Offense Category Sentencing Breakdown, FY2024
How average sentences and case volumes split across seven offense categories, from drug trafficking at 24.2 months to firearms at 223.5 months, across 61,546 federal cases.
Research
Original data research from PlainSentencing. Every page derives its statistics from the U.S. Sentencing Commission datafile, cites primary sources inline, and documents its methodology and limits.
State-Level Federal Sentencing Aggregates, FY2024
Which states carry the heaviest federal caseloads and how average terms vary, with Texas leading at 16,512 FY2024 cases and Iowa longest at 117.3 months among states with ≥100 cases, aggregated from 93 districts.
Circuit-Level Federal Sentencing Variation, FY2024
Average sentences and caseloads across the eleven numbered circuits, from the 8th at 45.1 months to the 6th at 97.5 months, a gap of more than four years.
Guideline Adherence and Plea Trends, FY2015-2024
How the within-guideline share, the guilty-plea rate, and the national average term moved across a decade and 661,705 cases, peaking and reversing around the pandemic.
District Average-Sentence Changes, Adjacent Fiscal Years
Which federal districts moved furthest year-over-year in average sentence length, rising and declining boards from the same district_stats series each district page charts.
Geographic Sentencing Disparity by District, FY2024
Which districts sentenced furthest above or below their benchmark, from Northern Alabama at 60.4 percent above to Guam at 36.0 percent below, among courts with at least 500 cases.
Download the federal sentencing-by-district CSV cited on this page: plainsentencing-districts.csv (CC0).