Dubuque County, Iowa: fatal crash statistics

Counties of Iowa by year (CSV)Cite this page

FARS records 11 deaths in 10 fatal crashes in Dubuque County in 2024.

FARS records 66 deaths in 62 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 6.7 deaths for each 100,000 residents in a year.

The rate of Iowa in the same years is 11.0.

By deaths from 2015 to 2024, Dubuque County was number 8 of 99 counties of Iowa.

Deaths in Dubuque County fell by 2.9% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (68) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (66).

In the counties of Iowa the deaths fell by 10.1% between the same years.

From 2015 to 2024, 52.5% of the fatal crashes in Dubuque County with a known setting were rural, against 71.5% in Iowa.

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 Dubuque 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.Dubuque County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	11	10	1 or 2
2023	4	4	1 or 2
2022	12	9	0
2021	4	4	1 or 2
2020	3	3	1 or 2
2019	8	8	1 or 2
2018	6	6	1 or 2
2017	10	10	0
2016	4	4	1 or 2
2015	4	4	1 or 2
2015 to 2024	66	62	12

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 18 (1976)2024: 11

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

Table 2.Dubuque County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	11	10
2023	4	4
2022	12	9
2021	4	4
2020	3	3
2019	8	8
2018	6	6
2017	10	10
2016	4	4
2015	4	4
2014	9	6
2013	4	4
2012	5	5
2011	3	3
2010	7	7
2009	7	6
2008	7	7
2007	9	9
2006	8	7
2005	9	9
2004	12	9
2003	11	10
2002	7	7
2001	6	6
2000	1 or 2	1 or 2
1999	10	10
1998	7	7
1997	9	7
1996	8	7
1995	3	3
1994	13	13
1993	7	6
1992	11	9
1991	3	3
1990	6	5
1989	12	11
1988	11	11
1987	10	9
1986	15	14
1985	10	10
1984	11	11
1983	17	14
1982	9	9
1981	15	13
1980	12	12
1979	17	13
1978	17	15
1977	16	13
1976	18	16
1975	16	13

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.Dubuque County beside Iowa and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Dubuque County	Iowa	United States
2024	11.1	11.0	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	6.7	11.0	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. Dubuque County had 99,033 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.Dubuque County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in Iowa
A driver recorded as drinkingof 62 fatal crashes	12	62 fatal crashes	19.4%	25.4%
A speeding-related driverof 62 fatal crashes	16	62 fatal crashes	25.8%	20.2%
No restraint usedof 40 occupant deaths with restraint use known	14	40 occupant deathswith restraint use known	35.0%	48.1%
Pedestriansof 66 deaths	8	66 deaths	12.1%	7.1%
Bicyclistsof 66 deaths	1 or 2	66 deaths	1.5%	2.0%
Motorcyclistsof 66 deaths	16	66 deaths	24.2%	15.7%
On a rural roadof 61 fatal crashes with the condition reported	32	61 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	52.5%	71.5%
In the darkof 62 fatal crashes with the condition reported	18	62 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	29.0%	39.9%

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.Dubuque 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	1 or 2	3	5	1 or 2	12
Monday	1 or 2	1 or 2	1 or 2	1 or 2	5
Tuesday	0	1 or 2	6	1 or 2	9
Wednesday	0	0	3	3	6
Thursday	0	3	5	1 or 2	9
Friday	1 or 2	3	1 or 2	1 or 2	7
Saturday	1 or 2	3	4	6	14
All days	6	15	26	15	62

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.Dubuque County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in Iowa
Interstate	0	0.0%	11.0%
Other freeways and expressways	0	0.0%	0.1%
Other principal arterial	28	45.9%	29.3%
Minor arterial	3	4.9%	17.4%
Major collector	13	21.3%	20.0%
Minor collector	4	6.6%	5.7%
Local	13	21.3%	16.4%
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.Dubuque County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	42
Dark, not lighted	13
Dark, lighted	5
Dawn	1 or 2
Dusk	1 or 2
Dark, lighting unknown	0
Other or unknown	0

Table 8.Dubuque County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	43
Cloudy	11
Rain	5
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	1 or 2
Fog, smog or smoke	0
Crosswinds or blowing sand/snow	1 or 2
Other or not reported	1 or 2

Routes in the county

Table 9.Signed routes in Dubuque County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In Dubuque	In all of Iowa
State Route 3	State highway	3	27
State Route 163	State highway	1 or 2	26
US Route 20	US highway	10	55
US Route 61	US highway	6	63
US Route 151	US highway	6	39

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 Iowa

Adjacent counties

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

Figure 3.Dubuque County on the county map of Iowa

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

Fewer than 1015 counties
10 to 14.941 counties
15 to 19.924 counties
20 to 29.915 counties
30 or more4 counties
Dubuque County: 6.7

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 Iowa

Table 10.Counties that share a boundary line with Dubuque County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Clayton County	Iowa	1 or 2	32	18.5
Delaware County	Iowa	1 or 2	22	12.7
Jackson County	Iowa	3	31	16.0
Jones County	Iowa	5	33	15.9
Jo Daviess County	Illinois	0	45	20.7
Grant County	Wisconsin	6	73	14.1

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

Counties of similar population

These counties of Iowa have a population nearest to that of Dubuque 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.
Iowa Governor's Traffic Safety BureauThe highway safety office of Iowa.

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

Cite this page

Fatal Roads. Dubuque County, Iowa: fatal crash statistics. https://fatalroads.com/county/ia/dubuque/. 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 Dubuque in the ten years before 2015?

FARS records 68 deaths in Dubuque County from 2005 to 2014. It records 66 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of Dubuque in 2024?

The rate of Dubuque County in 2024 was 11.1 deaths for each 100,000 residents. The rate of Iowa was 11.0. The rate of the United States was 11.5.

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

FARS records a driver as drinking in 12 of 62 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 Dubuque?

5 signed routes in the county have a page. FARS records 26 fatal crashes on them in the county from 2015 to 2024. The table of routes on this page gives the count for each route.