Nevada County, California: fatal crash statistics

Counties of California by year (CSV)Cite this page

FARS records 8 deaths in 8 fatal crashes in Nevada County in 2024.

FARS records 148 deaths in 137 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 14.7 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, Nevada County was number 40 of 58 counties of California.

Deaths in Nevada County rose by 5.0% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (141) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (148).

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

From 2015 to 2024, 70.1% of the fatal crashes in Nevada 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 Nevada 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.Nevada County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	8	8	1 or 2
2023	14	13	4
2022	18	17	7
2021	25	21	5
2020	14	14	7
2019	10	10	5
2018	18	16	5
2017	16	14	4
2016	12	11	1 or 2
2015	13	13	7
2015 to 2024	148	137	47

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 35 (1977)2024: 8

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

Table 2.Nevada County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	8	8
2023	14	13
2022	18	17
2021	25	21
2020	14	14
2019	10	10
2018	18	16
2017	16	14
2016	12	11
2015	13	13
2014	5	5
2013	15	13
2012	16	16
2011	8	7
2010	10	10
2009	12	12
2008	20	19
2007	13	12
2006	24	19
2005	18	15
2004	19	16
2003	13	13
2002	16	16
2001	15	13
2000	15	15
1999	28	26
1998	23	21
1997	17	17
1996	15	15
1995	21	19
1994	19	18
1993	19	13
1992	17	17
1991	12	11
1990	13	13
1989	25	22
1988	17	16
1987	25	22
1986	21	21
1985	22	21
1984	20	18
1983	27	25
1982	21	17
1981	30	24
1980	25	24
1979	26	22
1978	34	26
1977	35	32
1976	19	17
1975	13	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.Nevada County beside California and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Nevada County	California	United States
2024	7.8	9.8	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	14.7	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. Nevada County had 102,146 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.Nevada County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in California
A driver recorded as drinkingof 137 fatal crashes	47	137 fatal crashes	34.3%	27.9%
A speeding-related driverof 137 fatal crashes	42	137 fatal crashes	30.7%	30.2%
No restraint usedof 101 occupant deaths with restraint use known	47	101 occupant deathswith restraint use known	46.5%	38.0%
Pedestriansof 148 deaths	11	148 deaths	7.4%	26.0%
Bicyclistsof 148 deaths	0	148 deaths	0.0%	3.8%
Motorcyclistsof 148 deaths	28	148 deaths	18.9%	14.1%
On a rural roadof 137 fatal crashes with the condition reported	96	137 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	70.1%	29.9%
In the darkof 137 fatal crashes with the condition reported	62	137 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	45.3%	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.Nevada 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	5	3	7	7	22
Monday	1 or 2	1 or 2	7	1 or 2	12
Tuesday	3	3	5	7	18
Wednesday	1 or 2	1 or 2	5	3	11
Thursday	3	3	7	8	21
Friday	4	4	6	3	17
Saturday	6	1 or 2	10	10	27
All days	23	18	47	40	128

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.Nevada County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in California
Interstate	20	14.6%	13.7%
Other freeways and expressways	14	10.2%	12.6%
Other principal arterial	43	31.4%	30.1%
Minor arterial	21	15.3%	21.7%
Major collector	24	17.5%	12.3%
Minor collector	6	4.4%	2.3%
Local	9	6.6%	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.Nevada County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	69
Dark, not lighted	52
Dark, lighted	10
Dawn	4
Dusk	1 or 2
Dark, lighting unknown	0
Other or unknown	0

Table 8.Nevada County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	107
Cloudy	16
Rain	7
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	4
Fog, smog or smoke	1 or 2
Crosswinds or blowing sand/snow	0
Other or not reported	1 or 2

Routes in the county

Table 9.Signed routes in Nevada County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In Nevada	In all of California
Interstate 80	Interstate	20	445
State Route 20	State highway	32	172
State Route 49	State highway	34	154
State Route 99	State highway	1 or 2	755

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.Nevada 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
Nevada County: 14.7

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 Nevada County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Placer County	California	40	334	8.3
Sierra County	California	1 or 2	14	45.3
Yuba County	California	14	159	19.8
Washoe County	Nevada	50	460	9.6

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 Nevada 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. Nevada County, California: fatal crash statistics. https://fatalroads.com/county/ca/nevada/. 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/nevada/" title="Fatal crashes in Nevada 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/nevada/">Fatal crashes in Nevada 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 Nevada in the ten years before 2015?

FARS records 141 deaths in Nevada County from 2005 to 2014. It records 148 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of Nevada in 2024?

The rate of Nevada County in 2024 was 7.8 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 Nevada had a driver recorded as drinking?

FARS records a driver as drinking in 47 of 137 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 Nevada?

4 signed routes in the county have a page. FARS records 87 fatal crashes on them in the county from 2015 to 2024. The table of routes on this page gives the count for each route.