mexico
2,699 cases
- Southern California 2,661
Southern California
2,661 cases
- Middle Florida 1,528
Middle Florida
1,528 cases
- Southern Florida 1,457
Southern Florida
1,457 cases
- Northern Texas 1,386
Northern Texas
1,386 cases
- Eastern Texas 1,015
Eastern Texas
1,015 cases
- Eastern Missouri 988
Eastern Missouri
988 cases
- Puerto Rico 972
Puerto Rico
972 cases
- Central California 932
Central California
932 cases
- Southern New York 899
Southern New York
899 cases
- Eastern Virginia 884
Eastern Virginia
884 cases
- Eastern Michigan 851
Eastern Michigan
851 cases
What this shows Western Texas handled 10,416 federal criminal cases in FY2025 -- 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 | Western Texas Texas | 5th | 15.7% | 21.2 mo | 82% | |
| #2 | Southern Texas Texas | 5th | 11.3% | 21.4 mo | 75% | |
| #3 | Arizona Arizona | 9th | 6.2% | 17.4 mo | 64% | |
| #4 | New Mexico New Mexico | 10th | 4.1% | 19.7 mo | 80% | |
| #5 | Southern California California | 9th | 4.0% | 19.0 mo | 53% | |
| #6 | Middle Florida Florida | 11th | 2.3% | 78.1 mo | 41% | |
| #7 | Southern Florida Florida | 11th | 2.2% | 56.8 mo | 52% | |
| #8 | Northern Texas Texas | 5th | 2.1% | 96.9 mo | 30% | |
| #9 | Eastern Texas Texas | 5th | 1.5% | 96.6 mo | 24% | |
| #10 | Eastern Missouri Missouri | 8th | 1.5% | 72.7 mo | 6% | |
| #11 | Puerto Rico Puerto Rico | 1st | 1.5% | 62.8 mo | 28% | |
| #12 | Central California California | 9th | 1.4% | 60.0 mo | 33% | |
| #13 | Southern New York New York | 2nd | 1.4% | 64.9 mo | 25% | |
| #14 | Eastern Virginia Virginia | 4th | 1.3% | 78.8 mo | 20% | |
| #15 | Eastern Michigan Michigan | 6th | 1.3% | 53.1 mo | 28% | |
| #16 | Eastern North Carolina North Carolina | 4th | 1.2% | 87.0 mo | 9% | |
| #17 | Utah Utah | 10th | 1.2% | 43.8 mo | 45% | |
| #18 | New Jersey New Jersey | 3rd | 1.0% | 55.0 mo | 20% | |
| #19 | Western Missouri Missouri | 8th | 1.0% | 106.3 mo | 10% | |
| #20 | Northern Ohio Ohio | 6th | 1.0% | 76.6 mo | 14% |
The bar to make the 20 busiest districts (FY2025)
Every federal district by caseload; the marker is the 662-case cutoff needed to reach this list.
662 78th percentile more than 78% of 93 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 · FY2025
Ranked by total cases sentenced in FY2025. "% 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, FY2025. Individual case outcomes depend on factors these district averages cannot capture.