Plumas County, California: fatal crash statistics

Counties of California by year (CSV)Cite this page

FARS records 1 or 2 deaths in 1 or 2 fatal crashes in Plumas County in 2024.

FARS records 48 deaths in 44 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 25.2 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, Plumas County was number 53 of 58 counties of California.

Deaths in Plumas County fell by 25.0% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (64) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (48).

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

From 2015 to 2024, 100.0% of the fatal crashes in Plumas 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 Plumas County by year, 2015 to 2024

1 or 2

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.Plumas County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	1 or 2	1 or 2	1 or 2
2023	0	0	0
2022	5	5	0
2021	7	6	1 or 2
2020	4	4	1 or 2
2019	3	3	1 or 2
2018	6	4	1 or 2
2017	6	6	3
2016	10	9	3
2015	5	5	1 or 2
2015 to 2024	48	44	16

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 17 (1980)2024: 1 or 2

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

Table 2.Plumas County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	1 or 2	1 or 2
2023	0	0
2022	5	5
2021	7	6
2020	4	4
2019	3	3
2018	6	4
2017	6	6
2016	10	9
2015	5	5
2014	6	6
2013	3	3
2012	8	8
2011	9	8
2010	4	4
2009	3	3
2008	7	7
2007	5	5
2006	6	6
2005	13	13
2004	5	4
2003	7	5
2002	14	12
2001	7	6
2000	12	12
1999	8	7
1998	6	5
1997	4	3
1996	3	3
1995	5	5
1994	11	10
1993	6	6
1992	4	4
1991	6	6
1990	17	15
1989	12	12
1988	15	14
1987	11	9
1986	16	14
1985	13	11
1984	13	12
1983	8	8
1982	12	12
1981	15	14
1980	17	15
1979	10	10
1978	10	9
1977	10	8
1976	10	9
1975	10	7

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.Plumas County beside California and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Plumas County	California	United States
2024	n/a	9.8	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	25.2	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. No rate is given for a count of 1 or 2.

Population: Census Bureau estimates, vintage 2025. Plumas County had 18,773 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.Plumas County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in California
A driver recorded as drinkingof 44 fatal crashes	16	44 fatal crashes	36.4%	27.9%
A speeding-related driverof 44 fatal crashes	17	44 fatal crashes	38.6%	30.2%
No restraint usedof 40 occupant deaths with restraint use known	14	40 occupant deathswith restraint use known	35.0%	38.0%
Pedestriansof 48 deaths	1 or 2	48 deaths	2.1%	26.0%
Bicyclistsof 48 deaths	0	48 deaths	0.0%	3.8%
Motorcyclistsof 48 deaths	6	48 deaths	12.5%	14.1%
On a rural roadof 44 fatal crashes with the condition reported	44	44 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	100.0%	29.9%
In the darkof 44 fatal crashes with the condition reported	16	44 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	36.4%	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.Plumas 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	1 or 2	1 or 2	0	3	6
Monday	1 or 2	1 or 2	5	1 or 2	10
Tuesday	1 or 2	1 or 2	1 or 2	0	4
Wednesday	1 or 2	1 or 2	1 or 2	1 or 2	6
Thursday	0	0	1 or 2	1 or 2	1 or 2
Friday	0	1 or 2	3	1 or 2	6
Saturday	0	1 or 2	3	3	7
All days	5	8	15	13	41

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.Plumas 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	7	15.9%	12.6%
Other principal arterial	1 or 2	4.5%	30.1%
Minor arterial	24	54.5%	21.7%
Major collector	4	9.1%	12.3%
Minor collector	0	0.0%	2.3%
Local	7	15.9%	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.Plumas County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	24
Dark, not lighted	15
Dark, lighted	1 or 2
Dawn	0
Dusk	4
Dark, lighting unknown	0
Other or unknown	0

Table 8.Plumas County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	27
Cloudy	11
Rain	3
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	1 or 2
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 Plumas County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In Plumas	In all of California
State Route 36	State highway	3	46
State Route 70	State highway	22	102
State Route 89	State highway	7	40

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.Plumas 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
Plumas County: 25.2

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 Plumas County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Butte County	California	34	382	17.6
Lassen County	California	3	90	29.4
Shasta County	California	33	328	18.2
Sierra County	California	1 or 2	14	45.3
Tehama County	California	13	171	26.5
Yuba County	California	14	159	19.8

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 Plumas 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. Plumas County, California: fatal crash statistics. https://fatalroads.com/county/ca/plumas/. 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.

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 Plumas in the ten years before 2015?

FARS records 64 deaths in Plumas County from 2005 to 2014. It records 48 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

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

FARS records a driver as drinking in 16 of 44 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 Plumas?

FARS records 3 fatal crashes on State Route 36 in the county from 2015 to 2024. FARS records 22 fatal crashes on State Route 70 in the county from 2015 to 2024. FARS records 7 fatal crashes on State Route 89 in the county from 2015 to 2024.