, there were 1,977 death row inmates in the United States, including 45 women. The number of death row inmates changes frequently with new convictions, appellate decisions overturning conviction or sentence alone, commutations, or deaths (through execution or otherwise). Due to this fluctuation as well as lag and inconsistencies in inmate reporting procedures across jurisdictions, the information may become outdated.
Demographics
Number on death row by jurisdiction California: 576 Florida: 237 Texas: 165 Alabama: 154 North Carolina: 122 Arizona: 108 Ohio: 106 Pennsylvania: 94 Nevada: 64 Louisiana: 55 Tennessee: 41 Mississippi: 35 Georgia: 33 Oklahoma: 27 Kentucky: 24 South Carolina: 23 Arkansas: 23 Nebraska: 12 Kansas: 9 Idaho: 8 Missouri: 8 Indiana: 5 U.S. Military: 4 Utah: 3 Federal Government: 3 Montana: 2 South Dakota: 1 New Hampshire: 1 Wyoming: 0 Oregon: 0
Ethnicity of defendants on death row White: 831 (42.03%) African-American: 791 (40.01%) Hispanic: 298 (15.07%) Asian: 38 (1.92%) Native American: 19 (0.96%) Comparatively, 61.63% of the U.S. population is White, 18.7% is Hispanic, 12.40% is African-American, 7.24% is Asian, and 2.92% is Native American.
Gender of defendants on death row
Male: 1,932 (97.72%) Female: 45 (2.28%)
Comparatively, 50.8% of the U.S. population is female, and 49.2% is male.
Education 69.75% have less than a high school diploma or GED.
Comparatively, 12.19% of U.S. adults have less than a high school diploma or GED.
Time on death row Median time, in years, a death row prisoner has been awaiting execution: 6 (2014) Average time, in years, between imposition of a death sentence and execution: 12 (2014) For people executed in 2024: 25 years on average between offense and execution.
Later found innocent or exonerated As of early 2026, over 2% of all persons that had been sentenced to death row since 1972 have been formally exonerated and released (202 total).
List of death row inmates by jurisdiction Federal
On death row: 3 () Total number executed: 232 (1790–2021)
Name Crime Time on death rowImprisoned atRegister number NotesRobert Gregory BowersPerpetrator of the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting; an antisemitic terrorist attack in which eleven people were murdered.USP Terre Haute39188-068The shooting was the deadliest attack on the Jewish community in the United States.Dylann RoofPerpetrator of the Charleston church shooting on June 17, 2015, which killed nine African Americans.28509-171American mass murderer and white supremacist who, during a prayer service at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, sat down with his future victims for approximately 45 minutes before pulling out a Glock 41 .45-caliber handgun. Among those people who were killed was the senior pastor and state senator Clementa C. Pinckney. Roof is the first person on death row for federal hate crimes.Dzhokhar TsarnaevCo-perpetrator of the Boston Marathon bombing which killed three people and injured 264 runners and spectators.ADX Florence95079-038Chechen-American, Islamic terrorism inspired lone wolf who, along with his brother Tamerlan Tsarnaev, perpetrated the attack. Tamerlan later died due to critical injuries and massive blood loss during a shootout with police on April 19, 2013. On July 31, 2020, Tsarnaev's death sentence was overturned on appeal, but was reinstated by the US Supreme Court two years later.
Military
On death row: 4 Total number executed: 317 (1917–1961) & numerous others convicted of varying offences against US forces during and after World War II
Name Crime Time on death row Notes(born as Mark Fidel Kools)Murdered two commissioned officers and wounded 11 other servicemen during an attack in Kuwait on March 23, 2003 after throwing a hand grenade and opening fire upon his fellow troops.Ronald Adrin GrayRaped and murdered multiple women at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, from December 15, 1986, to January 6, 1987. His convictions include 4 counts of murder and 8 counts of rapeOn November 26, 2008, a federal judge issued a stay of execution stopping the planned December 10 execution. Gray is the military's longest-serving death row inmate.Nidal Malik HasanPerpetrator of the 2009 Fort Hood shooting.Convicted on 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted murder. Scheduled to be executed on December 3, 2026.Timothy B. HennisRaped and murdered Kathryn Eastburn, and murdered Kathryn's two daughters, Kara and Erin Eastburn in 1985.Previously convicted in 1986 by the State of North Carolina, retried and acquitted in 1989, and widely reported as exonerated; recalled to active duty for military court martial (as he had been in the U.S. Army at the time of the murders) under separate sovereignty (see Double jeopardy).
