Putnam County, Indiana: fatal crash statistics

Counties of Indiana by year (CSV)Cite this page

FARS records 6 deaths in 6 fatal crashes in Putnam County in 2024.

FARS records 68 deaths in 62 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 18.2 deaths for each 100,000 residents in a year.

The rate of Indiana in the same years is 13.0.

By deaths from 2015 to 2024, Putnam County was number 38 of 92 counties of Indiana.

Deaths in Putnam County rose by 11.5% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (61) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (68).

In the counties of Indiana the deaths rose by 8.8% between the same years.

From 2015 to 2024, 91.9% of the fatal crashes in Putnam County with a known setting were rural, against 57.5% in Indiana.

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 Putnam 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.Putnam County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	6	6	0
2023	5	4	1 or 2
2022	9	8	0
2021	6	4	0
2020	8	8	1 or 2
2019	10	10	1 or 2
2018	6	5	1 or 2
2017	9	8	1 or 2
2016	1 or 2	1 or 2	0
2015	8	8	3
2015 to 2024	68	62	10

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 16 (1980)2024: 6

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

Table 2.Putnam County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	6	6
2023	5	4
2022	9	8
2021	6	4
2020	8	8
2019	10	10
2018	6	5
2017	9	8
2016	1 or 2	1 or 2
2015	8	8
2014	11	9
2013	6	6
2012	9	7
2011	3	3
2010	1 or 2	1 or 2
2009	5	4
2008	8	7
2007	10	10
2006	5	5
2005	1 or 2	1 or 2
2004	6	5
2003	3	1 or 2
2002	14	12
2001	7	7
2000	4	4
1999	11	10
1998	9	8
1997	4	3
1996	5	5
1995	6	6
1994	11	9
1993	4	4
1992	8	5
1991	10	10
1990	8	6
1989	11	7
1988	6	6
1987	6	5
1986	5	5
1985	3	3
1984	9	7
1983	8	6
1982	7	6
1981	6	6
1980	16	14
1979	9	8
1978	8	8
1977	7	7
1976	10	8
1975	10	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.Putnam County beside Indiana and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Putnam County	Indiana	United States
2024	15.9	12.0	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	18.2	13.0	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. Putnam County had 37,758 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.Putnam County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in Indiana
A driver recorded as drinkingof 62 fatal crashes	10	62 fatal crashes	16.1%	19.6%
A speeding-related driverof 62 fatal crashes	22	62 fatal crashes	35.5%	25.7%
No restraint usedof 48 occupant deaths with restraint use known	20	48 occupant deathswith restraint use known	41.7%	45.9%
Pedestriansof 68 deaths	4	68 deaths	5.9%	11.3%
Bicyclistsof 68 deaths	1 or 2	68 deaths	1.5%	2.2%
Motorcyclistsof 68 deaths	8	68 deaths	11.8%	14.9%
On a rural roadof 62 fatal crashes with the condition reported	57	62 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	91.9%	57.5%
In the darkof 62 fatal crashes with the condition reported	22	62 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	35.5%	44.6%

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.Putnam 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	5	1 or 2	3	1 or 2	12
Monday	0	1 or 2	4	1 or 2	7
Tuesday	0	1 or 2	4	0	6
Wednesday	0	1 or 2	3	1 or 2	7
Thursday	3	5	1 or 2	0	10
Friday	1 or 2	3	1 or 2	1 or 2	6
Saturday	3	1 or 2	4	5	14
All days	12	18	21	11	62

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.Putnam County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in Indiana
Interstate	8	12.9%	11.1%
Other freeways and expressways	0	0.0%	1.6%
Other principal arterial	18	29.0%	27.4%
Minor arterial	3	4.8%	20.7%
Major collector	14	22.6%	20.2%
Minor collector	1 or 2	3.2%	4.0%
Local	17	27.4%	14.9%
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.Putnam County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	40
Dark, not lighted	20
Dark, lighted	1 or 2
Dawn	0
Dusk	0
Dark, lighting unknown	0
Other or unknown	0

Table 8.Putnam County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	44
Cloudy	11
Rain	4
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	0

Routes in the county

Table 9.Signed routes in Putnam County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In Putnam	In all of Indiana
Interstate 70	Interstate	5	103
Interstate 70E	Interstate	1 or 2	24
US Route 36	US highway	4	43
US Route 40	US highway	6	67
US Route 231	US highway	5	74

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 Indiana

Adjacent counties

These lists are for navigation. They are in name order.

Figure 3.Putnam County on the county map of Indiana

Deaths for each 100,000 residents in a year, 2015 to 2024

Fewer than 107 counties
10 to 14.926 counties
15 to 19.934 counties
20 to 29.923 counties
30 or more2 counties
Putnam County: 18.2

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 Indiana

Table 10.Counties that share a boundary line with Putnam County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Clay County	Indiana	1 or 2	50	19.0
Hendricks County	Indiana	14	130	7.5
Montgomery County	Indiana	5	68	17.7
Morgan County	Indiana	4	97	13.6
Owen County	Indiana	1 or 2	34	16.1
Parke County	Indiana	4	29	17.4

Source of the list: Census Bureau county adjacency file, 2026 edition.

Counties of similar population

These counties of Indiana have a population nearest to that of Putnam 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.
Indiana Criminal Justice InstituteThe highway safety office of Indiana.

These links go to the sites of the agencies. They were checked on 2 Oct 2026.

Cite this page

Fatal Roads. Putnam County, Indiana: fatal crash statistics. https://fatalroads.com/county/in/putnam/. 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 Putnam in the ten years before 2015?

FARS records 61 deaths in Putnam County from 2005 to 2014. It records 68 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of Putnam in 2024?

The rate of Putnam County in 2024 was 15.9 deaths for each 100,000 residents. The rate of Indiana was 12.0. The rate of the United States was 11.5.

How many fatal crashes in Putnam had a driver recorded as drinking?

FARS records a driver as drinking in 10 of 62 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 Putnam?

5 signed routes in the county have a page. FARS records 21 fatal crashes on them in the county from 2015 to 2024. The table of routes on this page gives the count for each route.