Of the 50 states, 27 keep the death penalty and 23 have abolished it, and four of the 27 are under a governor’s hold that stops executions in practice. Death penalty states carried out 47 executions in 2025 and 32 in 2026 through 20 October, and Florida and Texas account for 25 of the 32.
The table uses each state’s status as of early November 2026 and counts executions through 20 October 2026. The federal government and the military also keep the penalty. The national death row held 2,004 active sentences in January 2026.
All 50 States, the Federal Government and the Military: Status, Methods and Execution Counts
| State | Status | Authorised methods | Executions 2025 | Executions 2026 to 20 Oct | Executions since 1976 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | Retained | Injection; alternatives electrocution, nitrogen | 5 | 2 | 85 |
| Alaska | Abolished 1957 | None | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Arizona | Retained | Injection, lethal gas | 2 | 1 | 43 |
| Arkansas | Retained | Injection; alternatives electrocution, nitrogen | 0 | 0 | 31 |
| California | Governor’s hold | Injection, lethal gas | 0 | 0 | 13 |
| Colorado | Abolished 2020 | None | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Connecticut | Abolished 2012 | None | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Delaware | Abolished 2016 | None | 0 | 0 | 16 |
| Florida | Retained | Injection, electrocution; any constitutional method | 19 | 18 | 143 |
| Georgia | Retained | Injection | 0 | 0 | 77 |
| Hawaii | Abolished 1957 | None | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Idaho | Retained | Injection; firing squad primary from 1 July 2026 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Illinois | Abolished 2011 | None | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| Indiana | Retained | Injection | 2 | 0 | 23 |
| Iowa | Abolished 1965 | None | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Kansas | Retained | Injection | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Kentucky | Retained | Injection, electrocution | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Louisiana | Retained | Injection; alternatives electrocution, nitrogen | 1 | 0 | 29 |
| Maine | Abolished 1887 | None | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Maryland | Abolished 2013 | None | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| Massachusetts | Abolished 1984 | None | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Michigan | Abolished 1847 | None | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Minnesota | Abolished 1911 | None | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mississippi | Retained | Injection; alternatives electrocution, nitrogen, firing squad | 2 | 0 | 25 |
| Missouri | Retained | Injection, lethal gas | 1 | 0 | 102 |
| Montana | Retained | Injection | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Nebraska | Retained | Injection | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Nevada | Retained | Injection | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| New Hampshire | Abolished 2019 | None | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| New Jersey | Abolished 2007 | None | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| New Mexico | Abolished 2009 | None | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| New York | Abolished 2007 | None | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| North Carolina | Retained | Injection; any constitutional method | 0 | 0 | 43 |
| North Dakota | Abolished 1973 | None | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ohio | Governor’s hold | Injection | 0 | 0 | 56 |
| Oklahoma | Retained | Injection; alternatives electrocution, nitrogen, firing squad | 2 | 3 | 132 |
| Oregon | Governor’s hold | Injection | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Pennsylvania | Governor’s hold | Injection | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Rhode Island | Abolished 1984 | None | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| South Carolina | Retained | Electrocution default; injection or firing squad if elected | 5 | 0 | 50 |
| South Dakota | Retained | Injection | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| Tennessee | Retained | Injection; alternative electrocution | 3 | 1 | 17 |
| Texas | Retained | Injection | 5 | 7 | 603 |
| Utah | Retained | Injection; alternative firing squad | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| Vermont | Abolished 1972 | None | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Virginia | Abolished 2021 | None | 0 | 0 | 113 |
| Washington | Abolished 2023 | None | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| West Virginia | Abolished 1965 | None | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Wisconsin | Abolished 1853 | None | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Wyoming | Retained | Injection; alternative lethal gas | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Federal government | Retained | Injection | 0 | 0 | 16 |
| US military | Retained | Set by the Army Secretary | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Death Penalty States Ranked by Executions in 2025 and 2026 Combined
Ties are broken by executions since 1976.
1. Florida: 19 Executions in 2025 and 18 More in 2026
2025: 19 · 2026 to 20 Oct: 18 · Since 1976: 143 · Death row: 256
Florida carried out 19 executions in 2025, about 40% of the national total, and 18 more in 2026. Those 37 equal roughly a quarter of the 143 it has carried out since 1976.
It was the first state to reinstate the penalty after Furman, and John Spenkelink’s execution on 25 May 1979 was its first of a prisoner who had not volunteered.