Alabama
On death row: 153 () Total number executed: 786 (1800–2025)
Due to the number of Alabama death row inmates, only prisoners with Wikipedia pages are listed. Name Description of crime Time on death row OtherNicholas AcklinShot and murdered four people in 1996 inside a house in Huntsville, Alabama. Acklin, Wilson and a third man named Corey Johnson shot and killed the four victims and also injured two others over a dispute regarding a stolen cellphone. Acklin and Wilson were both sentenced to death in 1998. Johnson was convicted of felony murder and sentenced to 15 years' jail after reaching a plea bargain, and released in 2011, before he was arrested and sentenced to life in prison for the 2016 murder of his girlfriend.Joey Wilson Donald BroadnaxMurdered his wife, 42-year-old Hector Jan Stamps, and her grandson, 4-year-old DeAngelo Marquez Stamps.The crimes were committed while he was on work release from a previous murder conviction.Jimmy Lee Brooks Jr.Kidnapped and murdered 12-year-old Brett Bowyer in February 2002. Both Brooks and Carruth posed as narcotics officers and entered the home of Bowyer and his father Butch, kidnapping and robbing them before they shot Bowyer and slit Butch's throat and buried them both in a shallow grave. Butch survived his wound and dug himself out of the grave to seek help, leading to the men's arrests. The pair were also involved in an unrelated double murder of a married couple in January 2002.Michael David Carruth John Joseph DeBlaseMurdered four-year-old Natalie DeBlase and three-year-old Chase DeBlase, the biological children of John DeBlase and stepchildren of Leavell-Keaton On two separate occasions in March and June 2010 respectively, Natalie and Chase were being poisoned with antifreeze and also bound and gagged with tape, and died from the abuse. The children's bodies were found buried in Alabama and Mississippi.Leavell-Keaton was the first woman to be given the death penalty in Mobile County.Heather Leavell-Keaton Thomas Dale FergusonMurdered 11-year-old Joey Pugh and his 41-year-old father Harold Pugh in Cane Creek Canyon Nature Preserve, Alabama. Ferguson and Maxwell and three other men intended to rob the Pughs of their truck in order to commit a bank robbery in Mississippi, and both Ferguson and Maxwell shot the father-son pair to death. Maxwell was sentenced to death by a 10–2 vote from the jury, while Ferguson was sentenced to death by the judge despite the jury's 11-1 majority vote for life imprisonment. Two of the other co-accused were sentenced to life in prison while the final member was jailed for 15 years for robbery after he testified against the others.Michael Craig Maxwell Westley Devon HarrisMurdered six members of his girlfriend's family in 2002.Harris committed the murders out of anger towards his girlfriend's family for separating him and his girlfriend. Harris was originally sentenced to life without parole by the jury through a 7–5 vote, but the judge overrode the jury's recommendation and sentenced him to six death sentences for all six counts of capital murder.Shonelle JacksonMurdered LeFrick Moore during the commission of a robbery.Toforest JohnsonShot and murdered 49-year-old Jefferson County deputy sheriff William Hardy in 1995.Johnson's conviction was controversial as his guilty verdict as centered on the testimony of a single witness who overheard Johnson allegedly admitting to the murder in a prison phone call. There were several alibi witnesses who testified that Johnson was at another part of the town when Hardy was killed, giving rise to concerns that Johnson was innocent.Jeremy Bryan JonesRaped and murdered 43-year-old Lisa Marie Nichols.Jones also confessed to committing twenty additional murders across four other states in a 12-year span. These confessions are considered dubious and he has since recanted them.Courtney LockhartKidnapped and murdered 18-year-old Auburn University freshman Lauren Burk.Devin MooreMurdered two police officers and a dispatcher.Cuhuatemoc PeraitaKilled a fellow inmate in 1999.Peraita was originally serving life without parole for his role in the 1994 murders of three Popeyes restaurant workers. His accomplice was executed for these murders in 2017.Ryan Clark PetersenKilled three people during a nightclub shooting in 2012.Petersen committed the shooting in retaliation after he was driven out of the nightclub for unruly behavior. Petersen also shot and wounded a fourth person during the shooting. Petersen was convicted of three counts of capital murder and one count of attempted murder and sentenced to death.Christie Michelle ScottKilled her six-year-old autistic son Mason Scott by arson in 2008.Scott intentionally engineered the murder of her son Mason by starting a fire and disguising it as an accident. Scott's motive was to collect insurance money amounting to $175,000 through the death of Mason.Jimmy O'Neal SpencerKilled two elderly women and a seven-year-old boy during a robbery spree in July 2018.At the time of the triple murder, Spencer was out on parole since November 2017 after serving two life sentences for multiple convictions of burglary, assault and escape. Spencer's case also led to the drastic decrease in the rate of parole approvals for prisoners in Alabama.Kerry SpencerKilled three Birmingham police officers in 2004.Spencer shot all three officers and testified that he acted alone, but his alleged accomplice, Nathaniel Woods, was also sentenced to death. Woods was executed in 2020 in a highly publicized and controversial execution.
American Samoa
On death row: 0 Total number executed: 0 (since 1939)
Capital punishment exists as a punishment in American Samoa, an unincorporated territory of the United States, but does not have a prescribed method of execution. No executions have been imposed or performed since the territory gained self-governance in 1949; the last executions occurred in 1939, when the island was under the control of the United States Navy.
Arizona
On death row: 108 () Total number executed: 146 (1800–2026)
Due to the number of Arizona death row inmates, only prisoners with Wikipedia pages are listed.