Will County, Illinois: fatal crash statistics

Counties of Illinois by year (CSV)Cite this page

FARS records 58 deaths in 54 fatal crashes in Will County in 2024.

FARS records 563 deaths in 508 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 8.1 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, Will County was number 2 of 102 counties of Illinois.

Deaths in Will County rose by 17.3% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (480) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (563).

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

From 2015 to 2024, 12.5% of the fatal crashes in Will 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 Will 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.Will County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	58	54	10
2023	42	36	8
2022	65	59	18
2021	70	60	20
2020	61	57	11
2019	54	54	20
2018	58	52	17
2017	59	47	15
2016	45	42	14
2015	51	47	19
2015 to 2024	563	508	152

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 91 (1977)2024: 58

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

Table 2.Will County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	58	54
2023	42	36
2022	65	59
2021	70	60
2020	61	57
2019	54	54
2018	58	52
2017	59	47
2016	45	42
2015	51	47
2014	61	54
2013	48	40
2012	44	43
2011	38	34
2010	48	44
2009	37	35
2008	43	38
2007	43	41
2006	66	62
2005	52	50
2004	60	59
2003	79	68
2002	56	46
2001	67	52
2000	52	47
1999	60	54
1998	68	62
1997	47	46
1996	59	52
1995	78	70
1994	76	64
1993	56	52
1992	53	51
1991	42	39
1990	68	55
1989	79	73
1988	58	55
1987	66	54
1986	53	50
1985	51	47
1984	66	56
1983	78	68
1982	66	57
1981	71	62
1980	70	64
1979	83	78
1978	82	71
1977	91	73
1976	50	48
1975	66	65

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.Will County beside Illinois and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Will County	Illinois	United States
2024	8.2	9.3	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	8.1	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. Will County had 708,980 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.Will County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in Illinois
A driver recorded as drinkingof 508 fatal crashes	152	508 fatal crashes	29.9%	27.2%
A speeding-related driverof 508 fatal crashes	220	508 fatal crashes	43.3%	36.5%
No restraint usedof 319 occupant deaths with restraint use known	137	319 occupant deathswith restraint use known	42.9%	46.8%
Pedestriansof 563 deaths	67	563 deaths	11.9%	15.5%
Bicyclistsof 563 deaths	7	563 deaths	1.2%	2.5%
Motorcyclistsof 563 deaths	100	563 deaths	17.8%	13.3%
On a rural roadof 505 fatal crashes with the condition reported	63	505 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	12.5%	33.6%
In the darkof 507 fatal crashes with the condition reported	254	507 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	50.1%	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.Will 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	23	14	22	28	87
Monday	15	16	23	14	68
Tuesday	9	5	21	17	52
Wednesday	10	13	21	27	71
Thursday	10	16	27	27	80
Friday	10	15	14	26	65
Saturday	17	18	22	28	85
All days	94	97	150	167	508

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.Will County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in Illinois
Interstate	118	23.3%	14.2%
Other freeways and expressways	0	0.0%	0.7%
Other principal arterial	175	34.6%	29.1%
Minor arterial	77	15.2%	24.5%
Major collector	47	9.3%	17.0%
Minor collector	7	1.4%	2.0%
Local	82	16.2%	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.Will County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	231
Dark, not lighted	136
Dark, lighted	111
Dawn	11
Dusk	11
Dark, lighting unknown	7
Other or unknown	1 or 2

Table 8.Will County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	439
Cloudy	7
Rain	47
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	10
Fog, smog or smoke	4
Crosswinds or blowing sand/snow	1 or 2
Other or not reported	0

Routes in the county

Table 9.Signed routes in Will County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In Will	In all of Illinois
Interstate 55	Interstate	60	263
Interstate 57	Interstate	10	223
Interstate 80	Interstate	42	133
State Route 1	State highway	8	111
State Route 50	State highway	7	106
State Route 53	State highway	26	46
State Route 59	State highway	5	48
State Route 171	State highway	13	47
State Route 394	State highway	8	24
US Route 6	US highway	12	75
US Route 20	US highway	1 or 2	107
US Route 30	US highway	23	101
US Route 45	US highway	10	130
US Route 50	US highway	1 or 2	55
US Route 52	US highway	16	42

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.Will 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
Will County: 8.1

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 Will 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
DuPage County	Illinois	56	424	4.6
Grundy County	Illinois	9	88	16.9
Kankakee County	Illinois	23	166	15.3
Kendall County	Illinois	12	91	6.9
Lake County	Indiana	36	539	10.9

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

FARS records 480 deaths in Will County from 2005 to 2014. It records 563 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of Will in 2024?

The rate of Will County in 2024 was 8.2 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 Will had a driver recorded as drinking?

FARS records a driver as drinking in 152 of 508 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 Will?

15 signed routes in the county have a page. FARS records 242 fatal crashes on them in the county from 2015 to 2024. The table of routes on this page gives the count for each route.