Literacy rate of the USA?

Question

I have to do a huge project for school and then there will be a debate. Well I need to know what the literacy rate of the US is and I need to know what the jail rate is as well. PLease help.

Answer 1

United States Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 99%
male: 99%
female: 99% (2003 est.)

Prison Rates:

2,193,798 prisoners were held in Federal or State prisons or in local jails -- an increase of 2.7% from yearend 2004, less than the average annual growth of 3.3% since yearend 1995.
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There were an estimated 491 prison inmates per 100,000 U.S. residents an increase from 411 at yearend 1995.

Answer 2

The CIA Fact Book is a great resource for things like literacy rates. In the USA, 99% of those over the age of 15 can read and write.

Just do a Google search for "prison population in the USA" to find that the percent of the population is prison is about 0.49%