McHenry County, Illinois: fatal crash statistics

Counties of Illinois by year (CSV)Cite this page

FARS records 27 deaths in 24 fatal crashes in McHenry County in 2024.

FARS records 228 deaths in 196 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 7.4 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, McHenry County was number 9 of 102 counties of Illinois.

Deaths in McHenry County rose by 6.5% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (214) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (228).

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

From 2015 to 2024, a driver was recorded as drinking in 41.8% of fatal crashes in McHenry County and 27.2% 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 McHenry 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.McHenry County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	27	24	10
2023	10	10	5
2022	26	18	8
2021	21	19	8
2020	23	20	10
2019	21	21	7
2018	23	19	5
2017	33	27	14
2016	26	23	10
2015	18	15	5
2015 to 2024	228	196	82

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 50 (1978)2024: 27

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

Table 2.McHenry County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	27	24
2023	10	10
2022	26	18
2021	21	19
2020	23	20
2019	21	21
2018	23	19
2017	33	27
2016	26	23
2015	18	15
2014	19	18
2013	17	16
2012	24	22
2011	14	14
2010	15	15
2009	15	13
2008	18	17
2007	30	27
2006	32	31
2005	30	27
2004	28	24
2003	40	30
2002	36	31
2001	26	25
2000	31	28
1999	33	23
1998	25	24
1997	36	31
1996	38	33
1995	46	35
1994	31	29
1993	30	29
1992	23	19
1991	37	31
1990	25	24
1989	41	33
1988	36	31
1987	35	29
1986	38	36
1985	38	31
1984	45	37
1983	38	32
1982	29	27
1981	45	40
1980	34	30
1979	31	31
1978	50	40
1977	48	42
1976	34	29
1975	43	36

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.McHenry County beside Illinois and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	McHenry County	Illinois	United States
2024	8.6	9.3	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	7.4	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. McHenry County had 315,730 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.McHenry County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in Illinois
A driver recorded as drinkingof 196 fatal crashes	82	196 fatal crashes	41.8%	27.2%
A speeding-related driverof 196 fatal crashes	69	196 fatal crashes	35.2%	36.5%
No restraint usedof 130 occupant deaths with restraint use known	48	130 occupant deathswith restraint use known	36.9%	46.8%
Pedestriansof 228 deaths	23	228 deaths	10.1%	15.5%
Bicyclistsof 228 deaths	3	228 deaths	1.3%	2.5%
Motorcyclistsof 228 deaths	42	228 deaths	18.4%	13.3%
On a rural roadof 196 fatal crashes with the condition reported	68	196 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	34.7%	33.6%
In the darkof 196 fatal crashes with the condition reported	85	196 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	43.4%	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.McHenry 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	8	8	6	11	33
Monday	4	5	15	6	30
Tuesday	4	4	5	8	21
Wednesday	5	10	7	8	30
Thursday	3	4	6	7	20
Friday	6	1 or 2	10	5	23
Saturday	3	8	9	17	37
All days	33	41	58	62	194

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.McHenry County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in Illinois
Interstate	5	2.6%	14.2%
Other freeways and expressways	0	0.0%	0.7%
Other principal arterial	95	48.5%	29.1%
Minor arterial	29	14.8%	24.5%
Major collector	34	17.3%	17.0%
Minor collector	6	3.1%	2.0%
Local	27	13.8%	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.McHenry County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	99
Dark, not lighted	53
Dark, lighted	31
Dawn	6
Dusk	6
Dark, lighting unknown	1 or 2
Other or unknown	0

Table 8.McHenry County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	159
Cloudy	7
Rain	20
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	7
Fog, smog or smoke	1 or 2
Crosswinds or blowing sand/snow	1 or 2
Other or not reported	0

Routes in the county

Table 9.Signed routes in McHenry County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In McHenry	In all of Illinois
Interstate 55	Interstate	1 or 2	263
Interstate 90	Interstate	4	110
State Route 23	State highway	5	43
State Route 31	State highway	13	40
State Route 47	State highway	7	50
State Route 120	State highway	10	26
State Route 173	State highway	11	31
US Route 12	US highway	3	91
US Route 14	US highway	18	42
US Route 20	US highway	3	107

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.McHenry 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
McHenry County: 7.4

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 McHenry County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Boone County	Illinois	6	65	12.2
Cook County	Illinois	362	3,325	6.4
DeKalb County	Illinois	9	109	10.6
Kane County	Illinois	30	344	6.6
Lake County	Illinois	50	472	6.7
Kenosha County	Wisconsin	9	149	8.8
Walworth County	Wisconsin	12	140	13.4

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

FARS records 214 deaths in McHenry County from 2005 to 2014. It records 228 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of McHenry in 2024?

The rate of McHenry County in 2024 was 8.6 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 McHenry had a driver recorded as drinking?

FARS records a driver as drinking in 82 of 196 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 McHenry?

10 signed routes in the county have a page. FARS records 75 fatal crashes on them in the county from 2015 to 2024. The table of routes on this page gives the count for each route.