During elec­tion cycles, it is not uncom­mon to see some politi­cians and elect­ed offi­cials talk­ing more about the death penal­ty than usu­al – often in an attempt to bol­ster their ​“tough on crime” cre­den­tials. This phe­nom­e­non is based on the out­dat­ed assump­tion that use of cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment is a pop­u­lar way of address­ing violent crime. 

The data show otherwise. 

An October 2025 Gallup poll con­firms a thir­ty-year trend: every year since 1994, the death penal­ty has become less pop­u­lar among Americans gen­er­al­ly and less pop­u­lar among young Americans in particular.

Fact: Public sup­port for the death penal­ty has been falling steadi­ly since 1994. 

In 2025, Gallup reports that sup­port for the death penal­ty has declined to its low­est lev­el in over 50 years. Public sup­port for the death penal­ty in the mod­ern death penal­ty era has been declin­ing since 1994, when sup­port was at 80%, the high­est lev­el since Gallup began col­lect­ing data in 1936. In 1972, the same year the U.S. Supreme Court inval­i­dat­ed cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment statutes nation­wide, only half of respon­dents were in favor of the death penal­ty. As of October 2025, a sim­i­lar num­ber — just 52% — expressed sup­port for the death penal­ty, down one per­cent­age point from 2024’s num­ber of 53%. 

Fact: Less than half of all adults age 18 – 54 sup­port the death penalty. 

According to Gallup, only 46% of peo­ple age 35 to 54 years old sup­port the death penal­ty. The lev­el of sup­port falls even fur­ther for young adults: just 41% of peo­ple age 18 to 34 years old now sup­port the death penal­ty. This marks a sig­nif­i­cant drop over the past 15 years. In 2011, Gallup found 62% of peo­ple age 30 to 49 years old and 52% of young adults age 18 to 29 years old favored the death penal­ty. In old­er adults, num­bers have remained rel­a­tive­ly sta­ble. In 2025, 62% of adults over 55 years old favor the death penalty. 

Fact: Opposition to the death penal­ty has more than tripled over the past three decades. 

Gallup also found 44% of Americans opposed to the death penal­ty — the high­est lev­el of oppo­si­tion since May 1966. Opposition to cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment has been increas­ing since the 1990s, and has more than tripled since 1995, when only 13% of Americans opposed the death penalty. 

According to Gallup polling, polit­i­cal affil­i­a­tion is part of the expla­na­tion. While Republicans have main­tained steady sup­port for the death penal­ty — 80% in favor in 2000 and 81% in 2025 — sup­port among Democrats and Independents has declined sharply. In 2025, 47% of reg­is­tered Independents said they were in favor of cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment, a 21-per­cent­age-point decline since 2000. Among reg­is­tered Democrats, the long-term change has been even more pro­nounced. In 2025, only 32% of Democrats favored the death penal­ty, a 24-per­cent­age-point drop from 56% in 2000. 

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