Etowah County, Alabama: fatal crash statistics

Counties of Alabama by year (CSV)Cite this page

FARS records 22 deaths in 19 fatal crashes in Etowah County in 2024.

FARS records 198 deaths in 176 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 19.2 deaths for each 100,000 residents in a year.

The rate of Alabama in the same years is 19.3.

By deaths from 2015 to 2024, Etowah County was number 12 of 67 counties of Alabama.

Deaths in Etowah County rose by 6.5% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (186) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (198).

In the counties of Alabama the deaths rose by 0.3% between the same years.

From 2015 to 2024, 41.5% of the fatal crashes in Etowah County with a known setting were rural, against 59.4% in Alabama.

To qualify as a FARS case, the crash had to involve a motor vehicle traveling on a trafficway customarily open to the public and must have resulted in the death of a motorist or a non-motorist within 30 days of the crash.
The set of first files, known as the Annual Report File (ARF), is released following the crash year. The ARF is replaced about a year later with a final file, which contains additional cases or updates to cases that had become available after the ARF was released.
NHTSA's words. Source: NHTSA, Fatality Analysis Reporting System Analytical User's Manual, 1975-2024 (DOT HS 813 794, April 2026), copied on 2 Oct 2026.

This page rests on the FARS 2024 annual file. NHTSA released it on 1 Apr 2026. NHTSA can revise the counts in the final file. Release dates

Figure 1.Deaths in Etowah County by year, 2015 to 2024

Table 1 has the numbers. Go to the table

Since the last update: no figure of this county has a change on record.

Deaths and fatal crashes by year

Table 1.Etowah County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	22	19	1 or 2
2023	20	14	3
2022	24	21	5
2021	14	13	3
2020	19	18	3
2019	19	18	1 or 2
2018	10	10	3
2017	25	20	1 or 2
2016	31	29	3
2015	14	14	6
2015 to 2024	198	176	32

Each year from 1975

Figure 2.Deaths in Etowah County by year, 1975 to 2024

Tallest column: 33 (1978)2024: 22

The columns with a stronger shade are the years 2015 to 2024.

Table 2.Etowah County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	22	19
2023	20	14
2022	24	21
2021	14	13
2020	19	18
2019	19	18
2018	10	10
2017	25	20
2016	31	29
2015	14	14
2014	15	13
2013	13	13
2012	14	14
2011	17	15
2010	14	14
2009	15	13
2008	20	19
2007	25	21
2006	28	27
2005	25	23
2004	13	13
2003	22	19
2002	19	17
2001	17	15
2000	16	16
1999	21	21
1998	22	21
1997	30	27
1996	23	20
1995	16	16
1994	30	30
1993	22	21
1992	21	20
1991	17	16
1990	30	27
1989	21	20
1988	20	20
1987	19	14
1986	28	27
1985	17	17
1984	14	14
1983	16	15
1982	17	12
1981	13	12
1980	23	22
1979	19	17
1978	33	29
1977	20	18
1976	13	13
1975	17	13

Note: a count of 1 or 2 is written "1 or 2". A death is in FARS when it occurs in 30 days or less after the crash.

Rate for each 100,000 residents

Table 3.Etowah County beside Alabama and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Etowah County	Alabama	United States
2024	21.3	18.6	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	19.2	19.3	11.8

Note: the rate divides the deaths in the county by its residents. Persons who do not live in the county are in the deaths, not in the residents.

Population: Census Bureau estimates, vintage 2025. Etowah County had 103,475 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.Etowah County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in Alabama
A driver recorded as drinkingof 176 fatal crashes	32	176 fatal crashes	18.2%	25.4%
A speeding-related driverof 176 fatal crashes	44	176 fatal crashes	25.0%	26.7%
No restraint usedof 126 occupant deaths with restraint use known	70	126 occupant deathswith restraint use known	55.6%	57.6%
Pedestriansof 198 deaths	20	198 deaths	10.1%	12.0%
Bicyclistsof 198 deaths	3	198 deaths	1.5%	0.9%
Motorcyclistsof 198 deaths	25	198 deaths	12.6%	9.5%
On a rural roadof 176 fatal crashes with the condition reported	73	176 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	41.5%	59.4%
In the darkof 174 fatal crashes with the condition reported	74	174 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	42.5%	47.8%

Note: FARS records a driver as drinking when police reported alcohol involvement or a test of the driver was positive for alcohol. It is not NHTSA's alcohol-impaired measure, which uses a blood alcohol concentration of .08 g/dL or higher. One crash can be in two or more rows. NHTSA's definitions

Note that alcohol data is often missing. For that reason, this data element may under-count the actual number of drinking drivers.

NHTSA's words. Source: NHTSA, Fatality Analysis Reporting System Analytical User's Manual, 1975-2024 (DOT HS 813 794, April 2026), copied on 2 Oct 2026.

