Sacramento County, California: fatal crash statistics

Counties of California by year (CSV)Cite this page

FARS records 156 deaths in 154 fatal crashes in Sacramento County in 2024.

FARS records 1,757 deaths in 1,633 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 11.3 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, Sacramento County was number 7 of 58 counties of California.

Deaths in Sacramento County rose by 45.6% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (1,207) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (1,757).

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

From 2015 to 2024, 20.4% of the fatal crashes in Sacramento 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 Sacramento County by year, 2015 to 2024

139

169

172

142

172

159

222

217

209

156

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.Sacramento County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	156	154	55
2023	209	193	57
2022	217	204	54
2021	222	206	60
2020	159	147	35
2019	172	159	40
2018	142	135	33
2017	172	158	45
2016	169	153	47
2015	139	124	42
2015 to 2024	1,757	1,633	468

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 222 (2021)2024: 156

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

Table 2.Sacramento County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	156	154
2023	209	193
2022	217	204
2021	222	206
2020	159	147
2019	172	159
2018	142	135
2017	172	158
2016	169	153
2015	139	124
2014	114	102
2013	123	116
2012	110	97
2011	106	102
2010	123	117
2009	109	99
2008	91	84
2007	141	123
2006	128	121
2005	162	155
2004	131	127
2003	149	136
2002	142	140
2001	146	131
2000	116	105
1999	116	102
1998	89	84
1997	150	136
1996	111	103
1995	122	112
1994	131	115
1993	146	132
1992	135	125
1991	133	125
1990	168	152
1989	156	143
1988	180	162
1987	183	165
1986	169	153
1985	167	145
1984	148	138
1983	128	122
1982	128	113
1981	155	140
1980	167	149
1979	193	173
1978	158	151
1977	151	134
1976	122	111
1975	113	108

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.Sacramento County beside California and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Sacramento County	California	United States
2024	9.7	9.8	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	11.3	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. Sacramento County had 1,609,897 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.Sacramento County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in California
A driver recorded as drinkingof 1,633 fatal crashes	468	1,633 fatal crashes	28.7%	27.9%
A speeding-related driverof 1,633 fatal crashes	463	1,633 fatal crashes	28.4%	30.2%
No restraint usedof 748 occupant deaths with restraint use known	298	748 occupant deathswith restraint use known	39.8%	38.0%
Pedestriansof 1,757 deaths	554	1,757 deaths	31.5%	26.0%
Bicyclistsof 1,757 deaths	116	1,757 deaths	6.6%	3.8%
Motorcyclistsof 1,757 deaths	225	1,757 deaths	12.8%	14.1%
On a rural roadof 1,632 fatal crashes with the condition reported	333	1,632 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	20.4%	29.9%
In the darkof 1,630 fatal crashes with the condition reported	1,023	1,630 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	62.8%	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.Sacramento 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	83	26	49	88	246
Monday	63	32	41	85	221
Tuesday	40	40	47	80	207
Wednesday	46	30	52	76	204
Thursday	46	36	50	103	235
Friday	52	31	42	110	235
Saturday	83	37	46	100	266
All days	413	232	327	642	1,614

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.Sacramento County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in California
Interstate	188	11.5%	13.7%
Other freeways and expressways	212	13.0%	12.6%
Other principal arterial	703	43.1%	30.1%
Minor arterial	242	14.8%	21.7%
Major collector	157	9.6%	12.3%
Minor collector	28	1.7%	2.3%
Local	102	6.3%	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.Sacramento County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	548
Dark, not lighted	333
Dark, lighted	683
Dawn	25
Dusk	34
Dark, lighting unknown	7
Other or unknown	3

Table 8.Sacramento County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	1,353
Cloudy	152
Rain	99
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	0
Fog, smog or smoke	17
Crosswinds or blowing sand/snow	1 or 2
Other or not reported	11

Routes in the county

Table 9.Signed routes in Sacramento County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In Sacramento	In all of California
Interstate 5	Interstate	108	1,337
Interstate 80	Interstate	72	445
State Route 1	State highway	1 or 2	502
State Route 12	State highway	11	108
State Route 16	State highway	20	50
State Route 51	State highway	31	31
State Route 99	State highway	93	755
State Route 160	State highway	54	57
US Route 50	US highway	73	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.Sacramento 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
Sacramento County: 11.3

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 Sacramento County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Amador County	California	7	117	29.3
Contra Costa County	California	66	811	7.0
El Dorado County	California	17	240	12.6
Placer County	California	40	334	8.3
San Joaquin County	California	139	1,237	16.1
Solano County	California	41	465	10.4
Sutter County	California	20	190	19.5
Yolo County	California	21	278	12.7

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

FARS records 1,207 deaths in Sacramento County from 2005 to 2014. It records 1,757 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of Sacramento in 2024?

The rate of Sacramento County in 2024 was 9.7 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 Sacramento had a driver recorded as drinking?

FARS records a driver as drinking in 468 of 1,633 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 Sacramento?

9 signed routes in the county have a page. FARS records 463 fatal crashes on them in the county from 2015 to 2024. The table of routes on this page gives the count for each route.