Knox County, Illinois: fatal crash statistics

Counties of Illinois by year (CSV)Cite this page

FARS records 8 deaths in 8 fatal crashes in Knox County in 2024.

FARS records 65 deaths in 60 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 13.1 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, Knox County was number 37 of 102 counties of Illinois.

Deaths in Knox County rose by 25.0% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (52) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (65).

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

From 2015 to 2024, 58.3% of the fatal crashes in Knox 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 Knox 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.Knox County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	8	8	3
2023	5	5	3
2022	1 or 2	1 or 2	0
2021	8	7	4
2020	5	5	1 or 2
2019	3	3	1 or 2
2018	5	5	1 or 2
2017	7	6	1 or 2
2016	7	7	4
2015	16	13	4
2015 to 2024	65	60	22

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 16 (2015)2024: 8

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

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

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.Knox County beside Illinois and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Knox County	Illinois	United States
2024	16.7	9.3	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	13.1	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. Knox County had 47,964 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.Knox County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in Illinois
A driver recorded as drinkingof 60 fatal crashes	22	60 fatal crashes	36.7%	27.2%
A speeding-related driverof 60 fatal crashes	18	60 fatal crashes	30.0%	36.5%
No restraint usedof 49 occupant deaths with restraint use known	21	49 occupant deathswith restraint use known	42.9%	46.8%
Pedestriansof 65 deaths	1 or 2	65 deaths	3.1%	15.5%
Bicyclistsof 65 deaths	3	65 deaths	4.6%	2.5%
Motorcyclistsof 65 deaths	8	65 deaths	12.3%	13.3%
On a rural roadof 60 fatal crashes with the condition reported	35	60 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	58.3%	33.6%
In the darkof 60 fatal crashes with the condition reported	26	60 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	43.3%	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.Knox 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	3	0	1 or 2	1 or 2	5
Monday	1 or 2	0	5	1 or 2	8
Tuesday	0	0	1 or 2	1 or 2	3
Wednesday	1 or 2	3	3	3	11
Thursday	0	1 or 2	4	3	9
Friday	0	1 or 2	4	4	9
Saturday	5	3	3	4	15
All days	11	9	21	19	60

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.Knox County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in Illinois
Interstate	10	16.7%	14.2%
Other freeways and expressways	3	5.0%	0.7%
Other principal arterial	5	8.3%	29.1%
Minor arterial	19	31.7%	24.5%
Major collector	15	25.0%	17.0%
Minor collector	1 or 2	1.7%	2.0%
Local	7	11.7%	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.Knox County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	30
Dark, not lighted	22
Dark, lighted	4
Dawn	1 or 2
Dusk	1 or 2
Dark, lighting unknown	0
Other or unknown	0

Table 8.Knox County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	50
Cloudy	1 or 2
Rain	5
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 Knox County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In Knox	In all of Illinois
Interstate 74	Interstate	9	88
State Route 78	State highway	1 or 2	23
US Route 34	US highway	9	67
US Route 150	US highway	8	66

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.Knox 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
Knox County: 13.1

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 Illinois

Table 10.Counties that share a boundary line with Knox County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Fulton County	Illinois	6	56	16.4
Henry County	Illinois	1 or 2	50	10.2
Mercer County	Illinois	1 or 2	14	9.0
Peoria County	Illinois	20	180	9.9
Stark County	Illinois	1 or 2	16	29.8
Warren County	Illinois	0	28	16.7

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

FARS records 52 deaths in Knox County from 2005 to 2014. It records 65 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of Knox in 2024?

The rate of Knox County in 2024 was 16.7 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 Knox had a driver recorded as drinking?

FARS records a driver as drinking in 22 of 60 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 Knox?

4 signed routes in the county have a page. FARS records 28 fatal crashes on them in the county from 2015 to 2024. The table of routes on this page gives the count for each route.