Arizona state prisons do not have a straightforward annual “profit” figure, because they are a government system funded by tax dollars rather than a business that reports profit and loss. The more relevant number is the state’s corrections budget and any revenue it earns from prison labor programs or contracts, not a net profit.

What can be said reliably

  • Arizona had about 34,500 people in state prisons at the end of 2023.
  • The Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry is a public agency, so it is generally evaluated on annual appropriations and operating costs, not profit margins.
  • Arizona has also earned money from inmate labor-related arrangements, with reporting noting the state “raked in millions” from prison labor sales, but that is revenue , not prison-system profit.

Practical answer

If you mean, “How much money do Arizona prisons make for the state each year?”, the honest answer is: there is no single public profit number. The system costs far more to operate than any labor-related or contract revenue it brings in, so it is not typically described as profitable.

Best public framing

A better way to ask it is:

  1. What is Arizona’s annual corrections budget?
  2. How much revenue does Arizona collect from prison labor or prison-related contracts?
  3. How much does private-prison contracting cost the state, if that is what you mean?

Arizona’s prisons are a public expense, not a profit center, even though some prison-related programs generate revenue.