Kent County, Delaware: fatal crash statistics

Counties of Delaware by year (CSV)Cite this page

FARS records 30 deaths in 30 fatal crashes in Kent County in 2024.

FARS records 275 deaths in 263 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 15.1 deaths for each 100,000 residents in a year.

The rate of Delaware in the same years is 13.0.

By deaths from 2015 to 2024, Kent County was number 3 of 3 counties of Delaware.

Deaths in Kent County rose by 13.6% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (242) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (275).

In the counties of Delaware the deaths rose by 10.2% between the same years.

From 2015 to 2024, 50.2% of the fatal crashes in Kent County with a known setting were rural, against 40.5% in Delaware.

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 Kent 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.Kent County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	30	30	4
2023	32	31	8
2022	31	29	9
2021	37	36	9
2020	17	16	6
2019	25	21	5
2018	24	24	6
2017	21	19	6
2016	31	30	7
2015	27	27	6
2015 to 2024	275	263	66

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 45 (1986)2024: 30

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

Table 2.Kent County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	30	30
2023	32	31
2022	31	29
2021	37	36
2020	17	16
2019	25	21
2018	24	24
2017	21	19
2016	31	30
2015	27	27
2014	21	18
2013	14	13
2012	24	21
2011	17	17
2010	24	20
2009	20	17
2008	28	23
2007	21	19
2006	35	32
2005	38	30
2004	27	24
2003	13	13
2002	24	20
2001	22	21
2000	23	23
1999	16	14
1998	26	24
1997	25	24
1996	17	15
1995	23	20
1994	15	13
1993	24	22
1992	38	34
1991	23	20
1990	34	30
1989	28	26
1988	29	27
1987	33	30
1986	45	37
1985	26	20
1984	21	21
1983	36	29
1982	30	28
1981	20	20
1980	31	29
1979	30	27
1978	20	19
1977	29	25
1976	26	24
1975	27	24

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.Kent County beside Delaware and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Kent County	Delaware	United States
2024	15.6	12.0	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	15.1	13.0	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. Kent County had 192,876 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.Kent County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in Delaware
A driver recorded as drinkingof 263 fatal crashes	66	263 fatal crashes	25.1%	25.0%
A speeding-related driverof 263 fatal crashes	76	263 fatal crashes	28.9%	28.8%
No restraint usedof 148 occupant deaths with restraint use known	66	148 occupant deathswith restraint use known	44.6%	47.4%
Pedestriansof 275 deaths	48	275 deaths	17.5%	22.6%
Bicyclistsof 275 deaths	13	275 deaths	4.7%	3.4%
Motorcyclistsof 275 deaths	47	275 deaths	17.1%	13.6%
On a rural roadof 263 fatal crashes with the condition reported	132	263 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	50.2%	40.5%
In the darkof 263 fatal crashes with the condition reported	136	263 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	51.7%	54.0%

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.Kent 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	15	4	10	11	40
Monday	7	4	11	5	27
Tuesday	8	7	10	13	38
Wednesday	5	8	7	12	32
Thursday	5	5	15	8	33
Friday	8	3	15	20	46
Saturday	8	7	12	20	47
All days	56	38	80	89	263

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.Kent County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in Delaware
Interstate	1 or 2	0.8%	7.1%
Other freeways and expressways	24	9.1%	5.1%
Other principal arterial	43	16.3%	32.7%
Minor arterial	79	30.0%	16.8%
Major collector	58	22.1%	21.1%
Minor collector	23	8.7%	5.1%
Local	34	12.9%	12.1%
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.Kent County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	119
Dark, not lighted	102
Dark, lighted	26
Dawn	1 or 2
Dusk	6
Dark, lighting unknown	8
Other or unknown	0

Table 8.Kent County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	182
Cloudy	65
Rain	12
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	1 or 2

Routes in the county

Table 9.Signed routes in Kent County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In Kent	In all of Delaware
State Route 1	State highway	32	100
State Route 9	State highway	3	24
US Route 13	US highway	63	159
US Route 113	US highway	3	41

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 Delaware

Adjacent counties

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

Figure 3.Kent County on the county map of Delaware

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

Fewer than 100 counties
10 to 14.91 county
15 to 19.92 counties
20 to 29.90 counties
30 or more0 counties
Kent County: 15.1

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 Delaware

Table 10.Counties that share a boundary line with Kent County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
New Castle County	Delaware	61	623	11.0
Sussex County	Delaware	35	389	16.2
Caroline County	Maryland	10	75	22.5
Kent County	Maryland	0	30	15.4
Queen Anne's County	Maryland	7	73	14.4
Cape May County	New Jersey	9	114	12.1
Cumberland County	New Jersey	30	250	16.4
Salem County	New Jersey	16	145	22.6

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

Counties of similar population

These counties of Delaware have a population nearest to that of Kent 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.
Delaware Office of Highway SafetyThe highway safety office of Delaware.

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

Cite this page

Fatal Roads. Kent County, Delaware: fatal crash statistics. https://fatalroads.com/county/de/kent/. 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/de/kent/" title="Fatal crashes in Kent County, Delaware" 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/de/kent/">Fatal crashes in Kent County, Delaware</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 Kent in the ten years before 2015?

FARS records 242 deaths in Kent County from 2005 to 2014. It records 275 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of Kent in 2024?

The rate of Kent County in 2024 was 15.6 deaths for each 100,000 residents. The rate of Delaware was 12.0. The rate of the United States was 11.5.

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

FARS records a driver as drinking in 66 of 263 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 Kent?

4 signed routes in the county have a page. FARS records 101 fatal crashes on them in the county from 2015 to 2024. The table of routes on this page gives the count for each route.