The United States has roughly 700 lighthouses still standing in 2026, though only about 350 remain active aids to navigation operated or licensed by the U.S. Coast Guard. The other half were decommissioned decades ago and now sit as museums, private homes, inns, or simply abandoned towers — which is the hidden catch most quick answers skip.
- About 700 lighthouses stand in the United States in 2026, roughly half of them retired.
- Roughly 350 are still active Coast Guard aids to navigation.
- Michigan has more lighthouses than any other state, at around 129.
- Cape Hatteras Lighthouse in North Carolina is the tallest at 198 feet.
- A lighthouse checklist turns this scattered count into a trackable, state-by-state visit list.
Why this matters
The number people usually quote, "about 700," is a headcount of everything still physically standing, not a count of working lighthouses. If you're planning to visit or track your own lighthouse trips in 2026, the distinction between active and retired changes what you'll actually find when you show up: a working light with a keeper's museum, or a shuttered tower behind a fence.
A lighthouse checklist built around this split — active versus retired, grouped by coast — is more useful than a flat national total. It tells you which towers you can actually tour, climb, or photograph up close.
How many lighthouses are there in the United States?
The count breaks down differently depending on whether you're asking about total structures, active lights, or lighthouses open to the public. Here's the state-level picture for the states with the largest concentrations:
| State | Approx. lighthouses | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Michigan | ~129 | Most of any state; spread across Lakes Michigan, Huron, and Superior |
| Maine | ~65 | Dense rocky coastline drives the count |
| Massachusetts | ~60 | Includes Boston Harbor and Cape Cod clusters |
| California | ~40 | Pacific coast, many still active |
| New York | ~30 | Great Lakes and Atlantic coast combined |
Together, these five states account for a large share of the roughly 700 total in 2026. The rest are scattered across every other coastal and Great Lakes state, plus a handful on inland rivers.
Active lighthouses: about 350
An "active" lighthouse in 2026 still functions as an official aid to navigation, even though the U.S. Coast Guard has automated the light and no longer staffs it. Most of these towers run solar-powered LED optics now instead of the oil lamps and Fresnel lenses they were built with.
- Automated, unmanned, and monitored remotely by the Coast Guard
- Still charted as functioning navigational aids on nautical charts
- Many allow grounds visits even when the tower itself is off-limits
- Concentrated most heavily along Maine, Michigan, and the Carolina coasts
Retired lighthouses: roughly 350
The other half of the national total was retired from active service, often decades ago, once GPS and modern buoy systems made a physical light unnecessary at that location. Those towers didn't disappear. They got second lives.
- Sold or leased to historical societies and turned into museums
- Converted into private residences or vacation rentals
- Preserved by state parks as standalone attractions
- A smaller number sit abandoned, especially on remote Great Lakes shoals
If you're building a visit list for 2026, retired lighthouses are usually the easier ones to actually tour. Active lights are frequently fenced off as working federal infrastructure; retired ones often welcome climbers and photographers.
“Retired lighthouses are usually the easier ones to actually tour — active lights are still working federal infrastructure.”
Why the lighthouse count varies
Different sources land on different totals. You'll see figures anywhere from 600 to 800 depending on who is counting and when. The spread comes down to a few consistent factors:
- Definition of "standing": some counts include ruins and foundation remnants, others only intact towers
- Active versus total: headlines blur "lighthouses" with "active aids to navigation," which cuts the number roughly in half
- Ownership transfers: the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act has moved dozens of towers from federal to nonprofit or private hands since 2000, changing who counts them
- Rebuilt structures: some lighthouses were rebuilt after storms or fires and get counted as one site, others as two
- Inland versus coastal scope: river and Great Lakes lights are sometimes excluded from "coastal lighthouse" totals
- State reporting differences: some states track every harbor and pier light, others only the major towers
Which state has the most lighthouses?
Michigan has the most lighthouses of any state, at roughly 129 — about double Maine's total of 65. That's geography doing the work: Michigan touches four of the five Great Lakes, and each lake needed its own dense chain of lights to mark shoals, harbors, and shipping channels through the 1800s and early 1900s. A Michigan-only lighthouse road trip is a multi-year project on its own.
What's the tallest lighthouse in the United States?
Cape Hatteras Lighthouse in North Carolina is the tallest in the country at 198 feet, and it's the tallest brick lighthouse in the U.S. It was moved 2,900 feet inland in 1999 to escape beach erosion, and it remains one of the most-visited lights on the Atlantic coast. The climb to the top is 257 steps.
How many U.S. lighthouses can you actually climb?
Only a fraction of the 700 open their towers to the public — most that do are retired lights run by museums, historical societies, or state parks, and many limit climbing to a summer season. Grounds access is far more common than tower access, so check each site's schedule before routing a 2026 trip around it.
If you're tracking visits across all 700 rather than trusting memory or a notes app, a printable lighthouse bucket-list checklist does the sorting for you — grouped by coast, so you know what to expect before you drive out.
Start your lighthouse checklist
Track every U.S. lighthouse you visit, state by state.
FAQ
How many lighthouses are there in the United States in 2026?
There are roughly 700 lighthouses still standing in the United States in 2026, with about 350 still active as Coast Guard navigational aids. The rest are retired, converted into museums, or privately owned.
Which U.S. state has the most lighthouses?
Michigan has the most lighthouses of any state, at roughly 129, because it borders four of the five Great Lakes. Maine ranks second with about 65.
What is the tallest lighthouse in the U.S.?
Cape Hatteras Lighthouse in North Carolina is the tallest at 198 feet, and the tallest brick lighthouse in the country. The climb to the lantern room is 257 steps.
Are most U.S. lighthouses still active?
No, only about half are. Roughly 350 of the 700 standing lighthouses still function as navigational aids; the other 350 have been decommissioned.
Can you visit decommissioned lighthouses?
Yes, most decommissioned lighthouses are open to the public as museums, historic sites, or state park attractions. Active lighthouses are more often fenced off as working federal infrastructure.
How many lighthouses are on the Great Lakes?
Michigan alone accounts for about 129 lighthouses on the Great Lakes, the largest concentration in the country. Wisconsin, Ohio, Minnesota, and New York add more along the remaining shoreline.
Is the number of U.S. lighthouses still changing?
Yes. The total shifts slowly as the Coast Guard decommissions more lights and transfers them to nonprofits or private owners under federal preservation law. Storm damage and demolition also remove a few each decade.
What is the best way to track lighthouse visits?
A printable checklist grouped by state or coastline beats a phone note, because you can mark visits on the spot and see the gaps. Triptyka sells lighthouse bucket-list checklists built for exactly that.
One last thing
The gap between "700 standing" and "350 active" is the detail almost every lighthouse list leaves out, and it decides what your trip looks like. A working Coast Guard light often means viewing from the parking lot; a retired one often means 200 steps and a view from the lantern room. Sort your 2026 route by that distinction first, not by mileage.
