Bay County, Florida: fatal crash statistics

Counties of Florida by year (CSV)Cite this page

FARS records 36 deaths in 35 fatal crashes in Bay County in 2024.

FARS records 346 deaths in 321 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 18.8 deaths for each 100,000 residents in a year.

The rate of Florida in the same years is 15.1.

By deaths from 2015 to 2024, Bay County was number 26 of 67 counties of Florida.

Deaths in Bay County rose by 21.0% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (286) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (346).

In the counties of Florida the deaths rose by 17.6% between the same years.

From 2015 to 2024, a driver was recorded as drinking in 16.2% of fatal crashes in Bay County and 20.7% in Florida.

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 Bay 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.Bay County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	36	35	5
2023	23	22	4
2022	48	46	8
2021	47	39	5
2020	35	31	4
2019	32	31	5
2018	26	26	3
2017	29	28	4
2016	38	33	8
2015	32	30	6
2015 to 2024	346	321	52

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 48 (2022)2024: 36

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

Table 2.Bay County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	36	35
2023	23	22
2022	48	46
2021	47	39
2020	35	31
2019	32	31
2018	26	26
2017	29	28
2016	38	33
2015	32	30
2014	30	29
2013	17	17
2012	33	30
2011	24	24
2010	18	17
2009	28	27
2008	22	22
2007	35	27
2006	46	41
2005	33	31
2004	37	32
2003	40	36
2002	26	23
2001	34	32
2000	25	22
1999	28	25
1998	33	31
1997	33	32
1996	33	27
1995	31	28
1994	25	22
1993	18	18
1992	21	20
1991	22	22
1990	20	20
1989	27	26
1988	32	24
1987	37	37
1986	28	27
1985	35	33
1984	25	24
1983	23	21
1982	23	21
1981	30	29
1980	21	21
1979	23	21
1978	23	22
1977	23	19
1976	32	24
1975	23	21

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.Bay County beside Florida and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Bay County	Florida	United States
2024	18.0	13.5	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	18.8	15.1	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. Bay County had 200,142 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.Bay County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in Florida
A driver recorded as drinkingof 321 fatal crashes	52	321 fatal crashes	16.2%	20.7%
A speeding-related driverof 321 fatal crashes	22	321 fatal crashes	6.9%	9.8%
No restraint usedof 164 occupant deaths with restraint use known	76	164 occupant deathswith restraint use known	46.3%	45.3%
Pedestriansof 346 deaths	77	346 deaths	22.3%	21.7%
Bicyclistsof 346 deaths	27	346 deaths	7.8%	5.4%
Motorcyclistsof 346 deaths	73	346 deaths	21.1%	19.0%
On a rural roadof 321 fatal crashes with the condition reported	79	321 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	24.6%	23.6%
In the darkof 320 fatal crashes with the condition reported	178	320 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	55.6%	55.3%

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.Bay 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	9	3	11	10	33
Monday	9	8	6	13	36
Tuesday	11	11	18	9	49
Wednesday	8	5	8	17	38
Thursday	4	5	16	25	50
Friday	10	6	21	28	65
Saturday	12	5	11	22	50
All days	63	43	91	124	321

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.Bay County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in Florida
Interstate	0	0.0%	9.5%
Other freeways and expressways	6	1.9%	3.4%
Other principal arterial	182	56.7%	40.4%
Minor arterial	62	19.3%	19.0%
Major collector	30	9.3%	11.8%
Minor collector	1 or 2	0.6%	3.1%
Local	39	12.1%	12.9%
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.Bay County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	123
Dark, not lighted	97
Dark, lighted	80
Dawn	6
Dusk	13
Dark, lighting unknown	1 or 2
Other or unknown	1 or 2

Table 8.Bay County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	239
Cloudy	48
Rain	27
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	0
Fog, smog or smoke	5
Crosswinds or blowing sand/snow	0
Other or not reported	1 or 2

Routes in the county

Table 9.Signed routes in Bay County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In Bay	In all of Florida
State Route 20	State highway	7	129
State Route 77	State highway	20	41
State Route 79	State highway	8	34
US Route 1	US highway	1 or 2	1,222
US Route 90	US highway	1 or 2	444
US Route 98	US highway	95	514
US Route 231	US highway	52	74

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 Florida

Adjacent counties

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

Figure 3.Bay County on the county map of Florida

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

Fewer than 101 county
10 to 14.917 counties
15 to 19.918 counties
20 to 29.912 counties
30 or more19 counties
Bay County: 18.8

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 Florida

Table 10.Counties that share a boundary line with Bay County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Calhoun County	Florida	4	55	39.5
Gulf County	Florida	5	40	26.1
Jackson County	Florida	12	174	36.2
Walton County	Florida	25	228	30.1
Washington County	Florida	9	74	29.4

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

Counties of similar population

These counties of Florida have a population nearest to that of Bay 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.
Florida State Safety OfficeThe highway safety office of Florida.

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

Cite this page

Fatal Roads. Bay County, Florida: fatal crash statistics. https://fatalroads.com/county/fl/bay/. 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/fl/bay/" title="Fatal crashes in Bay County, Florida" 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/fl/bay/">Fatal crashes in Bay County, Florida</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 Bay in the ten years before 2015?

FARS records 286 deaths in Bay County from 2005 to 2014. It records 346 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of Bay in 2024?

The rate of Bay County in 2024 was 18.0 deaths for each 100,000 residents. The rate of Florida was 13.5. The rate of the United States was 11.5.

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

FARS records a driver as drinking in 52 of 321 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 Bay?

7 signed routes in the county have a page. FARS records 184 fatal crashes on them in the county from 2015 to 2024. The table of routes on this page gives the count for each route.