Jefferson County, Illinois: fatal crash statistics

Counties of Illinois by year (CSV)Cite this page

FARS records 9 deaths in 9 fatal crashes in Jefferson County in 2024.

FARS records 78 deaths in 71 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 20.9 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, Jefferson County was number 30 of 102 counties of Illinois.

Deaths in Jefferson County fell by 6.0% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (83) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (78).

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

From 2015 to 2024, 80.3% of the fatal crashes in Jefferson 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 Jefferson County by year, 2015 to 2024

1 or 2

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.Jefferson County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	9	9	1 or 2
2023	11	8	1 or 2
2022	6	5	1 or 2
2021	9	8	4
2020	8	8	1 or 2
2019	8	7	1 or 2
2018	5	5	1 or 2
2017	10	10	1 or 2
2016	11	10	1 or 2
2015	1 or 2	1 or 2	1 or 2
2015 to 2024	78	71	16

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 19 (1978)2024: 9

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

Table 2.Jefferson County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	9	9
2023	11	8
2022	6	5
2021	9	8
2020	8	8
2019	8	7
2018	5	5
2017	10	10
2016	11	10
2015	1 or 2	1 or 2
2014	7	6
2013	12	8
2012	12	8
2011	10	9
2010	8	8
2009	5	5
2008	6	6
2007	7	5
2006	6	6
2005	10	8
2004	7	7
2003	9	7
2002	18	11
2001	15	12
2000	8	8
1999	8	8
1998	8	7
1997	4	4
1996	10	9
1995	15	11
1994	19	18
1993	13	11
1992	12	9
1991	11	9
1990	11	9
1989	5	4
1988	13	13
1987	6	6
1986	8	8
1985	6	5
1984	12	11
1983	8	8
1982	16	12
1981	7	6
1980	12	10
1979	10	8
1978	19	17
1977	12	10
1976	12	9
1975	8	8

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.Jefferson County beside Illinois and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Jefferson County	Illinois	United States
2024	24.9	9.3	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	20.9	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. Jefferson County had 36,112 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.Jefferson County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in Illinois
A driver recorded as drinkingof 71 fatal crashes	16	71 fatal crashes	22.5%	27.2%
A speeding-related driverof 71 fatal crashes	16	71 fatal crashes	22.5%	36.5%
No restraint usedof 51 occupant deaths with restraint use known	32	51 occupant deathswith restraint use known	62.7%	46.8%
Pedestriansof 78 deaths	9	78 deaths	11.5%	15.5%
Bicyclistsof 78 deaths	1 or 2	78 deaths	1.3%	2.5%
Motorcyclistsof 78 deaths	8	78 deaths	10.3%	13.3%
On a rural roadof 71 fatal crashes with the condition reported	57	71 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	80.3%	33.6%
In the darkof 68 fatal crashes with the condition reported	25	68 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	36.8%	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.Jefferson 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	1 or 2	3	5	11
Monday	0	1 or 2	1 or 2	1 or 2	5
Tuesday	3	3	3	1 or 2	10
Wednesday	1 or 2	5	3	1 or 2	11
Thursday	0	1 or 2	8	1 or 2	12
Friday	1 or 2	1 or 2	4	1 or 2	9
Saturday	5	3	1 or 2	3	12
All days	12	17	24	17	70

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.Jefferson County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in Illinois
Interstate	26	36.6%	14.2%
Other freeways and expressways	0	0.0%	0.7%
Other principal arterial	8	11.3%	29.1%
Minor arterial	14	19.7%	24.5%
Major collector	15	21.1%	17.0%
Minor collector	1 or 2	1.4%	2.0%
Local	7	9.9%	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.Jefferson County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	41
Dark, not lighted	21
Dark, lighted	1 or 2
Dawn	0
Dusk	1 or 2
Dark, lighting unknown	1 or 2
Other or unknown	3

Table 8.Jefferson County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	58
Cloudy	4
Rain	6
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 Jefferson County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In Jefferson	In all of Illinois
Interstate 57	Interstate	17	223
Interstate 64	Interstate	9	62
State Route 15	State highway	9	46
State Route 37	State highway	11	43

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.Jefferson 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
Jefferson County: 20.9

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 Jefferson County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Franklin County	Illinois	3	79	20.7
Hamilton County	Illinois	1 or 2	15	18.6
Marion County	Illinois	3	74	19.8
Perry County	Illinois	3	24	11.5
Washington County	Illinois	6	58	41.9
Wayne County	Illinois	1 or 2	33	20.4

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 Jefferson 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. Jefferson County, Illinois: fatal crash statistics. https://fatalroads.com/county/il/jefferson/. 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 Jefferson in the ten years before 2015?

FARS records 83 deaths in Jefferson County from 2005 to 2014. It records 78 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of Jefferson in 2024?

The rate of Jefferson County in 2024 was 24.9 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 Jefferson had a driver recorded as drinking?

FARS records a driver as drinking in 16 of 71 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 Jefferson?

4 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.