US Death Penalty Statistics 2026 | Executions, States & Key Facts

The Death Penalty in the US 2026

The death penalty in the United States stands at a critical crossroads in 2026, with executions surging to their highest levels in over 16 years while public support continues declining. In 2025, the nation executed 47 people—a dramatic increase from 25 in 2024, ending a decade of historically low numbers. This surge was driven almost entirely by Florida, which conducted 19 executions (40% of the total), reshaping the national landscape.

Currently, 27 states retain capital punishment, though only 21 actively carry out executions. The death row population has declined for 24 consecutive years to approximately 2,004 inmates—the lowest in over 32 years. Public support fell to a 50-year low of 52%, with opposition at its highest recorded level (44%). This divergence reflects that today’s executions represent sentences imposed decades ago when support exceeded 70%.

Latest Death Penalty Facts and Statistics in the US 2026

Data source: Death Penalty Information Center 2025; Gallup 2025; Bureau of Justice Statistics 2023; NAACP Legal Defense Fund 2026

The 47 executions in 2025 represented an 88% increase over 2024, breaking a pattern of 10 consecutive years with fewer than 30 executions. This dramatic rise occurred despite new death sentences falling to just 23 in 2025—among the lowest on record and down from 26 in 2024. The disconnect illustrates the lengthy timeline of capital punishment: individuals executed in 2025 spent an average of more than 20 years on death row, with their sentences imposed when public support exceeded 70%.

The death row population of 2,004 represents a 37.2% decline from the 2001 peak of 3,717 prisoners under sentence of death. This sustained decrease reflects multiple factors: fewer new death sentences, more reversals on appeal, growing numbers of natural deaths among aging inmates, and states abolishing or suspending capital punishment. Meanwhile, public support at 52% marks the lowest level since measurement began in the 1970s, when support exceeded 70%. The 44% opposition figure surpasses any previous recording, with Gallup noting that more than half of young adults ages 18-43 now oppose the death penalty. Since 1976 when executions resumed, 1,636 individuals have been put to death, while over 190 death row inmates have been exonerated—a rate exceeding 2% of all those sentenced.

Executions by State in the US 2025

Data source: Death Penalty Information Center 2025; Death Row USA 2025

Florida’s unprecedented execution pace drove the 2025 surge, conducting 19 executions—a number no single state had reached in decades. This dramatic increase came under Governor Ron DeSantis, who signed death warrants at an accelerated rate. Alabama and Texas tied for second with 5 executions each, followed by Oklahoma and South Carolina with 4 each. Alabama notably became the first state to use nitrogen hypoxia as an execution method in January 2024, conducting 8 nitrogen gas executions total by year-end 2025 (7 in Alabama, 1 in Louisiana).

Geographic concentration remained stark, with 76% of 2024 executions and a similar proportion in 2025 occurring in Southern states. Since executions resumed in 1977, more than 80% of all U.S. executions have occurred in the South. Texas leads historically with 598 executions since 1982, though its annual pace has slowed dramatically from peaks in the 1990s-2000s. Three states resumed executions after extended hiatuses: Utah (first in 14 years), South Carolina (13-year pause), and Indiana (first in over a decade) in 2024. Arizona announced plans to resume executions in early 2025 after a review.

Death Row Demographics in the US 2026

Data source: Wikipedia Death Row List April 2026; Bureau of Justice Statistics 2023; NAACP Legal Defense Fund October 2025

Racial disproportionality remains a defining characteristic of death row demographics. African Americans comprise 41% of death row inmates despite representing only 12.4% of the U.S. population—a rate 3.3 times their population share. Black defendants have accounted for 34% of those executed since 1976. In stark disparity, only 21 white offenders have been executed for murdering a Black victim since 1976, compared to 302 Black offenders executed for murdering white victims during the same period.

White inmates account for 47% of death row, slightly below their 61.6% population share, while Hispanic/Latino inmates at 17% approximate their population percentage. Native Americans at 1% and Asians/Pacific Islanders at 2% have smaller representations. The death row population has grown increasingly racially disproportionate over time, with persons of color rising from 49% in May 1990 to 58% by January 2023—an increase of 9 percentage points in racial concentration.

Gender disparities are extreme: females represent only 2.2% of death row inmates (44 women) despite being 50.8% of the population. Since 1976, 17 women have been executed. The average time spent on death row has increased to over 20 years, with some inmates spending 30-40 years awaiting execution. The median age at execution is late 40s to early 50s, reflecting the lengthy appeals process.

Execution Methods in the US 2025

Data source: Death Penalty Information Center 2025; State execution protocols 2024-2025

Lethal injection remains predominant, used in 39 of 47 executions (83%) in 2025. However, drug availability concerns and constitutional challenges have prompted alternatives. The three-drug protocol typically includes a sedative, paralytic, and cardiac agent, though variations exist.

