Somewhere between 70 and 100 million U.S. adults, roughly one in three, have some form of criminal history on file with a state or federal agency. That is the figure behind the common claim that about a third of Americans have a criminal record. The percentage of Americans who have a criminal record swings this widely because “criminal record” usually means any fingerprinted arrest submitted to a database, whether or not it led to a conviction. Count only felony convictions and the share drops to roughly 8 percent.
Why the Number Is So High
There is no single legal definition of “criminal record,” and that is exactly why estimates vary. The FBI maintains the Interstate Identification Index, a national pointer system that links computerized criminal history files from participating states into one searchable network.1FBI. Interstate Identification Index (III) National Fingerprint File (NFF) Each record represents a person who was arrested and fingerprinted at some point, regardless of what happened next.
A 2017 calculation using FBI data put the count at about 73.5 million people indexed in the system, which was roughly 29.5 percent of the adult population at the time. Estimates that fold in state-only databases and records not yet uploaded to federal systems push the total closer to 100 million. The count is comparable to the number of Americans holding a four-year college degree.
Because the index is built on arrests, someone whose charges were dropped, whose case was dismissed, or who was outright acquitted still shows up. The FBI’s own guidance acknowledges the problem: if a dismissal or acquittal is never reported back to the system, the entry just sits there, and a background check for an employer or landlord can create the impression of a conviction where none exists.2Federal Bureau of Investigation. Arrest Dispositions
Misdemeanors add another layer of inconsistency. Federal databases do not uniformly capture low-level offenses. Whether a misdemeanor arrest ends up in the index depends on whether the state agency fingerprinted the person and submitted those prints. Some offenses, like domestic violence misdemeanors, get flagged because they trigger a federal firearms prohibition. Many others never make it in.3FBI Criminal Justice Information Services Division. Active Records in the NICS Index
Arrests vs. Convictions
The one-in-three headline is almost entirely an arrest figure. Filter for actual convictions and the picture changes.
A demographic study published in Demography in 2017, using data through 2010, estimated that about 8 percent of all U.S. adults had a felony conviction. That works out to roughly 19 million people, including those who served prison time, spent time in jail, or were placed on felony probation. About 3 percent of the total population had been imprisoned. The numbers have almost certainly grown since, but the gap between “has an arrest on file” and “has a felony conviction” remains enormous.
The distinction matters in practice. Many employers, licensing boards, and housing providers legally treat arrests and convictions differently. An arrest with no conviction carries less weight under federal employment guidance, though it can still surface on a background check and cause problems if the person doesn’t know it is there.
Who the Record Falls On
The burden of a record is not spread evenly.
Gender
Men account for a disproportionate share of arrests. FBI data from 2019 shows that nearly 73 percent of all people arrested that year were male, and the share widens for violent offenses, where men made up about 79 percent of arrests.4Federal Bureau of Investigation. Persons Arrested The 2018 data tells a nearly identical story: 72.8 percent of all arrestees were male, with men representing 79.1 percent of violent crime arrests.5Federal Bureau of Investigation. Table 42 – Arrests by Sex, 2018 These ratios have been stable over time.
Race and Ethnicity
A longitudinal study published in Crime & Delinquency found that by age 23, 49 percent of Black males, 44 percent of Hispanic males, and 38 percent of white males had been arrested at least once. By age 18, the figures were 30 percent, 26 percent, and 22 percent, respectively. The 2017 Demography study on felony convictions found an even sharper concentration: roughly 33 percent of Black adult men had a felony conviction, compared to about 8 percent of all adults nationally.
What a Record Actually Costs You
The consequences of a record extend well beyond the sentence itself, and they are a large part of why the overall numbers matter.
Employment
Background checks are now standard in hiring. EEOC enforcement guidance requires employers to conduct an individualized assessment before rejecting an applicant based on a conviction, weighing the nature and seriousness of the offense, how much time has passed, and the nature of the job.6U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Enforcement Guidance on the Consideration of Arrest and Conviction Records in Employment Decisions Blanket exclusions can violate Title VII if they disproportionately affect a protected group. The guidance draws a clear line between arrests and convictions: an arrest alone does not establish that criminal conduct occurred.
The Fair Chance to Compete for Jobs Act of 2019 bars most federal agencies and contractors from asking about criminal history on initial job applications. Over 35 states and more than 150 cities and counties have adopted similar “ban the box” rules. Research from the Brennan Center for Justice estimates that a person with a conviction loses roughly $100,000 in cumulative earnings over a lifetime, climbing to nearly $484,000 for someone imprisoned as a young adult, with the losses falling heaviest on Black and Latino individuals.
Housing
Landlords and public housing authorities routinely run criminal background checks. HUD requires housing authorities to screen for lifetime sex offender registrations and allows denial of assistance based on certain criminal activity.7U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Eligibility Determination and Denial of Assistance HUD has also stated that providers cannot deny someone solely based on an arrest record, and that overly broad screening policies may violate the Fair Housing Act if they disproportionately exclude people of a particular race or national origin.
Firearms
Federal law permanently bars anyone convicted of a crime punishable by more than one year in prison from possessing a firearm or ammunition.8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 922 – Unlawful Acts The prohibition also covers people convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence, those subject to certain domestic violence restraining orders, and anyone adjudicated as mentally incompetent. With an estimated 19 million Americans holding a felony conviction, the firearms ban alone reaches a substantial share of the adult population.
Voting
A felony conviction can cost you the right to vote, though the rules vary sharply by state. A handful of states never revoke voting rights, even during incarceration. Most restore rights automatically once a person completes prison, parole, and probation. A smaller number impose indefinite bans for certain serious offenses, requiring a governor’s pardon or individual petition. Roughly 4.6 million Americans are currently unable to vote because of a felony conviction, with the loss falling disproportionately on Black communities.
How to Check Whether You’re in the Count
You can request your own FBI criminal history, formally called an Identity History Summary Check, for $18. The process requires submitting fingerprints either electronically at a participating U.S. Post Office or by mailing a completed fingerprint card directly to the FBI. Electronic submissions can return results online; mail submissions come back by first-class mail.9Federal Bureau of Investigation. Identity History Summary Checks FAQs You can also go through an FBI-approved channeler, a private company authorized to collect prints and submit requests on your behalf for an added fee.
Checking is worth doing even if you don’t think you have a record. Arrests that were dismissed or resulted in acquittals can linger indefinitely unless someone reports the disposition. If an entry shows up that shouldn’t be there, the FBI’s process allows you to challenge it with documentation of the correct outcome.
Getting a Record Cleared
Expungement, which destroys a record, and sealing, which hides it from most public searches, are the main ways to reduce a record’s impact. Eligibility depends on the offense, the outcome of the case, how much time has passed, and the jurisdiction. Arrests that didn’t lead to charges, dismissed cases, and certain misdemeanor convictions are the most commonly eligible. Violent felonies and sex offenses are almost universally excluded.
Filing fees range from nothing to several hundred dollars depending on the jurisdiction, and many courts offer waivers based on income. Attorney fees add to the cost but aren’t always necessary for straightforward petitions.
A growing number of states are removing the burden of petitioning. As of late 2025, 13 states and Washington, D.C. have enacted “Clean Slate” laws that automatically seal eligible records after a waiting period, with no application required. These laws typically cover misdemeanor convictions and certain low-level felonies, with waiting periods of a few years after the sentence is completed. Serious violent offenses and sex crimes are excluded. Automatic sealing addresses a longstanding problem with traditional expungement: most people who are eligible never apply, either because they don’t know the option exists or because the process feels too complicated.