San Mateo County, California: fatal crash statistics

Counties of California by year (CSV)Cite this page

FARS records 30 deaths in 27 fatal crashes in San Mateo County in 2024.

FARS records 369 deaths in 345 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 4.9 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 Mateo County was number 22 of 58 counties of California.

Deaths in San Mateo County fell by 0.3% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (370) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (369).

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

From 2015 to 2024, 19.4% of the fatal crashes in San Mateo 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 Mateo 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.San Mateo County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	30	27	4
2023	38	35	6
2022	48	43	10
2021	36	35	7
2020	39	38	10
2019	30	29	4
2018	30	29	6
2017	33	29	6
2016	52	48	11
2015	33	32	8
2015 to 2024	369	345	72

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 105 (1979)2024: 30

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

Table 2.San Mateo County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	30	27
2023	38	35
2022	48	43
2021	36	35
2020	39	38
2019	30	29
2018	30	29
2017	33	29
2016	52	48
2015	33	32
2014	25	23
2013	57	44
2012	39	35
2011	46	46
2010	19	18
2009	39	36
2008	35	34
2007	28	27
2006	45	39
2005	37	33
2004	40	37
2003	36	35
2002	44	38
2001	33	32
2000	47	44
1999	36	32
1998	42	40
1997	43	37
1996	44	40
1995	40	37
1994	43	41
1993	46	42
1992	55	47
1991	42	39
1990	54	51
1989	58	54
1988	63	58
1987	60	57
1986	71	63
1985	55	48
1984	66	59
1983	64	59
1982	66	64
1981	81	73
1980	72	66
1979	105	86
1978	84	76
1977	71	65
1976	63	58
1975	69	63

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 Mateo County beside California and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	San Mateo County	California	United States
2024	4.1	9.8	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	4.9	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 Mateo County had 740,627 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.San Mateo County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in California
A driver recorded as drinkingof 345 fatal crashes	72	345 fatal crashes	20.9%	27.9%
A speeding-related driverof 345 fatal crashes	115	345 fatal crashes	33.3%	30.2%
No restraint usedof 158 occupant deaths with restraint use known	44	158 occupant deathswith restraint use known	27.8%	38.0%
Pedestriansof 369 deaths	112	369 deaths	30.4%	26.0%
Bicyclistsof 369 deaths	19	369 deaths	5.1%	3.8%
Motorcyclistsof 369 deaths	53	369 deaths	14.4%	14.1%
On a rural roadof 345 fatal crashes with the condition reported	67	345 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	19.4%	29.9%
In the darkof 344 fatal crashes with the condition reported	182	344 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	52.9%	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 Mateo 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	13	10	13	14	50
Monday	12	4	14	10	40
Tuesday	9	8	14	9	40
Wednesday	9	9	8	8	34
Thursday	7	9	10	18	44
Friday	4	10	14	28	56
Saturday	14	10	23	22	69
All days	68	60	96	109	333

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 Mateo County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in California
Interstate	43	12.5%	13.7%
Other freeways and expressways	77	22.3%	12.6%
Other principal arterial	96	27.8%	30.1%
Minor arterial	67	19.4%	21.7%
Major collector	37	10.7%	12.3%
Minor collector	1 or 2	0.3%	2.3%
Local	24	7.0%	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.San Mateo County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	147
Dark, not lighted	75
Dark, lighted	105
Dawn	5
Dusk	10
Dark, lighting unknown	1 or 2
Other or unknown	1 or 2

Table 8.San Mateo County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	260
Cloudy	51
Rain	27
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	0
Fog, smog or smoke	4
Crosswinds or blowing sand/snow	0
Other or not reported	3

Routes in the county

Table 9.Signed routes in San Mateo County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In San Mateo	In all of California
Interstate 280	Interstate	37	101
State Route 1	State highway	43	502
State Route 35	State highway	26	35
State Route 82	State highway	31	44
State Route 84	State highway	20	61
State Route 92	State highway	12	20
US Route 101	US highway	54	1,025

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 Mateo 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 Mateo County: 4.9

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 Mateo County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Alameda County	California	100	965	5.8
San Francisco County	California	48	356	4.2
Santa Clara County	California	100	1,195	6.2
Santa Cruz County	California	16	214	7.9

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

FARS records 370 deaths in San Mateo County from 2005 to 2014. It records 369 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of San Mateo in 2024?

The rate of San Mateo County in 2024 was 4.1 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 Mateo had a driver recorded as drinking?

FARS records a driver as drinking in 72 of 345 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 Mateo?

7 signed routes in the county have a page. FARS records 223 fatal crashes on them in the county from 2015 to 2024. The table of routes on this page gives the count for each route.