Nitrogen hypoxia emerged as the newest method, with Alabama conducting the nation’s first nitrogen gas execution in January 2024. Eight people were executed by this method through 2025 (7 in Alabama, 1 in Louisiana). The method involves replacing breathable air with pure nitrogen gas, causing oxygen deprivation. However, it generated intense controversy, with witnesses describing violent shaking and prolonged suffering. Justice Sotomayor called it “psychological terror” and “excruciating suffocation.” Anthony Boyd’s execution lasted nearly 40 minutes with 225 agonized breaths reported.

Firing squad executions resumed with Utah’s execution in August 2024. Five states now permit this method. Electrocution and gas chamber remain authorized but rarely used.

States with Death Penalty vs Abolition in the US 2026

Data source: Death Penalty Information Center 2025; National Conference of State Legislatures 2025

Twenty-seven states retain capital punishment as a legal sentence, though practical ability to execute varies significantly. Four states—California, Ohio, Oregon, and Pennsylvania—have death penalty statutes but gubernatorial moratoriums preventing executions. California has the nation’s largest death row with nearly 600 inmates despite not executing anyone since 2006. Pennsylvania holds approximately 100 inmates under moratorium. These moratorium states house over 30% of the nation’s death row population.

Twenty-three states plus Washington, D.C. have abolished capital punishment through legislative or judicial action. Virginia became the most recent abolition in 2021. The abolition trend accelerated in recent decades: 11 states abolished the death penalty since 2007, including Colorado (2020), New Hampshire (2019), Washington (2018), Delaware (2016), Nebraska (2015, reaffirmed 2016), Connecticut (2012), Illinois (2011), New Mexico (2009), and New Jersey (2007).

Six states with death penalty laws lack the practical ability to execute, either due to court challenges, lack of execution drugs, or inability to implement protocols. Only 21 states actively carry out executions. Fewer than 2% of counties in death penalty states account for more than 50% of the nation’s death row population, with concentration in counties like Harris County, Texas (136 executions—more than any state except Texas itself), Dallas County (66), and Tarrant County (47).

New Death Sentences in the US 2025

Data source: Death Penalty Information Center 2025; Bureau of Justice Statistics 2023

New death sentences continued their historic decline in 2025, with just 23 imposed—among the lowest totals since capital punishment resumed in 1976. This represents a 93% decrease from the 1996 peak of 316 sentences. The 2024 total of 26 marked a slight increase from 2023’s 21, but both years remained at historically low levels. Through mid-2025, only 10 new death sentences had been imposed—a slower pace than the corresponding period in 2024.

Critically, Death Penalty Information Center research found that when juries were asked to choose between life and death sentences in 2025, 56% recommended life sentences—meaning more than half rejected capital punishment even in cases that prosecutors deemed the most aggravated. Only 15 juries nationwide were able to unanimously agree to impose death sentences. This growing reluctance reflects improved jury understanding of trauma, mental illness, intellectual disability, and brain damage, as well as shifting views on the death penalty’s effectiveness.

New death sentences came from just 6 states in 2025, concentrated in traditional death penalty jurisdictions. Texas imposed 6 sentences in 2024, with Harris County (Houston) and Tarrant County (Fort Worth) remaining the state’s most aggressive jurisdictions. Harris County sentenced 2 people to death in 2025—the first time since 2014 that more than one death sentence was imposed there in a year. 23 of the last 24 defendants sentenced to death in Harris County have been people of color. The dramatic decline in new sentences ensures the death row population will continue shrinking for years to come.

Public Opinion on Death Penalty in the US 2026

Data source: Gallup Poll October 2025; Pew Research Center 2024; Death Penalty Information Center 2025

Public support for the death penalty has fallen to a 50-year low of 52% according to Gallup’s 2025 poll, while opposition reached its highest recorded level at 44%—the highest since measurement began in May 1966. This represents a dramatic shift from the early 1990s when support exceeded 70%, and reflects a decades-long trend of declining approval since peaking at 80% in 1994 following high-profile crime concerns.

Generational divides are stark: Gallup found that more than half of young U.S. adults ages 18-43 now oppose the death penalty, predicting continued erosion of support as older cohorts are replaced by younger voters. The percentage finding the death penalty morally acceptable fell from 60% in 2024 to 55% in 2025. When polls offer alternatives, majorities often prefer life without parole over execution, indicating that while some support capital punishment in principle, fewer see it as necessary or preferable.

Concerns driving opposition include: wrongful convictions (with over 190 exonerations since 1973), racial disparities in application, arbitrary and unfair imposition concentrated in a tiny fraction of counties, costs exceeding life imprisonment due to legal processes, and moral objections to state-sanctioned killing. High-profile cases involving innocence claims, such as Marcellus Williams (executed despite DNA concerns), Robert Roberson (autism and outdated “shaken baby” science), and Richard Glossip (prosecutorial misconduct) have elevated public awareness of system flaws.

Innocence and Exonerations in the US 2026

Data source: Death Penalty Information Center 2025; National Registry of Exonerations 2025

Over 190 death row inmates have been exonerated since 1973—a rate exceeding 2% of all those sentenced to death, indicating that at least 1 in every 50 capital sentences involves someone later proven innocent. Many exonerees spent decades awaiting execution for crimes they did not commit, with Glynn Simmons serving 48 years—longer than any other wrongfully convicted person—before his 2023 exoneration. The average exoneree spent over 10 years on death row before release.

