Miss USA 2026
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Miss USA 2026 will be the 75th Miss USA pageant, scheduled to take place at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts in Miami, Florida on August 27, 2026.
Audrey Eckert of Nebraska will crown her successor at the end of the event. The winner will represent the United States at the Miss Universe 2026 pageant to be held in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Background
Location
On March 5, 2026, it was announced that the competition will take place in Miami, Florida, marking the first pageant in the state since 1986. A month later, it was announced the venue will be held at Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts.
Broadcaster
This will be the third pageant to be aired on The CW in four years, after the previous edition was briefly streamed on Queen Beauty Network.
Selection of contestants
The selection of contestants for the state pageants took place in May to July 2026. The first state pageant was Arkansas and held on May 3, 2026, the final state pageant was the tri-states of Maryland, New Jersey, and New York, was held on July 26, 2026.
Appointed contestants
As with the previous year, several states in the competition can not hold traditional state pageants due to state directorship contract issues and will get via an open casting call conducting by the national organization. On May 15, 2026, it was announced sixteen states will give an open casting call with applications in separate parts.
The first Open Call began voting in early June and those states are Georgia, Idaho, Kentucky, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, and Vermont into three voting rounds each, the top two on each assigned group from the final voting round would make it to the judges round upon submitting their videos determining those hopefuls would select the eight women to appoint each of the eight state titles. The second Open call for the remaining eight states began voting at the end of June with the "Redemption Round" twist to have selected first batch eliminated hopefuls would have got a second chance, with new hopefuls began voting in mid-July; those states are Colorado, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, Ohio, Oregon, Washington, and Wyoming with the same format.
Contestants
All 51 contestants are competing for the title.
† The chosen delegate was appointed from an Open Casting Call