DPIC GRAPHIC: Vast Majority of States Have Not Carried Out an Execution in Over Ten Years

The accom­pa­ny­ing graph (click to view sep­a­rate­ly) dis­plays the time in years since the last exe­cu­tion by each state as of May 1, 2023. 

The death penal­ty in the U.S. is a dis­tinct­ly minor­i­ty phe­nom­e­na, with thir­ty-six states plus the District of Columbia not car­ry­ing out an exe­cu­tion in over 10 years. Twenty-three states and the District of Columbia have abol­ished cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment, and addi­tion­al juris­dic­tions, includ­ing the fed­er­al gov­ern­ment, have a hold on exe­cu­tions. Last year there were 18 exe­cu­tions nation­wide, car­ried out by six states, an 82% decline from the 98 exe­cu­tions car­ried out in 1999. The South, as a region, is respon­si­ble for 1,279 of the 1,568 exe­cu­tions (82%) in the U.S. since 1976.

Four states that retain the death penal­ty have not had an exe­cu­tion in more than 20 years (PA, OR, WY, and KS). Wyoming has not exe­cut­ed any­one in more than 30 years and Kansas has not exe­cut­ed an indi­vid­ual since 1965. Several states that no longer have the death penal­ty have not exe­cut­ed an indi­vid­ual since the 1800s, includ­ing Michigan — which car­ried out its last exe­cu­tion 193 years ago. On the oth­er hand, four states (TX, FL, MO, OK) have car­ried out a total of 10 exe­cu­tions in 2023, with the most recent being in Florida.