The everyday cost of things in jail runs two to five times what the same items cost at a regular store, and once you add phone calls, medical co-pays, deposit fees, and in some places a daily charge just for being locked up, families routinely spend several hundred dollars a month. The exact numbers depend on the facility, but the categories are the same almost everywhere.
Commissary: Food and Hygiene
The commissary is the small store inside the facility, and it is where most of the money goes. Investigative reporting has documented markups as high as 600 percent on individual items, with most goods running two to five times retail.
Ramen is the most-purchased item and a fair benchmark. A packet that costs about 25 cents at a grocery store runs from roughly 40 cents to more than a dollar inside, and the price for the same brand can vary between facilities in the same state.
Hygiene items carry similar markups. A federal prison commissary list shows bars of soap between $2.15 and $3.15, and toothpaste from $1.20 for a basic tube up to $5.05 for a name brand.1Federal Bureau of Prisons. BOP Commissary Shopping List State and county facilities often charge more than the federal system, and selection is usually limited to whatever single vendor holds the contract.
Most facilities cap monthly commissary spending. Federal prisons set the limit at $320 per month, rising to $370 in November and December. State limits vary. People with a dollar or less in their account for 14 or more consecutive days typically qualify for a free indigent hygiene kit, usually available once every 30 days.
Phone Calls and Video Calls
Phone calls from jail used to run a dollar or more per minute. New FCC rate caps under the 2025 IPCS Order took effect on April 6, 2026, and they vary by facility type and size. For audio calls, the effective per-minute caps (including a $0.02 facility cost additive) are:
- Prisons, any size: $0.11
- Large jails (1,000+ population): $0.10
- Medium jails (350–999): $0.12
- Small jails (100–349): $0.13
- Very small jails (50–99): $0.15
- Extremely small jails (under 50): $0.19
A 15-minute call from a state prison now costs about $1.65 at most. Video calls run higher:
- Prisons: $0.25 per minute
- Large and medium jails: $0.19 per minute
- Small jails: $0.21 per minute
- Very small jails: $0.25 per minute
- Extremely small jails: $0.44 per minute
The FCC rules also ban add-on charges like automated payment fees and fees for depositing money into a phone account.2Federal Communications Commission. Incarcerated Peoples Communications Services These are ceilings, so some facilities charge less. International calls are excluded from the caps and can still carry heavy surcharges.
Tablets and Electronic Messages
Most facilities now offer some form of electronic messaging through tablets or kiosks. It works like a stripped-down email, and it is not free. A single e-message typically costs 25 to 50 cents. Some prison systems that negotiated contracts without kickback arrangements have gotten prices as low as 15 cents per message.
Tablets themselves have introduced a new category of cost. Rental fees run around $5 per month where the tablet is not provided free. Content is where the real money goes: a single song download can cost up to $2.50, movie rentals range from $2 to $25, and monthly music or movie subscription packages run about $22 to $25. Each purchase often carries its own transaction fee on top of the listed price.
Medical Co-Pays
About 40 states charge a co-pay for non-emergency medical care. The fee is usually $2 to $5 per visit, with $5 the most common state amount. The federal system charges $2.3Prison Policy Initiative. State and Federal Prison Co-Pay Policies and Sourcing Information
Facilities cannot refuse care if you can’t pay, but the charge doesn’t vanish. In most systems the unpaid co-pay becomes a debt against the person’s account, and when money later arrives from any source, the facility deducts the outstanding medical charges before the person can spend anything on commissary.3Prison Policy Initiative. State and Federal Prison Co-Pay Policies and Sourcing Information In some states, 50 percent of every future deposit is withheld until the medical debt is paid off.
Booking Fees and Daily “Pay-to-Stay” Charges
County jails commonly charge a one-time booking fee at intake. Amounts range from as little as $3 to well over $100, with $10 the most commonly reported. Some facilities charge the fee each time a person is booked in and out, which adds up for anyone serving an intermittent sentence.
A number of jurisdictions also charge a daily fee for the incarceration itself, sometimes called pay-to-stay or room and board. Researchers have documented rates from $20 to $80 per day for the full length of the stay. Thirty days in a county jail at $50 a day leaves a $1,500 bill on release, separate from any fines, court costs, or restitution.
Unpaid balances routinely go to private collection agencies, and in some states the government can intercept tax refunds to collect. Refundable credits like the Earned Income Tax Credit can be seized to pay off jail bills.4Fines and Fees Justice Center. Seizing the Safety Net: Collecting Criminal Justice Debt with Tax Refund Offsets
What It Costs to Send Money In
Family and friends can add money to an incarcerated person’s trust account electronically or by mailing a postal money order, and some facilities accept deposits at lobby kiosks.5USAGov. How to Visit or Send Money to a Prisoner The private vendors handling these transactions charge substantial fees. An online transfer of $50 commonly runs $3 to $7 in fees, and the percentage gets worse on smaller amounts: a $20 deposit with the same $3 to $7 fee is effectively a 15 to 35 percent surcharge. The fees go to the vendor, not the facility or the inmate.
The Federal Bureau of Prisons accepts electronic deposits and postal money orders.5USAGov. How to Visit or Send Money to a Prisoner Each state system has its own designated vendor, so you’ll need to look up the specific facility to see which service to use and what it charges.
What the Person Can Actually Earn Inside
Prison wages are what make all of the prices above painful. Federal maintenance and kitchen jobs pay $0.12 to $0.40 per hour. Federal inmates with UNICOR (Federal Prison Industries) jobs earn more, typically $0.23 to $1.15 per hour, but those positions are limited and competitive.6Federal Bureau of Prisons. UNICOR
State wages vary more. Six states pay nothing at all for prison labor. The highest-paying states average under a dollar an hour. A $3 bar of soap at $0.12 an hour is 25 hours of work.
Money Taken Before It Can Be Spent
Not everything deposited into a trust account is actually available to spend. Court-ordered obligations come out first.
In federal prison, the Inmate Financial Responsibility Program requires every inmate with financial obligations to make regular payments toward them. Non-UNICOR workers are ordinarily expected to pay at least $25 per quarter; UNICOR workers at grades 1 through 4 must typically allot at least 50 percent of monthly pay. The program excludes $75 per month from assessment so inmates can keep phone contact with family.7eCFR. 28 CFR Part 545 Subpart B – Inmate Financial Responsibility Program
State systems have their own collection rules, and some are aggressive. In California, the corrections department can garnish 50 percent of any deposit to a prisoner’s trust account, including money sent by family, to pay restitution if the person isn’t making voluntary payments.8California Victim Compensation Board. An Offenders Restitution Responsibilities Families are often caught off guard: a $100 deposit intended for commissary can lose half to restitution before the person can spend any of it.
Debts That Follow the Person Home
Incarceration-related debt does not reset on release. Unpaid room and board, medical co-pays, booking charges, and restitution can follow a person for years. Jurisdictions turn unpaid balances over to private collection agencies, which can hurt credit scores and complicate housing and employment during reentry.
Tax refund interception is a growing collection tool, and in some states it accounts for the bulk of criminal justice debt collection. The people hit hardest are those who qualify for refundable credits like the Earned Income Tax Credit.4Fines and Fees Justice Center. Seizing the Safety Net: Collecting Criminal Justice Debt with Tax Refund Offsets
Court-ordered restitution also survives release and can be enforced through wage garnishment, liens, and other civil collection methods. The Department of Justice keeps restitution cases open as active debts and applies a percentage of any payments received.9U.S. Department of Justice. Restitution Process For someone leaving with no savings and limited job prospects, the total from a single stretch inside can take years to pay down.