El Dorado County, California: fatal crash statistics

Counties of California by year (CSV)Cite this page

FARS records 17 deaths in 16 fatal crashes in El Dorado County in 2024.

FARS records 240 deaths in 222 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 12.6 deaths for each 100,000 residents in a year.

The rate of California in the same years is 10.1.

By deaths from 2015 to 2024, El Dorado County was number 32 of 58 counties of California.

Deaths in El Dorado County fell by 3.2% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (248) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (240).

In the counties of California the deaths rose by 17.5% between the same years.

From 2015 to 2024, 70.7% of the fatal crashes in El Dorado County with a known setting were rural, against 29.9% in California.

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 El Dorado 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.El Dorado County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	17	16	5
2023	18	16	4
2022	28	27	8
2021	26	24	15
2020	19	18	10
2019	29	27	9
2018	32	29	6
2017	26	23	4
2016	19	19	7
2015	26	23	6
2015 to 2024	240	222	74

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 47 (1981)2024: 17

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

Table 2.El Dorado County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	17	16
2023	18	16
2022	28	27
2021	26	24
2020	19	18
2019	29	27
2018	32	29
2017	26	23
2016	19	19
2015	26	23
2014	23	19
2013	26	24
2012	23	19
2011	17	17
2010	17	15
2009	23	20
2008	25	23
2007	31	30
2006	40	38
2005	23	22
2004	27	27
2003	30	26
2002	29	28
2001	25	24
2000	27	26
1999	23	23
1998	14	12
1997	30	27
1996	36	29
1995	25	25
1994	33	29
1993	29	25
1992	36	32
1991	37	27
1990	38	32
1989	38	31
1988	42	37
1987	37	29
1986	43	40
1985	40	35
1984	47	42
1983	23	22
1982	30	29
1981	47	42
1980	27	25
1979	44	38
1978	41	35
1977	34	34
1976	30	28
1975	29	26

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.El Dorado County beside California and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	El Dorado County	California	United States
2024	8.8	9.8	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	12.6	10.1	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. El Dorado County had 192,371 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.El Dorado County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in California
A driver recorded as drinkingof 222 fatal crashes	74	222 fatal crashes	33.3%	27.9%
A speeding-related driverof 222 fatal crashes	81	222 fatal crashes	36.5%	30.2%
No restraint usedof 160 occupant deaths with restraint use known	65	160 occupant deathswith restraint use known	40.6%	38.0%
Pedestriansof 240 deaths	20	240 deaths	8.3%	26.0%
Bicyclistsof 240 deaths	3	240 deaths	1.3%	3.8%
Motorcyclistsof 240 deaths	42	240 deaths	17.5%	14.1%
On a rural roadof 222 fatal crashes with the condition reported	157	222 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	70.7%	29.9%
In the darkof 222 fatal crashes with the condition reported	85	222 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	38.3%	57.5%

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.El Dorado 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	5	16	12	40
Monday	3	5	9	9	26
Tuesday	4	5	10	5	24
Wednesday	1 or 2	6	8	10	26
Thursday	1 or 2	4	12	9	27
Friday	5	4	14	8	31
Saturday	4	4	16	18	42
All days	27	33	85	71	216

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.El Dorado County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in California
Interstate	0	0.0%	13.7%
Other freeways and expressways	40	18.0%	12.6%
Other principal arterial	44	19.8%	30.1%
Minor arterial	80	36.0%	21.7%
Major collector	27	12.2%	12.3%
Minor collector	23	10.4%	2.3%
Local	8	3.6%	7.3%
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.El Dorado County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	129
Dark, not lighted	66
Dark, lighted	19
Dawn	4
Dusk	4
Dark, lighting unknown	0
Other or unknown	0

Table 8.El Dorado County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	167
Cloudy	34
Rain	17
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	3
Fog, smog or smoke	1 or 2
Crosswinds or blowing sand/snow	0
Other or not reported	0

Routes in the county

Table 9.Signed routes in El Dorado County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In El Dorado	In all of California
State Route 49	State highway	21	154
State Route 89	State highway	5	40
US Route 50	US highway	65	150

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 California

Adjacent counties

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

Figure 3.El Dorado County on the county map of California

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

Fewer than 1014 counties
10 to 14.99 counties
15 to 19.914 counties
20 to 29.913 counties
30 or more8 counties
El Dorado County: 12.6

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 California

Table 10.Counties that share a boundary line with El Dorado County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Alpine County	California	1 or 2	19	170.3
Amador County	California	7	117	29.3
Placer County	California	40	334	8.3
Sacramento County	California	156	1,757	11.3
Douglas County	Nevada	1 or 2	54	11.0

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

Counties of similar population

These counties of California have a population nearest to that of El Dorado 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.
California Office of Traffic SafetyThe highway safety office of California.

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

Cite this page

Fatal Roads. El Dorado County, California: fatal crash statistics. https://fatalroads.com/county/ca/el-dorado/. 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 El Dorado in the ten years before 2015?

FARS records 248 deaths in El Dorado County from 2005 to 2014. It records 240 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of El Dorado in 2024?

The rate of El Dorado County in 2024 was 8.8 deaths for each 100,000 residents. The rate of California was 9.8. The rate of the United States was 11.5.

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

FARS records a driver as drinking in 74 of 222 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 El Dorado?

FARS records 21 fatal crashes on State Route 49 in the county from 2015 to 2024. FARS records 5 fatal crashes on State Route 89 in the county from 2015 to 2024. FARS records 65 fatal crashes on US Route 50 in the county from 2015 to 2024.