Kern County, California: fatal crash statistics

Counties of California by year (CSV)Cite this page

FARS records 194 deaths in 173 fatal crashes in Kern County in 2024.

FARS records 1,808 deaths in 1,630 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 20.1 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, Kern County was number 6 of 58 counties of California.

Deaths in Kern County rose by 29.9% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (1,392) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (1,808).

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

From 2015 to 2024, 50.3% of the fatal crashes in Kern 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 Kern County by year, 2015 to 2024

138

149

185

155

153

206

225

220

183

194

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.Kern County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	194	173	43
2023	183	170	43
2022	220	197	62
2021	225	208	58
2020	206	184	61
2019	153	137	41
2018	155	135	44
2017	185	168	45
2016	149	135	43
2015	138	123	36
2015 to 2024	1,808	1,630	476

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 225 (2021)2024: 194

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

Table 2.Kern County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	194	173
2023	183	170
2022	220	197
2021	225	208
2020	206	184
2019	153	137
2018	155	135
2017	185	168
2016	149	135
2015	138	123
2014	111	104
2013	131	123
2012	127	114
2011	106	94
2010	108	95
2009	158	129
2008	115	104
2007	156	142
2006	202	172
2005	178	153
2004	145	124
2003	178	155
2002	164	143
2001	147	118
2000	154	127
1999	134	115
1998	122	105
1997	135	110
1996	142	122
1995	157	123
1994	163	135
1993	180	148
1992	161	136
1991	189	163
1990	203	167
1989	174	152
1988	170	156
1987	205	169
1986	201	173
1985	153	135
1984	169	152
1983	169	144
1982	180	147
1981	190	165
1980	192	168
1979	187	158
1978	202	162
1977	160	143
1976	155	127
1975	171	139

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.Kern County beside California and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Kern County	California	United States
2024	21.0	9.8	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	20.1	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. Kern County had 924,648 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.Kern County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in California
A driver recorded as drinkingof 1,630 fatal crashes	476	1,630 fatal crashes	29.2%	27.9%
A speeding-related driverof 1,630 fatal crashes	426	1,630 fatal crashes	26.1%	30.2%
No restraint usedof 1,050 occupant deaths with restraint use known	437	1,050 occupant deathswith restraint use known	41.6%	38.0%
Pedestriansof 1,808 deaths	394	1,808 deaths	21.8%	26.0%
Bicyclistsof 1,808 deaths	57	1,808 deaths	3.2%	3.8%
Motorcyclistsof 1,808 deaths	203	1,808 deaths	11.2%	14.1%
On a rural roadof 1,628 fatal crashes with the condition reported	819	1,628 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	50.3%	29.9%
In the darkof 1,627 fatal crashes with the condition reported	933	1,627 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	57.3%	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.Kern 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	90	28	66	87	271
Monday	45	32	51	81	209
Tuesday	42	43	50	69	204
Wednesday	29	35	49	73	186
Thursday	46	28	65	68	207
Friday	63	41	61	90	255
Saturday	52	37	62	101	252
All days	367	244	404	569	1,584

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.Kern County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in California
Interstate	103	6.3%	13.7%
Other freeways and expressways	282	17.3%	12.6%
Other principal arterial	481	29.5%	30.1%
Minor arterial	373	22.9%	21.7%
Major collector	214	13.1%	12.3%
Minor collector	31	1.9%	2.3%
Local	145	8.9%	7.3%
Not reported	1 or 2	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.Kern County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	604
Dark, not lighted	549
Dark, lighted	374
Dawn	51
Dusk	39
Dark, lighting unknown	10
Other or unknown	3

Table 8.Kern County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	1,416
Cloudy	120
Rain	46
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	4
Fog, smog or smoke	20
Crosswinds or blowing sand/snow	7
Other or not reported	17

Routes in the county

Table 9.Signed routes in Kern County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In Kern	In all of California
Interstate 5	Interstate	101	1,337
State Route 14	State highway	34	129
State Route 33	State highway	23	134
State Route 41	State highway	1 or 2	165
State Route 43	State highway	30	77
State Route 46	State highway	30	63
State Route 58	State highway	103	135
State Route 65	State highway	17	94
State Route 99	State highway	105	755
State Route 119	State highway	28	28
State Route 138	State highway	1 or 2	176
State Route 155	State highway	25	25
State Route 166	State highway	9	41
State Route 178	State highway	88	94
State Route 184	State highway	24	24
US Route 395	US highway	13	167

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.Kern 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
Kern County: 20.1

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 Kern County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Inyo County	California	15	85	46.5
Kings County	California	30	288	19.0
Los Angeles County	California	778	7,783	7.8
San Bernardino County	California	350	3,509	16.1
San Luis Obispo County	California	30	308	10.9
Santa Barbara County	California	38	380	8.6
Tulare County	California	72	793	16.9
Ventura County	California	58	576	6.8

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 Kern 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. Kern County, California: fatal crash statistics. https://fatalroads.com/county/ca/kern/. 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 Kern in the ten years before 2015?

FARS records 1,392 deaths in Kern County from 2005 to 2014. It records 1,808 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of Kern in 2024?

The rate of Kern County in 2024 was 21.0 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 Kern had a driver recorded as drinking?

FARS records a driver as drinking in 476 of 1,630 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 Kern?

16 signed routes in the county have a page. FARS records 632 fatal crashes on them in the county from 2015 to 2024. The table of routes on this page gives the count for each route.