NEW POLL: Overall Support for the Death Penalty Remains at Five-Decade Low as Opposition to the Death Penalty Grows Among Younger Generations

According to October 2024 polling pro­duced by Gallup, sup­port for cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment remains at a five-decade low in the United States. Overall, Gallup found 53% of Americans in favor of the death penal­ty, but that num­ber masks con­sid­er­able dif­fer­ences between old­er and younger Americans. More than half of young adults aged 18 to 43 now oppose the death penal­ty. Among those express­ing a polit­i­cal affil­i­a­tion, sup­port for the death penal­ty fell marked­ly in all groups and in all gen­er­a­tions, with the excep­tion of Republicans six­ty and old­er, where sup­port for the death penal­ty rose by 2%. Public sup­port of the death penal­ty peaked in 1994, with 80% of Americans in favor of the death penal­ty for a per­son con­vict­ed of mur­der, which rough­ly cor­re­lates with the peak in the num­ber of exe­cu­tions in the United States.¹

A gen­er­a­tional divide in Gallup’s polling also shows that more than half of young U.S. adults — mil­len­ni­als and Generation Z, ages 18 through 43— oppose the death penal­ty, while approx­i­mate­ly six in ten adults in the old­er gen­er­a­tions — Silent Generation, Generation X, and baby boomers — favor the death penal­ty. This gen­er­a­tional gap has been widen­ing every year for the past 20 years, accord­ing to Gallup. Since 2000, sup­port for the death penal­ty among mil­len­ni­als (ages 28 to 43) has fall­en 25%. Gallup only began col­lect­ing data on Gen Z over the past four years, but the spread between Gen Z and all oth­er age groups is marked — 58% of Gen Z oppose the death penal­ty, com­pared to only 38% of baby boomers and the so-called ​“silent gen­er­a­tion” (which com­prise all those 60 years and old­er). Support for the death penal­ty also fell among this old­er cohort, but only by about 6% since 2000.

The polit­i­cal divide between sup­port­ers of the two major par­ties shows an ero­sion of sup­port for the death penal­ty among Democrats, Independents, and younger Republicans. Support for the death penal­ty has remained sta­ble among Republicans over the past 25 years but has shift­ed among Democrats and Independents. Support for the death penal­ty among Democrats 60 years old and old­er has fall­en 11% since 2016. Support for the death penal­ty among younger Democrats dropped even fur­ther — 18% since 2016. Among Republicans, sup­port for the death penal­ty increased by 2% (the only group in the Gallup poll to show an increase in sup­port) while sup­port among younger Republicans fell slight­ly, by 4%. The trend among Independents fol­lowed that of Democrats gen­er­al­ly, but not as marked, with sup­port for the death penal­ty among old­er Independents falling by 6% and among younger Independents by 10%.