Weekday, time and road class

Table 5.Etowah County: fatal crashes by weekday and time of day, 2015 to 2024
Weekday	Midnight to 6 a.m.	6 a.m. to noon	Noon to 6 p.m.	6 p.m. to midnight	All
Sunday	9	5	10	4	28
Monday	4	5	14	3	26
Tuesday	3	6	6	3	18
Wednesday	3	3	7	9	22
Thursday	0	9	9	11	29
Friday	3	5	12	10	30
Saturday	6	3	7	6	22
All days	28	36	65	46	175

Note: a cell with a stronger shade has a larger count. The table has the fatal crashes with a known hour and weekday.

Table 6.Etowah County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in Alabama
Interstate	26	14.8%	13.1%
Other freeways and expressways	0	0.0%	0.4%
Other principal arterial	66	37.5%	27.4%
Minor arterial	28	15.9%	23.1%
Major collector	22	12.5%	21.1%
Minor collector	9	5.1%	3.0%
Local	25	14.2%	12.0%
Not reported	0	n/a	n/a

Note: the classes are those of the Federal Highway Administration. The shares are of the crashes with a reported class. Road function classes

Light condition and weather

Table 7.Etowah County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	96
Dark, not lighted	42
Dark, lighted	28
Dawn	1 or 2
Dusk	1 or 2
Dark, lighting unknown	4
Other or unknown	1 or 2

Table 8.Etowah County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	131
Cloudy	24
Rain	16
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	0
Fog, smog or smoke	1 or 2
Crosswinds or blowing sand/snow	0
Other or not reported	4

Routes in the county

Table 9.Signed routes in Etowah County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In Etowah	In all of Alabama
Interstate 59	Interstate	20	262
State Route 1	State highway	7	33
State Route 25	State highway	5	43
State Route 77	State highway	14	51
US Route 11	US highway	4	31
US Route 278	US highway	7	50
US Route 431	US highway	12	122

Note: the table has each route with a page that has a fatal crash in the county, in name order. Local streets and county roads have no page. Their crashes are in the county totals. All routes in Alabama

Adjacent counties

These lists are for navigation. They are in name order.

Figure 3.Etowah County on the county map of Alabama

Deaths for each 100,000 residents in a year, 2015 to 2024

Fewer than 101 county
10 to 14.96 counties
15 to 19.913 counties
20 to 29.928 counties
30 or more19 counties
Etowah County: 19.2

The limits of the classes are the same for every state. A county with few residents can show a high rate from few deaths. A class is not a judgement of a county. The full map and the table of counties of Alabama

Table 10.Counties that share a boundary line with Etowah County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Blount County	Alabama	16	152	25.9
Calhoun County	Alabama	24	208	18.0
Cherokee County	Alabama	12	93	36.2
DeKalb County	Alabama	21	174	24.2
Marshall County	Alabama	15	185	18.9
St. Clair County	Alabama	18	196	21.5

Source of the list: Census Bureau county adjacency file, 2026 edition.

Counties of similar population

These counties of Alabama have a population nearest to that of Etowah County. The list is for navigation and is in name order. The number is the deaths from 2015 to 2024.

Official channels

NHTSA Fatality and Injury Reporting System Tool (FIRST)NHTSA's query tool for FARS counts.
NHTSA FARS EncyclopediaNHTSA's tables of FARS data.
Alabama Department of Economic and Community AffairsThe highway safety office of Alabama.

These links go to the sites of the agencies. They were checked on 2 Oct 2026.

Cite this page

Fatal Roads. Etowah County, Alabama: fatal crash statistics. https://fatalroads.com/county/al/etowah/. Source: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Fatality Analysis Reporting System, FARS 2024 annual file. Data to 31 Dec 2024.

The address of this page does not change.

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Source of the figures

Counts: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Fatality Analysis Reporting System, national files of 1975 to 2024. The factors use the vehicle and person files from 2015. Residents: Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, vintage 2025. Map: Census Bureau cartographic boundary file, 2021 edition. Data to 31 Dec 2024. The figures are totals. No page of this site is about one crash or one person.

How the figures are made. Data sources and licences. Corrections.

Questions

How many deaths did FARS record in Etowah in the ten years before 2015?

FARS records 186 deaths in Etowah County from 2005 to 2014. It records 198 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of Etowah in 2024?

The rate of Etowah County in 2024 was 21.3 deaths for each 100,000 residents. The rate of Alabama was 18.6. The rate of the United States was 11.5.

How many fatal crashes in Etowah had a driver recorded as drinking?

FARS records a driver as drinking in 32 of 176 fatal crashes from 2015 to 2024. This count is not NHTSA's alcohol-impaired measure. NHTSA says that alcohol data is often missing, so the count may be too low.

How many fatal crashes did FARS record on signed routes in Etowah?

7 signed routes in the county have a page. FARS records 69 fatal crashes on them in the county from 2015 to 2024. The table of routes on this page gives the count for each route.