Leading causes of wrongful convictions include: inadequate defense representation (many capital defendants receive minimal legal assistance), false testimony from jailhouse informants or witnesses, prosecutorial misconduct (withholding exculpatory evidence), racial bias in jury selection and charging decisions, flawed forensic evidence, and false confessions (often from defendants with intellectual disabilities or following coercive interrogations).

DNA evidence has played a crucial role in uncovering wrongful convictions, though it exists in only a fraction of cases. Forensic science advancements have revealed that methods once considered reliable—including bite mark analysis, arson investigation techniques, and “shaken baby syndrome” diagnoses—lack scientific validity, leading to exonerations of individuals convicted on such evidence.

Florida, Texas, Illinois, Louisiana, and Arizona lead in exonerations, correlating with their historically heavy use of capital punishment. The irreversible nature of execution raises profound questions: if over 190 have been exonerated, how many innocent people have been executed? Research suggests the actual innocence rate among those sentenced to death may be as high as 4%, implying dozens of innocent people may have been executed since 1976.

Vulnerabilities Among Executed Individuals in the US 2025

Data source: Death Penalty Information Center 2024-2025 analysis

Ninety-six percent of people executed in 2024 had documented at least one major vulnerability that would make them ineligible for the death penalty under current legal standards or raise serious concerns about culpability. These vulnerabilities include: IQs in the intellectually disabled range, brain damage, evidence of serious mental illness, and histories of severe childhood trauma or abuse. Despite the Supreme Court’s 2002 ruling in Atkins v. Virginia barring execution of the intellectually disabled, determining intellectual disability remains contested, and individuals with borderline IQs continue to be executed.

Twenty-four percent of those executed in 2024 (6 of 25) were age 21 or younger at the time of their crime. While the Supreme Court’s 2005 Roper v. Simmons decision banned execution of those under 18, emerging neuroscience shows brain development continues into the mid-20s, particularly in areas governing impulse control and judgment. 64 people in Texas alone have been executed for crimes committed under age 21 since the Roper decision, 48 of whom were people of color.

Ten military veterans were executed in 2025—the highest number in nearly 20 years, with seven occurring in Florida. Many veterans on death row suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), traumatic brain injury (TBI), and other service-related conditions that were not adequately considered at trial. The intersection of military service, trauma, mental illness, and capital punishment raises questions about society’s treatment of those who served.

Serious mental illness, including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and other psychotic conditions, is documented in numerous executed individuals, yet the Supreme Court has not categorically barred their execution. Severe childhood trauma—including physical abuse, sexual abuse, neglect, and exposure to violence—is nearly universal among death row inmates, yet often goes unconsidered by juries focused on the crime itself.

Federal Death Penalty in the US 2026

Data source: Department of Justice 2024-2026; Death Penalty Information Center 2025

The federal death penalty underwent dramatic shifts 2020-2026. After a 17-year hiatus, the Trump administration executed 13 federal inmates in six months (July 2020-January 2021)—more than the previous 56 years combined. AG Merrick Garland imposed a moratorium in July 2021.

On December 23, 2024, Biden commuted the sentences of 37 of 40 federal death row inmates to life without parole. The three not commuted: Dzhokhar Tsarnaev (Boston Marathon), Dylann Roof (Charleston church), and Robert Bowers (Pittsburgh synagogue). This left just 3 on federal civilian death row.

Trump’s second term began with an executive order on January 20, 2025 to restore federal executions. AG Pam Bondi rescinded the moratorium February 5, 2025. Military death row separately holds 4 inmates.

Cost of Death Penalty in the US 2026

Data source: Various state studies and reports; Death Penalty Information Center cost analyses

The death penalty costs substantially more than life without parole. Capital trials require two phases, specialized attorneys, experts, and heightened standards—costing 3-10 times more than non-capital trials. The El Paso case cost $6 million without trial. Appeals span 20+ years through multiple court levels. Idaho spent over $300,000 on execution chamber renovations despite no executions in 12 years. California’s system cost $137 million annually more than life sentences. Studies consistently show death penalty cases costing millions more per case than alternatives.

Recent Legislation and Legal Developments in the US 2026

Legislative trends show divergence: some states expanding, others strengthening abolition. Florida, Tennessee, Idaho, and Alabama passed laws allowing death penalty for child rape, defying the Supreme Court’s Kennedy v. Louisiana precedent. Texas raised penalties for attempted capital murder of peace officers. Multiple states expanded eligibility for crimes involving child torture and human trafficking.

Execution protocol changes dominated activity, with states authorizing nitrogen gas and firing squad alternatives due to lethal injection drug shortages. The Supreme Court has “largely abandoned” oversight, issuing no stays in 2024-2025. Delaware pursues a constitutional amendment prohibiting reinstatement of capital punishment after 2016 abolition.

Disclaimer: This research report is compiled from publicly available sources. While reasonable efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, no representation or warranty, express or implied, is given as to the completeness or reliability of the information. We accept no liability for any errors, omissions, losses, or damages of any kind arising from the use of this report.

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