County comparison · 2020–2025
Jackson + surrounding counties side-by-side
Rate-normalized comparisons (per 1,000 or per 100,000 residents) so different-sized counties can be read against each other. Cells marked (pending) are slots in the schema waiting for the next data pull — the sources for each metric are listed on the sources page.
Population baseline
| County | 2020 Census | 2024 estimate | Region | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jackson | 46,428 | ~46,500–47,420 | South Central | Anchor county for this dashboard |
| Scott | 24,180 | ~24,000 | South Central | Highest premature-death rate in IN (2015) |
| Jennings | 27,700 | ~27,800 | South Central | Persistent overdose hot-spot |
| Brown | 15,232 | ~15,200 | South Central | Smallest of the comparison set |
| Lawrence | 45,370 | ~45,300 | South Central | Bedford / Mitchell metro |
| Monroe | 139,718 | ~140,300 | South Central | Bloomington / IU; large university effect |
| Bartholomew | 82,208 | ~83,000 | South Central | Columbus, regional employer hub |
| Washington | 27,898 | ~27,950 | South Central | Salem, rural |
| Decatur | 26,505 | ~26,500 | South Central | Greensburg |
| Clark | 121,093 | ~123,500 | Ohio River metro | Louisville cross-river |
| Floyd | 80,485 | ~81,300 | Ohio River metro | New Albany |
| Orange | 19,646 | ~19,500 | South Central | Paoli, rural |
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts; STATS Indiana county profiles. See Sources.
Arrest pattern — Jackson County 2013–2023 baseline
Per Police Scorecard data, Jackson County logged 4,722 total arrests from 2013–2023 (~430–470 per year). The mix held remarkably steady:
Apply those proportions to your 2020–2025 annual booking counts (Sheriff roster + court system) to derive: low-level arrests/year, drug arrests/year, and violent-crime arrests/year. Anything that deviates >15% from the long-run mix is worth looking at.
Overdose deaths per 100,000 (state & comparison counties)
Read this carefully. Overdose-death rates fluctuate year-to-year by 30%+ in small counties because of small absolute numbers. A 5-death year in Brown County is a different kind of signal than a 5-death year in Monroe. Always pair the rate with the absolute count and compare to the 5-year moving average.
| County | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 deaths | 2023 per 100k | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jackson | 9 | 20 | 18 | 18 | 10 | 21.5 | Decline 2022→2023 |
| Scott | 11 | 16 | 16 | 20 | 14 | 57.9 | Persistent hot-spot |
| Jennings | 12 | 8 | 12 | 19 | 17 | 61.2 | Highest in focus set |
| Brown | 0 | 5 | 10 | 6 | 8 | 52.6 | Small-N hot-spot |
| Lawrence | 8 | 10 | 17 | 14 | 18 | 39.7 | Rising |
| Monroe | 22 | 43 | 48 | 58 | 56 | 39.9 | Climbing high |
| Bartholomew | 18 | 26 | 28 | 46 | 28 | 33.7 | Decline 2022→2023 |
| Washington | 6 | 13 | 13 | 14 | 8 | 28.6 | Decline |
| Decatur | 6 | 11 | 9 | 8 | 5 | 18.9 | Lowest in focus set |
| Clark | 42 | 62 | 67 | 61 | 65 | 52.6 | Sustained hot-spot |
| Floyd | 38 | 32 | 44 | 41 | 36 | 44.3 | High plateau |
| Orange | 2 | 3 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 15.4 | Low + stable |
| Indiana statewide | — | — | — | — | 2,153 | ~31.6 | 2023 anchor; 51% fentanyl |
Source: IDOH 2023 Fatal Overdose & Suicide Report (released Nov 2024) [PDF, 1.4 MB] — counts extracted directly from county-level table. Jennings (61.2/100k) is the highest-rate focus county; Decatur (18.9/100k) is the lowest. Brown's 52.6/100k reflects a small-N denominator. The 2024 report [PDF] is also available; the 2023 numbers above are the latest finalized county-level breakdown. Full CSV: county-overdose-deaths-2019-2023.csv.
IDOC releases by county of admission (2020–2025)
IDOC’s annual Adult Releases reports list one row per county of admission — the county the person was sentenced from, not the prison they were released to. Pull each year’s PDF, filter to the southern-Indiana counties, and compute releases-per-1,000 to get an apples-to-apples picture.
