Craighead County, Arkansas: fatal crash statistics

Counties of Arkansas by year (CSV)Cite this page

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

FARS records 185 deaths in 163 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 16.8 deaths for each 100,000 residents in a year.

The rate of Arkansas in the same years is 19.3.

By deaths from 2015 to 2024, Craighead County was number 5 of 75 counties of Arkansas.

Deaths in Craighead County rose by 1.1% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (183) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (185).

In the counties of Arkansas the deaths rose by 0.6% between the same years.

From 2015 to 2024, 40.5% of the fatal crashes in Craighead County with a known setting were rural, against 63.1% in Arkansas.

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 Craighead 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.Craighead County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	22	19	7
2023	10	9	1 or 2
2022	26	17	4
2021	19	18	4
2020	20	17	8
2019	18	17	3
2018	18	17	1 or 2
2017	17	16	5
2016	18	17	5
2015	17	16	1 or 2
2015 to 2024	185	163	42

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 26 (2022)2024: 22

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

Table 2.Craighead County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	22	19
2023	10	9
2022	26	17
2021	19	18
2020	20	17
2019	18	17
2018	18	17
2017	17	16
2016	18	17
2015	17	16
2014	12	11
2013	14	12
2012	23	18
2011	20	17
2010	17	16
2009	25	19
2008	17	17
2007	18	18
2006	24	23
2005	13	11
2004	16	15
2003	8	8
2002	12	12
2001	13	11
2000	11	9
1999	20	18
1998	16	14
1997	12	11
1996	12	12
1995	18	15
1994	11	10
1993	18	18
1992	14	12
1991	18	16
1990	15	15
1989	23	20
1988	23	18
1987	23	19
1986	8	8
1985	11	9
1984	9	8
1983	12	10
1982	20	19
1981	11	11
1980	16	14
1979	5	5
1978	11	9
1977	15	14
1976	24	18
1975	14	11

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.Craighead County beside Arkansas and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Craighead County	Arkansas	United States
2024	18.9	19.5	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	16.8	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. Craighead County had 116,378 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.Craighead County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in Arkansas
A driver recorded as drinkingof 163 fatal crashes	42	163 fatal crashes	25.8%	26.5%
A speeding-related driverof 163 fatal crashes	36	163 fatal crashes	22.1%	22.2%
No restraint usedof 117 occupant deaths with restraint use known	43	117 occupant deathswith restraint use known	36.8%	54.2%
Pedestriansof 185 deaths	19	185 deaths	10.3%	11.0%
Bicyclistsof 185 deaths	1 or 2	185 deaths	1.1%	0.9%
Motorcyclistsof 185 deaths	25	185 deaths	13.5%	13.7%
On a rural roadof 163 fatal crashes with the condition reported	66	163 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	40.5%	63.1%
In the darkof 163 fatal crashes with the condition reported	79	163 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	48.5%	43.1%

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.Craighead 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	7	1 or 2	6	7	22
Monday	1 or 2	5	11	7	25
Tuesday	4	8	5	11	28
Wednesday	1 or 2	5	8	10	25
Thursday	1 or 2	9	8	4	22
Friday	4	4	3	8	19
Saturday	1 or 2	1 or 2	8	11	22
All days	22	34	49	58	163

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.Craighead County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in Arkansas
Interstate	10	6.1%	14.7%
Other freeways and expressways	5	3.1%	2.1%
Other principal arterial	81	49.7%	29.0%
Minor arterial	22	13.5%	20.8%
Major collector	8	4.9%	16.9%
Minor collector	1 or 2	1.2%	1.4%
Local	35	21.5%	15.1%
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.Craighead County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	75
Dark, not lighted	56
Dark, lighted	22
Dawn	6
Dusk	3
Dark, lighting unknown	1 or 2
Other or unknown	0

Table 8.Craighead County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	131
Cloudy	21
Rain	9
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	0
Fog, smog or smoke	0
Crosswinds or blowing sand/snow	0
Other or not reported	1 or 2

Routes in the county

Table 9.Signed routes in Craighead County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In Craighead	In all of Arkansas
Interstate 555	Interstate	10	23
State Route 1	State highway	7	60
State Route 18	State highway	26	47
State Route 69	State highway	1 or 2	20
State Route 135	State highway	1 or 2	20
US Route 49	US highway	27	74
US Route 63	US highway	16	99
US Route 67	US highway	1 or 2	158

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 Arkansas

Adjacent counties

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

Figure 3.Craighead County on the county map of Arkansas

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

Fewer than 101 county
10 to 14.98 counties
15 to 19.916 counties
20 to 29.927 counties
30 or more23 counties
Craighead County: 16.8

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 Arkansas

Table 10.Counties that share a boundary line with Craighead County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Greene County	Arkansas	6	79	17.3
Jackson County	Arkansas	3	45	26.7
Lawrence County	Arkansas	9	83	50.7
Mississippi County	Arkansas	10	81	19.9
Poinsett County	Arkansas	9	78	33.6
Dunklin County	Missouri	6	73	25.4

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

Counties of similar population

These counties of Arkansas have a population nearest to that of Craighead 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.
Arkansas Highway Safety OfficeThe highway safety office of Arkansas.

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

Cite this page

Fatal Roads. Craighead County, Arkansas: fatal crash statistics. https://fatalroads.com/county/ar/craighead/. 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 Craighead in the ten years before 2015?

FARS records 183 deaths in Craighead County from 2005 to 2014. It records 185 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of Craighead in 2024?

The rate of Craighead County in 2024 was 18.9 deaths for each 100,000 residents. The rate of Arkansas was 19.5. The rate of the United States was 11.5.

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

FARS records a driver as drinking in 42 of 163 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 Craighead?

8 signed routes in the county have a page. FARS records 90 fatal crashes on them in the county from 2015 to 2024. The table of routes on this page gives the count for each route.