San Joaquin County, California: fatal crash statistics

Counties of California by year (CSV)Cite this page

FARS records 139 deaths in 123 fatal crashes in San Joaquin County in 2024.

FARS records 1,237 deaths in 1,128 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 16.1 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, San Joaquin County was number 9 of 58 counties of California.

Deaths in San Joaquin County rose by 36.7% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (905) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (1,237).

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

From 2015 to 2024, 40.1% of the fatal crashes in San Joaquin 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 San Joaquin County by year, 2015 to 2024

119

121

111

119

118

143

134

135

139

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.San Joaquin County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	139	123	38
2023	135	119	42
2022	134	128	51
2021	143	129	37
2020	118	110	43
2019	119	110	25
2018	111	103	25
2017	121	106	29
2016	119	110	39
2015	98	90	20
2015 to 2024	1,237	1,128	349

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 158 (1989)2024: 139

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

Table 2.San Joaquin County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	139	123
2023	135	119
2022	134	128
2021	143	129
2020	118	110
2019	119	110
2018	111	103
2017	121	106
2016	119	110
2015	98	90
2014	83	80
2013	93	79
2012	63	57
2011	84	80
2010	81	75
2009	63	56
2008	89	81
2007	107	97
2006	118	108
2005	124	115
2004	124	114
2003	101	91
2002	155	125
2001	119	100
2000	107	95
1999	94	79
1998	91	76
1997	88	81
1996	105	92
1995	133	114
1994	119	103
1993	113	99
1992	93	86
1991	140	120
1990	134	113
1989	158	132
1988	132	117
1987	133	122
1986	139	120
1985	94	84
1984	114	100
1983	102	89
1982	108	95
1981	114	98
1980	117	100
1979	142	129
1978	119	105
1977	99	89
1976	95	73
1975	107	89

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.San Joaquin County beside California and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	San Joaquin County	California	United States
2024	17.0	9.8	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	16.1	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. San Joaquin County had 817,149 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.San Joaquin County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in California
A driver recorded as drinkingof 1,128 fatal crashes	349	1,128 fatal crashes	30.9%	27.9%
A speeding-related driverof 1,128 fatal crashes	359	1,128 fatal crashes	31.8%	30.2%
No restraint usedof 714 occupant deaths with restraint use known	305	714 occupant deathswith restraint use known	42.7%	38.0%
Pedestriansof 1,237 deaths	256	1,237 deaths	20.7%	26.0%
Bicyclistsof 1,237 deaths	69	1,237 deaths	5.6%	3.8%
Motorcyclistsof 1,237 deaths	124	1,237 deaths	10.0%	14.1%
On a rural roadof 1,127 fatal crashes with the condition reported	452	1,127 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	40.1%	29.9%
In the darkof 1,126 fatal crashes with the condition reported	649	1,126 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	57.6%	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.San Joaquin 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	62	21	44	64	191
Monday	41	30	23	41	135
Tuesday	23	30	50	46	149
Wednesday	33	12	34	43	122
Thursday	25	31	32	66	154
Friday	33	32	39	61	165
Saturday	50	25	29	84	188
All days	267	181	251	405	1,104

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.San Joaquin County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in California
Interstate	165	14.7%	13.7%
Other freeways and expressways	170	15.1%	12.6%
Other principal arterial	358	31.8%	30.1%
Minor arterial	97	8.6%	21.7%
Major collector	222	19.7%	12.3%
Minor collector	23	2.0%	2.3%
Local	91	8.1%	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.San Joaquin County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	416
Dark, not lighted	345
Dark, lighted	302
Dawn	25
Dusk	36
Dark, lighting unknown	1 or 2
Other or unknown	1 or 2

Table 8.San Joaquin County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	943
Cloudy	97
Rain	59
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	0
Fog, smog or smoke	22
Crosswinds or blowing sand/snow	1 or 2
Other or not reported	6

Routes in the county

Table 9.Signed routes in San Joaquin County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In San Joaquin	In all of California
Interstate 5	Interstate	118	1,337
Interstate 205	Interstate	25	26
Interstate 580	Interstate	18	163
State Route 4	State highway	70	226
State Route 12	State highway	32	108
State Route 20	State highway	1 or 2	172
State Route 26	State highway	22	38
State Route 33	State highway	3	134
State Route 88	State highway	33	70
State Route 99	State highway	102	755
State Route 120	State highway	40	89
State Route 132	State highway	13	82
State Route 210	State highway	1 or 2	129

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.San Joaquin 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
San Joaquin County: 16.1

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 San Joaquin County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Alameda County	California	100	965	5.8
Amador County	California	7	117	29.3
Calaveras County	California	13	131	28.5
Contra Costa County	California	66	811	7.0
Sacramento County	California	156	1,757	11.3
Stanislaus County	California	88	830	15.1

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 San Joaquin 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. San Joaquin County, California: fatal crash statistics. https://fatalroads.com/county/ca/san-joaquin/. 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 San Joaquin in the ten years before 2015?

FARS records 905 deaths in San Joaquin County from 2005 to 2014. It records 1,237 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of San Joaquin in 2024?

The rate of San Joaquin County in 2024 was 17.0 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 San Joaquin had a driver recorded as drinking?

FARS records a driver as drinking in 349 of 1,128 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 San Joaquin?

13 signed routes in the county have a page. FARS records 478 fatal crashes on them in the county from 2015 to 2024. The table of routes on this page gives the count for each route.