Delta County, Colorado: fatal crash statistics

Counties of Colorado by year (CSV)Cite this page

FARS records 7 deaths in 5 fatal crashes in Delta County in 2024.

FARS records 51 deaths in 48 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 16.4 deaths for each 100,000 residents in a year.

The rate of Colorado in the same years is 11.4.

By deaths from 2015 to 2024, Delta County was number 20 of 64 counties of Colorado.

Deaths in Delta County fell by 32.0% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (75) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (51).

In the counties of Colorado the deaths rose by 29.1% between the same years.

From 2015 to 2024, 91.7% of the fatal crashes in Delta County with a known setting were rural, against 39.1% in Colorado.

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 Delta 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.Delta County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	7	5	5
2023	6	6	0
2022	8	7	1 or 2
2021	5	5	1 or 2
2020	8	8	1 or 2
2019	3	3	1 or 2
2018	5	5	1 or 2
2017	6	6	5
2016	3	3	1 or 2
2015	0	0	0
2015 to 2024	51	48	18

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 16 (1981)2024: 7

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

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

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.Delta County beside Colorado and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Delta County	Colorado	United States
2024	21.7	11.5	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	16.4	11.4	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. Delta County had 32,294 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.Delta County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in Colorado
A driver recorded as drinkingof 48 fatal crashes	18	48 fatal crashes	37.5%	34.1%
A speeding-related driverof 48 fatal crashes	21	48 fatal crashes	43.8%	35.4%
No restraint usedof 43 occupant deaths with restraint use known	30	43 occupant deathswith restraint use known	69.8%	54.5%
Pedestriansof 51 deaths	1 or 2	51 deaths	2.0%	14.1%
Bicyclistsof 51 deaths	0	51 deaths	0.0%	2.5%
Motorcyclistsof 51 deaths	5	51 deaths	9.8%	19.4%
On a rural roadof 48 fatal crashes with the condition reported	44	48 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	91.7%	39.1%
In the darkof 48 fatal crashes with the condition reported	18	48 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	37.5%	45.1%

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.Delta 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	3	1 or 2	4	4	12
Monday	1 or 2	0	1 or 2	3	5
Tuesday	0	1 or 2	0	1 or 2	1 or 2
Wednesday	1 or 2	1 or 2	5	0	7
Thursday	0	1 or 2	3	1 or 2	6
Friday	0	1 or 2	3	3	8
Saturday	1 or 2	3	3	1 or 2	8
All days	6	10	19	13	48

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.Delta County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in Colorado
Interstate	0	0.0%	14.9%
Other freeways and expressways	0	0.0%	4.6%
Other principal arterial	13	27.1%	39.3%
Minor arterial	19	39.6%	19.3%
Major collector	4	8.3%	10.2%
Minor collector	3	6.3%	2.8%
Local	9	18.8%	8.9%
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.Delta County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	29
Dark, not lighted	16
Dark, lighted	1 or 2
Dawn	1 or 2
Dusk	0
Dark, lighting unknown	0
Other or unknown	0

Table 8.Delta County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	24
Cloudy	1 or 2
Rain	1 or 2
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	0
Fog, smog or smoke	0
Crosswinds or blowing sand/snow	0
Other or not reported	22

Routes in the county

Table 9.Signed routes in Delta County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In Delta	In all of Colorado
US Route 50	US highway	10	169

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 Colorado

Adjacent counties

These lists are for navigation. They are in name order.

Figure 3.Delta County on the county map of Colorado

Deaths for each 100,000 residents in a year, 2015 to 2024

Fewer than 108 counties
10 to 14.99 counties
15 to 19.917 counties
20 to 29.912 counties
30 or more18 counties
Delta County: 16.4

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 Colorado

Table 10.Counties that share a boundary line with Delta County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Gunnison County	Colorado	1 or 2	45	26.4
Mesa County	Colorado	17	181	11.7
Montrose County	Colorado	10	61	14.3

Source of the list: Census Bureau county adjacency file, 2026 edition.

Counties of similar population

These counties of Colorado have a population nearest to that of Delta 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.
Colorado Office of Transportation SafetyThe highway safety office of Colorado.

These links go to the sites of the agencies. They were checked on 2 Oct 2026.

Cite this page

Fatal Roads. Delta County, Colorado: fatal crash statistics. https://fatalroads.com/county/co/delta/. 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 Delta in the ten years before 2015?

FARS records 75 deaths in Delta County from 2005 to 2014. It records 51 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of Delta in 2024?

The rate of Delta County in 2024 was 21.7 deaths for each 100,000 residents. The rate of Colorado was 11.5. The rate of the United States was 11.5.

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

FARS records a driver as drinking in 18 of 48 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 Delta?

FARS records 10 fatal crashes on US Route 50 in the county from 2015 to 2024.