2. Texas: 12 Executions on Top of 603 Since 1976
2025: 5 · 2026 to 20 Oct: 7 · Since 1976: 603 · Death row: 168
Texas has carried out 603 executions since 1976, more than four times Florida’s 143. Harris County alone accounts for 136, more than any state other than Texas itself.
Five executions in 2025 and seven in 2026, place it second for the two years. Charles Brooks, executed on 7 December 1982, was the first person put to death by lethal injection in the country.
3. Alabama: Where the First Nitrogen Execution Took Place
2025: 5 · 2026 to 20 Oct: 2 · Since 1976: 85 · Death row: 159
Alabama carried out five executions in 2025, four by nitrogen gas and one by injection, and two in 2026, both by injection. Kenneth Smith’s, on 25 January 2024, was the first nitrogen execution in the country, and the state has used the method seven times.
It is one of only two states that allow a death sentence on a non-unanimous jury, 10 of 12 jurors. Its death row of 159 is the fourth largest.
4. Oklahoma: Five Executions Under Four Authorised Methods
2025: 2 · 2026 to 20 Oct: 3 · Since 1976: 132 · Death row: 27
Oklahoma carried out two executions in 2025 and three in 2026. That ties it with South Carolina, and its 132 since 1976, third behind Texas and Florida, place it higher.
Lethal injection is the primary method, with electrocution, nitrogen gas and the firing squad authorised as alternatives. Its first modern execution was on 10 September 1990.
5. South Carolina: Five Executions in 2025, None So Far in 2026
2025: 5 · 2026 to 20 Oct: 0 · Since 1976: 50 · Death row: 25
South Carolina carried out three of its five 2025 executions by firing squad, on 7 March, 11 April and 14 November. The March execution was the first by that method anywhere in the country in 15 years.
Electrocution is the default method, and prisoners can elect injection or the firing squad. The state has carried out 50 executions since 11 January 1985.
6. Tennessee: Four Executions Since 2025, Electrocution as Backup
2025: 3 · 2026 to 20 Oct: 1 · Since 1976: 17 · Death row: 42
Tennessee carried out three executions in 2025, on 22 May, 5 August and 11 December, and one in 2026, on 13 August. Its first modern execution was on 19 April 2000.
Lethal injection is the primary method and electrocution the alternative, with any constitutional method allowed if both are unavailable.
7. Arizona: 43 Executions and Lethal Gas on the Books
2025: 2 · 2026 to 20 Oct: 1 · Since 1976: 43 · Death row: 111
Arizona carried out two executions in 2025, on 19 March and 17 October, and one in 2026, on 20 May. Its 43 since 6 April 1992 match North Carolina, which last executed someone on 18 August 2006.
Arizona authorises lethal gas alongside lethal injection. Its death row of 111 is the seventh largest, after California, Florida, Texas, Alabama, North Carolina and Ohio.
8. Mississippi: Four Methods Open to Corrections Officials
2025: 2 · 2026 to 20 Oct: 0 · Since 1976: 25 · Death row: 35
Mississippi carried out two executions in 2025, on 25 June and 15 October, and none in 2026. A 2022 law lets corrections officials choose among lethal injection, electrocution, the firing squad and nitrogen.
Its first modern execution was on 2 September 1983. A 2026 law there makes child sexual offences capital crimes, discussed under the Supreme Court rulings below.
9. Indiana: A Five-Person Death Row and Executions Back On
2025: 2 · 2026 to 20 Oct: 0 · Since 1976: 23 · Death row: 5
Indiana resumed executions on 18 December 2024 after a 15-year hiatus and carried out two in 2025, on 20 May and 10 October.
Lethal injection is its only authorised method. An execution is scheduled for 5 November 2026.
10. Missouri: One Execution, Placed Ahead of Louisiana
2025: 1 · 2026 to 20 Oct: 0 · Since 1976: 102 · Death row: 8
Missouri carried out one execution in 2025, on 14 October. Louisiana also had one, by nitrogen on 18 March 2025, but Missouri ranks above it with 102 executions since 1976 against 29.
Its 102 since 6 January 1989 are the fifth most in the country. The state authorises lethal gas alongside lethal injection.
The 23 States That Abolished the Death Penalty, From Michigan in 1847 to Washington in 2023
Ten states abolished the penalty before 1976: Michigan (1847), Wisconsin (1853), Maine (1887), Minnesota (1911), Alaska and Hawaii (1957), Iowa and West Virginia (1965), Vermont (1972) and North Dakota (1973). Massachusetts and Rhode Island followed in 1984.
