Description
Philadelphia Prisons: Staffing Levels
Philadelphia’s Department of Prisons operates five facilities housing approximately 2,500 to 3,000 incarcerated individuals. Over time, the department has significantly increased filled positions, but staffing shortages remain a major operational challenge. To provide ongoing transparency and track progress, the Controller’s Office has launched a bi-weekly Prison Staffing Tracker at controller.phila.gov.
As of May 2026, the department has 1,611 filled positions out of 1,878 budgeted roles, leaving 263 vacancies, or 14% of all authorized positions unfilled. This is a 70% reduction in vacancies from FY 2024, when the fill rate was only 55.1%.
Correctional Officer’s account for the largest staffing gap. Of the 1,663 authorized correctional officer positions, only 1,427 are filled, representing 236 vacancies in the role most critical to facility operations and inmate supervision. At the same time, the incarcerated population remains near 3,100 individuals, creating an inmate-to-correctional-officer ratio of 2.18 to 1. Persistent vacancies contribute to overtime costs, operational strain, and safety concerns for both staff and incarcerated individuals.
Each month Controller Brady looks forward to bringing transparency and accountability of our city, right to you.