Currently there are four aircraft carriers on display in the United States, all of them being of the World War II Essex class. Two are located on the Atlantic coast, in New York and South Carolina, one on the Gulf of Mexico, in Texas, and one on the Pacific, in California.

Four other carriers that have been stricken from the naval register are on "donation hold," that is, the navy is retaining the ships until a museum group raises enough money to purchase the ship. Three of the four Forrestal class ships have been requested as museums in Maryland, Rhode Island, and Washington. The Midway, the lead ship of the largest World War II carrier, has been donated to a group in California, but is not open to the public yet.