DeKalb County, Illinois: fatal crash statistics

Counties of Illinois by year (CSV)Cite this page

FARS records 9 deaths in 8 fatal crashes in DeKalb County in 2024.

FARS records 109 deaths in 101 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 10.6 deaths for each 100,000 residents in a year.

The rate of Illinois in the same years is 9.0.

By deaths from 2015 to 2024, DeKalb County was number 19 of 102 counties of Illinois.

Deaths in DeKalb County rose by 1.9% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (107) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (109).

In the counties of Illinois the deaths rose by 8.4% between the same years.

From 2015 to 2024, 59.4% of the fatal crashes in DeKalb County with a known setting were rural, against 33.6% in Illinois.

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 DeKalb 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.DeKalb County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	9	8	1 or 2
2023	16	15	4
2022	16	14	3
2021	13	13	4
2020	9	9	4
2019	6	4	1 or 2
2018	12	12	4
2017	11	10	4
2016	5	5	1 or 2
2015	12	11	5
2015 to 2024	109	101	32

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 20 (1979)2024: 9

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

Table 2.DeKalb County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	9	8
2023	16	15
2022	16	14
2021	13	13
2020	9	9
2019	6	4
2018	12	12
2017	11	10
2016	5	5
2015	12	11
2014	10	10
2013	8	6
2012	7	7
2011	6	5
2010	7	7
2009	10	10
2008	20	17
2007	16	15
2006	8	7
2005	15	13
2004	12	12
2003	15	13
2002	10	10
2001	15	13
2000	11	9
1999	14	13
1998	13	13
1997	12	11
1996	12	10
1995	11	10
1994	17	15
1993	18	18
1992	10	10
1991	11	10
1990	11	11
1989	15	13
1988	16	15
1987	13	13
1986	10	8
1985	12	8
1984	14	11
1983	15	13
1982	15	12
1981	18	16
1980	13	13
1979	20	12
1978	9	7
1977	15	15
1976	10	9
1975	17	15

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.DeKalb County beside Illinois and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	DeKalb County	Illinois	United States
2024	8.9	9.3	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	10.6	9.0	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. DeKalb County had 100,621 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.DeKalb County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in Illinois
A driver recorded as drinkingof 101 fatal crashes	32	101 fatal crashes	31.7%	27.2%
A speeding-related driverof 101 fatal crashes	36	101 fatal crashes	35.6%	36.5%
No restraint usedof 82 occupant deaths with restraint use known	35	82 occupant deathswith restraint use known	42.7%	46.8%
Pedestriansof 109 deaths	6	109 deaths	5.5%	15.5%
Bicyclistsof 109 deaths	3	109 deaths	2.8%	2.5%
Motorcyclistsof 109 deaths	12	109 deaths	11.0%	13.3%
On a rural roadof 101 fatal crashes with the condition reported	60	101 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	59.4%	33.6%
In the darkof 100 fatal crashes with the condition reported	38	100 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	38.0%	48.7%

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.DeKalb 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	4	3	3	1 or 2	12
Monday	4	4	7	6	21
Tuesday	0	4	4	4	12
Wednesday	0	1 or 2	5	3	9
Thursday	1 or 2	1 or 2	4	4	11
Friday	3	6	6	4	19
Saturday	6	1 or 2	6	3	17
All days	18	22	35	26	101

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.DeKalb County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in Illinois
Interstate	7	6.9%	14.2%
Other freeways and expressways	0	0.0%	0.7%
Other principal arterial	18	17.8%	29.1%
Minor arterial	36	35.6%	24.5%
Major collector	16	15.8%	17.0%
Minor collector	4	4.0%	2.0%
Local	20	19.8%	12.5%
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.DeKalb County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	59
Dark, not lighted	33
Dark, lighted	4
Dawn	1 or 2
Dusk	1 or 2
Dark, lighting unknown	1 or 2
Other or unknown	1 or 2

Table 8.DeKalb County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	92
Cloudy	1 or 2
Rain	1 or 2
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	1 or 2
Fog, smog or smoke	1 or 2
Crosswinds or blowing sand/snow	1 or 2
Other or not reported	1 or 2

Routes in the county

Table 9.Signed routes in DeKalb County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In DeKalb	In all of Illinois
Interstate 88	Interstate	7	51
State Route 23	State highway	18	43
State Route 38	State highway	7	39
State Route 64	State highway	5	72
State Route 72	State highway	1 or 2	40
US Route 30	US highway	5	101
US Route 34	US highway	1 or 2	67

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 Illinois

Adjacent counties

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

Figure 3.DeKalb County on the county map of Illinois

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

Fewer than 1016 counties
10 to 14.926 counties
15 to 19.927 counties
20 to 29.928 counties
30 or more5 counties
DeKalb County: 10.6

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 Illinois

Table 10.Counties that share a boundary line with DeKalb County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Boone County	Illinois	6	65	12.2
Kane County	Illinois	30	344	6.6
Kendall County	Illinois	12	91	6.9
LaSalle County	Illinois	29	186	17.1
Lee County	Illinois	0	46	13.6
McHenry County	Illinois	27	228	7.4
Ogle County	Illinois	3	75	14.6

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

Counties of similar population

These counties of Illinois have a population nearest to that of DeKalb 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.
Illinois Department of TransportationThe highway safety office of Illinois.

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

Cite this page

Fatal Roads. DeKalb County, Illinois: fatal crash statistics. https://fatalroads.com/county/il/dekalb/. 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 DeKalb in the ten years before 2015?

FARS records 107 deaths in DeKalb County from 2005 to 2014. It records 109 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of DeKalb in 2024?

The rate of DeKalb County in 2024 was 8.9 deaths for each 100,000 residents. The rate of Illinois was 9.3. The rate of the United States was 11.5.

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

FARS records a driver as drinking in 32 of 101 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 DeKalb?

7 signed routes in the county have a page. FARS records 46 fatal crashes on them in the county from 2015 to 2024. The table of routes on this page gives the count for each route.