Eleven states have abolished it since 2007: New Jersey and New York (2007), New Mexico (2009), Illinois (2011), Connecticut (2012), Maryland (2013), Delaware (2016), New Hampshire (2019), Colorado (2020), Virginia (2021) and Washington (2023). Delaware’s supreme court struck the statute on 2 August 2016 and the legislature removed it in 2024.
Repeal does not always clear death row. Colorado’s governor commuted three sentences on the day of repeal, 23 March 2020. New Hampshire’s 2019 repeal was not retroactive, so one man remains on its death row. Virginia carried out 1,277 executions before 1976, the most of any state.
The Supreme Court Rulings Behind Modern Capital Punishment, From Furman to Bucklew
Furman v. Georgia (408 U.S. 238) was decided on 29 June 1972 by 5-4. It held that death sentences as then imposed were cruel and unusual punishment and invalidated 40 state statutes. On 2 July 1976 Gregg v. Georgia (428 U.S. 153) upheld Georgia’s revised law by 7-2.
Utah carried out the first execution of the modern era on 17 January 1977, when Gary Gilmore died by firing squad. Capital cases turn on the Eighth Amendment, a clause the Court has refined one case at a time, as it has the First Amendment. The main rulings since:
- Woodson v. North Carolina (1976, 5-4): mandatory death sentences barred.
- Atkins v. Virginia (2002, 6-3): intellectual disability bars execution.
- Roper v. Simmons (2005, 5-4): minors at the time of the crime cannot be executed.
- Baze v. Rees (2008, 7-2): Kentucky’s injection protocol upheld.
- Kennedy v. Louisiana (2008, 5-4): death barred for child rape where the victim did not die.
- Bucklew v. Precythe (2019, 5-4): a prisoner challenging a method must show a feasible alternative.
In 2026 Alabama and Mississippi enacted laws making child sexual offences capital crimes, which challenge Kennedy.
How Executions Are Carried Out: Method Counts Since 1976 and the Newer Options
Of the 1,686 executions since 1976, lethal injection accounts for 1,495, electrocution for 163, gas for 19, the firing squad for six and hanging for three. All 32 executions in 2026 so far used injection.
Nitrogen gas has been used eight times, seven in Alabama and one in Louisiana, and Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Oklahoma authorise it. Utah carried out three of the six firing-squad executions (1977, 1996 and 2010) and South Carolina the other three.
Idaho made the firing squad its primary method on 1 July 2026. Florida and North Carolina authorised any method not held unconstitutional in 2025, and the Supreme Court has never found a method unconstitutional.
Governor’s Holds: Four States Where Sentences Stand but Executions Do Not
Pennsylvania last executed someone on 6 July 1999, and its governor has continued the hold begun by his predecessor. In Oregon the governor commuted all 17 death sentences on 13 December 2022, leaving the death row at zero, and the hold continues.
Ohio last executed someone on 18 July 2018, and its governor said on 13 February 2025 that he does not anticipate executions during his term, which ends in January 2027. California has the largest death row, 578; its governor ordered a halt on 13 March 2019, and the last execution was on 17 January 2006.
Scheduled Dates and the Limits of These Counts
Status, abolition years and the totals since 1976 are the Death Penalty Information Center’s state-page figures, and the 2025 and 2026 counts run through 20 October. The national count of 2,004 is a separate January 2026 figure.
Nine more dates remain in 2026, from 5 November in Indiana, Alabama and Florida to a military execution on 3 December. Across nine states and the military, 60 dates were scheduled at 2 November, and any can be stayed, so no final 2026 total is given.
Reading a State’s Record Before You Rely on It
Check these points before relying on a single figure:
- An execution total is history, not status. Virginia has 113 executions since 1976 and abolished the penalty in 2021.
- A retained statute can sit idle. Wyoming has no one on death row, and Nevada’s last execution was on 26 April 2006.
State rules diverge in other areas too, such as the time limit on bringing a case under statute of limitations law.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many people are on death row in the United States?
The national death row held 2,004 active sentences in January 2026, down from 3,593 in 2000. California has the largest, at 578, then Florida (256) and Texas (168).
Can a state keep the death penalty and have no one on death row?
Yes. Wyoming retains the penalty with no one on death row, and Oregon has none after 17 commutations in December 2022.
When was the firing squad last used?
South Carolina used it on 14 November 2025, the sixth firing-squad execution since 1976. A military execution by firing squad is set for 3 December 2026 at Fort Hood, Texas, if appeals allow.
Does the federal government carry out executions?
It has carried out 16 since 1976, 13 of them between July 2020 and January 2021. President Biden commuted 37 federal death sentences on 23 December 2024, leaving three.