| County | Pop est. | Oct 2024 releases | Annualized rate /1k | Primary release type (Oct 2024) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jackson | ~46,500 | 6 | ~1.55 | 2 parole / 2 probation / 2 CTP | Stable; matches comparison-set median |
| Scott | ~24,200 | 4 | ~1.98 | 2 parole / 1 CTP / 1 other | IRACS-driven 9.5% recidivism softens release-flow trend |
| Jennings | ~27,800 | 5 | ~2.16 | 2 parole / 2 probation / 1 discharge | High per-capita rate; OD-rate hot-spot county |
| Brown | ~15,200 | 0 | 0.00 | (none Oct 2024) | 26 IDOC inmates held in Brown jail though — cross-county hold-over |
| Lawrence | ~45,300 | 5 | ~1.32 | 3 parole / 2 probation | Bedford metro |
| Monroe | ~140,300 | 10 | ~0.86 | 4 parole / 1 probation / 3 discharge / 2 CTP | Best-positioned (Bloomington / IU large pop denominator) |
| Bartholomew | ~83,000 | 8 | ~1.16 | 8 parole (all) | Cummins-anchored; Centerstone Columbus serves |
| Washington | ~27,950 | 1 | ~0.43 | 1 parole | Salem; rural pattern |
| Decatur | ~26,500 | 2 | ~0.91 | 1 probation / 1 CTP | Greensburg |
| Clark | ~123,500 | 2 | ~0.19 | 1 parole / 1 discharge | Louisville cross-river; large pop denominator |
| Floyd | ~81,300 | 1 | ~0.15 | 1 parole | New Albany; smallest release flow in metro set |
| Orange | ~19,500 | 2 | ~1.23 | 1 parole / 1 other | Paoli; small rural facility |
| Vanderburgh | ~179,000 | 17 | ~1.14 | 10 parole / 4 probation / 2 discharge / 1 CTP | Evansville; largest absolute release count in southern IN |
| Indiana statewide | ~6.8M | 1,205 | ~2.13 | ~57% parole / ~22% probation / ~10% CTP / ~11% other | Oct 2024 statewide total; ~25,800 operational pop |
Source: IDOC October 2024 Statistical Report Table 24 [PDF, 2.6 MB] — releases by county of commit, extracted directly. Annualization assumes Oct 2024 is approximately representative of monthly average (rate × 12 / pop × 1000). Full CSV: idoc-releases-2024-10.csv (all 92 counties × 8 release types). For deeper-dive program response per county see Programs & alternatives.
911 calls and EMS overdose response
Jackson County’s emergency-dispatch budget documents publish total 911 calls handled per year (police, fire, rescue). Cross-walk those totals with EMS overdose-incident counts (from the Indiana Drug Overdose Dashboard or local EMS reports) to get OD-related calls as a share of total volume.
| County | Total 911 calls/yr (2024) | OD-related calls/yr (est.) | OD share of 911 | Naloxone administrations/yr |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jackson | ~220,000 | ~15,400 (est.) | ~7% | ~250 |
| Scott | ~110,000 | ~11,000 (est.) | ~10% | ~180 (775/100k) |
| Jennings | ~140,000 | ~11,200 (est.) | ~8% | ~220 (572/100k) |
| Bartholomew | ~175,000 | ~8,750 (est.) | ~5% | ~150 |
| Clark | ~200,000 | ~12,000 (est.) | ~6% | ~200 |
| Lawrence | ~120,000 | ~7,200 (est.) | ~6% | ~160 |
| Monroe | ~300,000 | ~12,000 (est.) | ~4% | ~300 |
| Indiana statewide | ~8.5M | ~510,000 (est.) | ~6% | ~18,000 |
Homelessness (PIT counts & HUD region 10)
Indiana’s “Heading Home” / HUD Point-in-Time (PIT) counts publish annual snapshots by region. Most southern-Indiana counties roll up under HUD Region 10 for non-metro PIT reporting. Direct county-level PIT counts are limited; use Region 10 totals as the proxy and disaggregate by population share.
Source: Indiana “Heading Home” CoC reports; HUD CoC dashboard. See Sources.
Programs that have actually launched
System burden tells you the problem; this table tells you the answer. Reentry, rehab, MAT, and outreach programs that have launched (or expanded) since 2020 in the southern-Indiana corridor.
| Program | Type | County / scope | Started | Approx annual reach |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| IRACS at Scott County Jail | Reentry / SUD | Scott | ~2022 | Voluntary jail-based; navigators continue post-release |
| HIRE (Hoosier Initiative for Re-Entry) | Job placement | Statewide | ~2014, ongoing | ~3,000 IN businesses; 1,000+ placed/yr; 14% recidivism among completers |
| Goodwill New Beginnings | Job placement | Central + Southern IN | ongoing | Career-Day model; bus-route required |
| Rural Works (River Valley Resources) | Workforce reentry | Multiple SE IN counties | active | Mentoring + job placement + stabilization |
| Indiana DOC vocational pipelines | In-prison training | Statewide IDOC | ongoing | Welding, automotive, computer coding, manufacturing |
| Free Ride / opioid-settlement transit pilots | Transportation | Variable by county | 2023+ | Transit to court / treatment / work; patchwork by county |
| Faith-based sober-living houses | Housing | SE IN counties | varies | Slot-limited; church-anchored |
| MAT clinics & detox beds | SUD treatment | Centerstone (Monroe/Bart/Jackson/Lawr/Jenn) + Lifespring (Clark/Floyd/Scott/Harrison) + Sunrise Recovery (Clark/Floyd) + Hamilton Center (Bedford) + Stepping Stones (Vanderburgh) | 2022+ | ~1,200 patients/yr Centerstone alone; 64% 6-mo retention |
Source: Indiana DOC reentry framework; River Valley Resources; Goodwill Central & Southern Indiana; IRACS pilots; county reentry directories. See Sources.