How Much Does Federal Prison Cost Families
The federal government spends $42,672 per year to house each inmate. You'd think that covers everything. It dosent. Families of federal inmates spend an average of $4,200 annually just to maintain basic contact and keep their loved ones fed - and thats the average. Black families spend $8,005. The prison takes custody. The family pays the bill.
Welcome to Spodek Law Group. We've seen what happens when families learn the real cost of federal incarceration - usually too late to do anything about it. The system dosent explain these costs upfront. Nobody hands you a budget sheet when your loved one self-surrenders. You figure it out month by month, deposit by deposit, until your looking at credit card statements and wondering how you got here.
This is the hidden second sentence. The one nobody talks about in the courtroom. The one that lands on spouses, parents, children - people who committed no crime but end up paying for years.
The Numbers Nobody Tells You
Heres the reality most families discover the hard way.
The Bureau of Prisons houses federal inmates at a cost of $116.91 per day - thats the taxpayer number. But inside the facility, inmates rely on commissary for things the BOP dosent provide adequately: decent food, basic hygiene items, writing materials, clothing that fits, fans to survive the heat. The monthly spending limit is $360. That goes up to $410 in November and December for holiday shopping.
So right there - $4,320 per year just in commissary capacity.
Most families cant sustain that. According to BOP data from December 2024, 77% of commissary accounts held $249.99 or less. Thats not families who dont care. Thats families who cant keep up.
And the commissary is just one piece. Phone calls, emails, visits - every form of contact comes with a price tag:
- Phone calls: $0.06 per minute under current federal rates - a 15-minute daily call costs $27 per month, $324 per year
- Video calls: $0.16 per minute - a 15-minute video visit runs $2.40
- Emails through CorrLinks: Inmates pay $0.05 per minute to send messages - one message can cost $0.30
- Transfer fees: $8 surcharge on deposits - representing 40% of a $20 deposit
An inmate earning $0.12 per hour - which is the starting wage in many federal facilities - needs two and a half hours of work to send a single email. So who pays? Families deposit money. Inmates send messages. The system extracts from both sides.
We've handled cases were families burned through there savings in the first year. Not becuase they were irresponsible - becuase nobody explained what federal prison actualy costs. The sticker shock hits around month three, when the commissary requests keep coming and the phone bills keep climbing and you realize this is the new normal for the next 36 months. Or 60. Or 120.
Where Every Dollar Goes
The commissary is were families feel the markup most directly.
Prison Policy Initiative found commissary prices marked up as high as 600% over retail. Ramen that costs $0.35 at Target costs up to $1.06 in federal prison. Reading glasses that cost $3 at Walgreens cost $15 or more behind bars. Your paying premium prices for basic goods in a market with zero competition.
And getting that money into the commissary account costs extra.
Transfer fees vary by provider, but families regularly pay $8 surcharges on deposits. If your sending $100, thats 8%. But low-income families often send smaller amounts - $20, $40 at a time. That $8 surcharge on a $20 deposit is 40% overhead before your loved one sees a dime.
The phone situation has been a rollercoaster. Back in 2018, a 15-minute call in some facilities cost $10-15. The FCC stepped in. By 2024, they capped rates at $0.06 per minute for prisons and large jails. Families celebrated. Worth Rises estimated the caps would save 1.4 million incarcerated people and there families at least $500 million annually.
Then November 2025 happened.
The FCC voted 2-1 to roll back the rate caps. Under the new interim rules, phone calls can cost up to $0.11 per minute in large prisons, $0.18 per minute in small jails. Video calls can cost up to $0.41 per minute in smaller facilities.
The "victory" lasted about 12 months.
Meanwhile, the pandemic phone policy is gone. The BOP used to provide 500 minutes of free calls monthly. That ended. Every minute now costs money - and for families strugling to make rent, that cost adds up faster then they expected.
One family reported spending $300 per month just so four children could speak to there incarcerated grandfather. Three hundred dollars. Every month. For phone calls.
The numbers are brutal: 34% of families went into debt specifically to pay for phone calls and visits. Not commissary. Not extras. Just maintaining basic human contact.
The Distance Sentence
Heres what nobody mentions at sentencing.
Federal inmates are housed an average of 500 miles from home.
Thats a 14-hour roundtrip by car. Add gas, food, maybe an overnight stay if you cant make the drive in one day. Add time off work. Add childcare if your bringing kids - or add guilt if your leaving them behind. One visit can cost $200-400 depending on distance and circumstances.
Three in five family members reported distance as the primary obstacle to staying in touch. Not money directly - distance. The system places people where beds are available, not where families can reach them.
And when families cant visit, when calls get too expensive, when the commissary account runs dry - relationships fray. The consequences cascade:
- 1 in 5 family members forced to move due to a loved one's incarceration
- 1 in 3 children of incarcerated parents got uprooted
- 9% of family members experienced homelessness during the incarceration
- 18% homelessness rate among those who had an incarcerated parent themselves
Nearly 2 in 3 families with an incarcerated member - 65% - reported being unable to meet there basic needs. Housing. Food. Utilities. They were diverting resources to the incarcerated person and falling behind on everything else.
FWD.us calculated the total cost to U.S. families at nearly $350 billion annually - counting direct expenses and lost household income. If incarceration rates stay steady, families face $3.5 trillion in cumulative losses over the next decade.
We get it. You didnt expect to be reading an article about prison costs when this started. You expected a legal problem, a courtroom, maybe a sentence. You didnt expect to become the supply chain for basic survival. But thats what happens. And its what we work to mitigate when we can.
Facility designation matters. Getting someone placed closer to home matters. Understanding the financial reality before surrender matters. Todd Spodek has helped families navigate these conversations - the ones about what happens after sentencing, after the courtroom drama ends, when the monthly bills start arriving.
If your facing a federal case and wondering what incarceration will actualy cost your family, call Spodek Law Group at 212-300-5196. The consultation is free. The information might save you thousands.
Were here when you need us.
