Humboldt County, California: fatal crash statistics

Counties of California by year (CSV)Cite this page

FARS records 26 deaths in 22 fatal crashes in Humboldt County in 2024.

FARS records 249 deaths in 222 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 18.4 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, Humboldt County was number 31 of 58 counties of California.

Deaths in Humboldt County fell by 1.2% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (252) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (249).

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

From 2015 to 2024, 64.4% of the fatal crashes in Humboldt 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 Humboldt 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.Humboldt County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	26	22	9
2023	26	22	5
2022	25	24	4
2021	15	15	6
2020	21	20	8
2019	24	20	11
2018	24	21	7
2017	39	33	13
2016	21	20	8
2015	28	25	9
2015 to 2024	249	222	80

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 53 (1978)2024: 26

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

Table 2.Humboldt County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	26	22
2023	26	22
2022	25	24
2021	15	15
2020	21	20
2019	24	20
2018	24	21
2017	39	33
2016	21	20
2015	28	25
2014	33	28
2013	28	28
2012	30	28
2011	29	27
2010	15	15
2009	26	21
2008	24	24
2007	26	24
2006	21	20
2005	20	19
2004	23	20
2003	31	25
2002	24	18
2001	21	19
2000	24	23
1999	21	17
1998	22	17
1997	31	28
1996	19	16
1995	33	28
1994	33	28
1993	22	21
1992	10	10
1991	20	19
1990	43	38
1989	21	20
1988	42	34
1987	40	36
1986	30	27
1985	28	25
1984	25	23
1983	38	32
1982	27	24
1981	25	25
1980	49	36
1979	44	38
1978	53	45
1977	33	25
1976	40	34
1975	28	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.Humboldt County beside California and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Humboldt County	California	United States
2024	19.6	9.8	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	18.4	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. Humboldt County had 132,324 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.Humboldt County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in California
A driver recorded as drinkingof 222 fatal crashes	80	222 fatal crashes	36.0%	27.9%
A speeding-related driverof 222 fatal crashes	51	222 fatal crashes	23.0%	30.2%
No restraint usedof 134 occupant deaths with restraint use known	61	134 occupant deathswith restraint use known	45.5%	38.0%
Pedestriansof 249 deaths	59	249 deaths	23.7%	26.0%
Bicyclistsof 249 deaths	8	249 deaths	3.2%	3.8%
Motorcyclistsof 249 deaths	24	249 deaths	9.6%	14.1%
On a rural roadof 222 fatal crashes with the condition reported	143	222 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	64.4%	29.9%
In the darkof 222 fatal crashes with the condition reported	102	222 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	45.9%	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.Humboldt 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	7	12	10	36
Monday	4	7	7	8	26
Tuesday	6	6	6	12	30
Wednesday	3	5	11	1 or 2	21
Thursday	4	1 or 2	12	7	25
Friday	9	4	7	13	33
Saturday	8	8	7	12	35
All days	41	39	62	64	206

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.Humboldt County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in California
Interstate	1 or 2	0.9%	13.7%
Other freeways and expressways	28	12.6%	12.6%
Other principal arterial	102	45.9%	30.1%
Minor arterial	35	15.8%	21.7%
Major collector	34	15.3%	12.3%
Minor collector	7	3.2%	2.3%
Local	14	6.3%	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.Humboldt County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	108
Dark, not lighted	72
Dark, lighted	29
Dawn	5
Dusk	7
Dark, lighting unknown	1 or 2
Other or unknown	0

Table 8.Humboldt County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	125
Cloudy	55
Rain	31
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	3
Fog, smog or smoke	5
Crosswinds or blowing sand/snow	1 or 2
Other or not reported	1 or 2

Routes in the county

Table 9.Signed routes in Humboldt County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In Humboldt	In all of California
State Route 36	State highway	14	46
State Route 299	State highway	18	101
US Route 101	US highway	97	1,025

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.Humboldt 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
Humboldt County: 18.4

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 Humboldt County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Del Norte County	California	6	76	27.8
Mendocino County	California	14	224	25.2
Siskiyou County	California	12	138	31.8
Trinity County	California	6	75	52.5

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 Humboldt 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. Humboldt County, California: fatal crash statistics. https://fatalroads.com/county/ca/humboldt/. 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.

Embed this card on your site

Copy this code into your page. The card shows the figures above with their source. A line under the card links to this page.

<iframe src="https://fatalroads.com/embed/county/ca/humboldt/" title="Fatal crashes in Humboldt County, California" width="100%" height="300" style="border:0;max-width:640px" loading="lazy"></iframe>
<p style="margin:4px 0 0;font-size:13px"><a href="https://fatalroads.com/county/ca/humboldt/">Fatal crashes in Humboldt County, California</a>, from fatalroads.com</p>

How embedding works. It is free. Keep the link in the card and the link line under it.

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 Humboldt in the ten years before 2015?

FARS records 252 deaths in Humboldt County from 2005 to 2014. It records 249 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of Humboldt in 2024?

The rate of Humboldt County in 2024 was 19.6 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 Humboldt had a driver recorded as drinking?

FARS records a driver as drinking in 80 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 Humboldt?

FARS records 14 fatal crashes on State Route 36 in the county from 2015 to 2024. FARS records 18 fatal crashes on State Route 299 in the county from 2015 to 2024. FARS records 97 fatal crashes on US Route 101 in the county from 2015 to 2024.