Lake County, Illinois: fatal crash statistics

Counties of Illinois by year (CSV)Cite this page

FARS records 50 deaths in 48 fatal crashes in Lake County in 2024.

FARS records 472 deaths in 439 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 Illinois in the same years is 9.0.

By deaths from 2015 to 2024, Lake County was number 3 of 102 counties of Illinois.

Deaths in Lake County rose by 42.6% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (331) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (472).

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

From 2015 to 2024, 2.3% of the fatal crashes in Lake 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 Lake 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.Lake County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	50	48	18
2023	60	57	13
2022	60	55	17
2021	37	36	11
2020	50	44	20
2019	43	35	14
2018	40	38	9
2017	46	45	16
2016	50	49	15
2015	36	32	12
2015 to 2024	472	439	145

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 117 (1977)2024: 50

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

Table 2.Lake County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	50	48
2023	60	57
2022	60	55
2021	37	36
2020	50	44
2019	43	35
2018	40	38
2017	46	45
2016	50	49
2015	36	32
2014	31	30
2013	34	33
2012	24	24
2011	27	27
2010	34	34
2009	18	16
2008	29	28
2007	36	34
2006	38	35
2005	60	56
2004	43	39
2003	41	35
2002	61	55
2001	53	50
2000	66	60
1999	54	46
1998	58	50
1997	58	53
1996	76	66
1995	63	58
1994	65	60
1993	65	54
1992	50	46
1991	61	57
1990	76	72
1989	88	75
1988	84	69
1987	75	67
1986	69	64
1985	73	62
1984	74	68
1983	73	67
1982	95	80
1981	98	88
1980	110	98
1979	104	92
1978	109	96
1977	117	101
1976	108	91
1975	97	90

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.Lake County beside Illinois and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Lake County	Illinois	United States
2024	7.0	9.3	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	6.7	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. Lake County had 718,490 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.Lake County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in Illinois
A driver recorded as drinkingof 439 fatal crashes	145	439 fatal crashes	33.0%	27.2%
A speeding-related driverof 439 fatal crashes	150	439 fatal crashes	34.2%	36.5%
No restraint usedof 245 occupant deaths with restraint use known	103	245 occupant deathswith restraint use known	42.0%	46.8%
Pedestriansof 472 deaths	78	472 deaths	16.5%	15.5%
Bicyclistsof 472 deaths	15	472 deaths	3.2%	2.5%
Motorcyclistsof 472 deaths	71	472 deaths	15.0%	13.3%
On a rural roadof 438 fatal crashes with the condition reported	10	438 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	2.3%	33.6%
In the darkof 435 fatal crashes with the condition reported	231	435 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	53.1%	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.Lake 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	24	12	17	31	84
Monday	9	10	22	15	56
Tuesday	3	12	17	18	50
Wednesday	4	14	9	12	39
Thursday	10	10	17	22	59
Friday	16	15	12	29	72
Saturday	25	11	17	23	76
All days	91	84	111	150	436

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.Lake County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in Illinois
Interstate	26	5.9%	14.2%
Other freeways and expressways	1 or 2	0.5%	0.7%
Other principal arterial	181	41.3%	29.1%
Minor arterial	159	36.3%	24.5%
Major collector	30	6.8%	17.0%
Minor collector	3	0.7%	2.0%
Local	37	8.4%	12.5%
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.Lake County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	193
Dark, not lighted	122
Dark, lighted	106
Dawn	7
Dusk	4
Dark, lighting unknown	3
Other or unknown	4

Table 8.Lake County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	359
Cloudy	25
Rain	37
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	15
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 Lake County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In Lake	In all of Illinois
Interstate 94	Interstate	24	165
State Route 17	State highway	1 or 2	38
State Route 43	State highway	6	71
State Route 53	State highway	1 or 2	46
State Route 59	State highway	13	48
State Route 83	State highway	14	119
State Route 120	State highway	16	26
State Route 131	State highway	24	24
State Route 173	State highway	16	31
US Route 12	US highway	22	91
US Route 14	US highway	1 or 2	42
US Route 41	US highway	32	96
US Route 45	US highway	15	130

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.Lake 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
Lake 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 Illinois

Table 10.Counties that share a boundary line with Lake County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Cook County	Illinois	362	3,325	6.4
McHenry County	Illinois	27	228	7.4
Allegan County	Michigan	21	167	14.1
Berrien County	Michigan	17	191	12.4
Van Buren County	Michigan	11	146	19.3
Kenosha County	Wisconsin	9	149	8.8

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

FARS records 331 deaths in Lake County from 2005 to 2014. It records 472 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of Lake in 2024?

The rate of Lake County in 2024 was 7.0 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 Lake had a driver recorded as drinking?

FARS records a driver as drinking in 145 of 439 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 Lake?

13 signed routes in the county have a page. FARS records 185 fatal crashes on them in the county from 2015 to 2024. The table of routes on this page gives the count for each route.