A new report from the New York State Office of the State Comptroller finds that while the number of people in state prisons has dropped over the last two decades, the population behind bars is getting older — a shift that could carry significant policy and financial consequences for New York.
State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli said the trend requires closer scrutiny of sentencing, parole and health care costs tied to older incarcerated individuals.
“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 to ensure public safety and protect taxpayers, while reducing incarceration where warranted.”
According to the report, demographic changes have steadily increased the proportion of incarcerated people aged 50 and older. The overall prison population fell sharply during the COVID-19 pandemic, dropping 26% — or more than 10,800 people — between March 2020 and March 2021. That included a decline of about 1,600 people age 50 or older.
Even with that drop, the older population’s share of the prison system peaked at 24.3% in 2021. Since 2008, the average age of incarcerated individuals in New York has risen by four years to just over 40 years old.
One factor, the report notes, is that more older people are reaching their conditional release dates in prison rather than being granted parole.
In recent years, the overall prison population has begun to tick up again. Between 2023 and 2025, the state saw an increase of nearly 2,000 people in prison, while the number of older individuals has remained relatively steady. As a result, those age 50 and older now account for about 22.3% of the total prison population — still higher than before the pandemic.
While people under 50 continue to make up more than three-quarters of the prison population, they account for most of the long-term decline. Meanwhile, the number of incarcerated individuals ages 60 and older has grown both in size and share. Those 60 to 69 and 70 and over together represented nearly 9% of the total prison population in 2025.
Release patterns also differ by age. In 2024, older incarcerated individuals were released at a lower rate — 23.1% compared to 28.5% for the overall population. Conditional releases have increased for older individuals, while discretionary parole approvals have declined.
However, once released, older individuals are far less likely to reoffend. Data from the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision show that among those released between 2008 and 2021, just 3.3% of people ages 60 to 69 and 1.7% of those 70 and older were convicted of a new felony within three years.
The report also highlights rising healthcare costs. Per-person health care spending for incarcerated individuals has more than doubled over the past decade, climbing from $5,850 in state fiscal year 2013 to $13,923 in 2025 — a 138% increase. Overall health care spending by corrections officials reached $450.6 million this year, the highest on record.
Several criminal justice reforms in recent years — including “Raise the Age,” limits on pretrial detention and parole changes, and cannabis legalization — may have had less impact on older individuals, the report said.
Programs such as medical parole and compassionate release are available for people with serious health conditions who pose little risk to the public. From 2018 to 2022, 84% of medical parole applications were filed by individuals age 50 or older.
Lawmakers are also considering additional proposals that could allow some people age 55 and older to be considered for parole, expand opportunities for early release and provide reviews of long sentences.
DiNapoli said policymakers should weigh both public safety and fiscal impacts as the state’s prison population continues to age.
