Death Penalty States: Which States Have Capital Punishment (2026)

Capital punishment is legal in 27 states in 2026 — but the headline number hides a more complicated picture: several of those states haven't carried out an execution in years, and 23 states plus DC have abolished it entirely. Here's the full map and where it's heading.

The short version

• 27 states allow the death penalty in 2026, plus the federal government.
• Only about 21 of those are actively carrying out executions — the rest are paused.
• 23 states plus DC have abolished capital punishment.
• Both death sentences and executions have fallen sharply since the 1990s.

Which states have the death penalty?

These 27 states keep capital punishment as a legal sentence:

Capital punishment is also legal at the federal level, which can apply in any state for certain federal crimes regardless of state law.

States with a moratorium

A handful of these states keep the death penalty on the books but aren't actually using it. A moratorium is a governor-imposed pause on executions:

• California — halted since 2019.
• Oregon — executions on hold.
• Pennsylvania — moratorium since 2015.
• Ohio — no executions anticipated under the current governor.

So the practical map is smaller than 27: roughly 21 states are positioned to actually carry out a death sentence.

States that have abolished it

23 states plus the District of Columbia have done away with capital punishment altogether. The momentum has been steady — recent abolitions include:

• Virginia (2021) — the first Southern state to abolish it
• Colorado (2020)
• New Hampshire (2019)

How states rank on criminal justice

The death penalty is one piece of a state's broader criminal-justice posture, which also covers incarceration, sentencing, and due-process protections. Here's where states land:

1. 1MAMassachusetts
   10.0A+
2. 2MEMaine
   9.8A+
3. 3NJNew Jersey
   9.6A+
4. 4MNMinnesota
   9.4A+
5. 5NHNew Hampshire
   9.2A+
6. 6NYNew York
   9.0A+
7. 7WAWashington
   8.8A
8. 8UTUtah
   8.6A
9. 9RIRhode Island
   8.4A-
10. 10VTVermont
    8.2A-

See all 50 states ranked on Criminal Justice

See all 50 states ranked on criminal justice

Sentencing, incarceration, forfeiture, and due process — the full ranking with a color-coded map.

The death penalty is declining

Whatever your view of capital punishment, the trend is clear. Both new death sentences and actual executions have fallen dramatically from their 1990s peak. The drivers:

• More states abolishing it or imposing moratoriums
• Juries imposing it less frequently
• Long, costly appeals and difficulty obtaining lethal-injection drugs

The result is a country increasingly split: a cluster of active-execution states (led by Texas, Florida, and a few others) alongside a growing majority that has either abolished the penalty or quietly stopped using it.