Cherokee County, Kansas: fatal crash statistics

Counties of Kansas by year (CSV)Cite this page

FARS records 4 deaths in 4 fatal crashes in Cherokee County in 2024.

FARS records 44 deaths in 40 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 22.4 deaths for each 100,000 residents in a year.

The rate of Kansas in the same years is 13.8.

By deaths from 2015 to 2024, Cherokee County was number 24 of 105 counties of Kansas.

Deaths in Cherokee County fell by 25.4% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (59) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (44).

In the counties of Kansas the deaths rose by 0.1% between the same years.

From 2015 to 2024, 92.5% of the fatal crashes in Cherokee County with a known setting were rural, against 63.3% in Kansas.

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 Cherokee 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.Cherokee County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	4	4	1 or 2
2023	6	5	1 or 2
2022	3	3	1 or 2
2021	4	4	1 or 2
2020	4	4	0
2019	1 or 2	1 or 2	0
2018	8	6	1 or 2
2017	3	1 or 2	0
2016	4	4	1 or 2
2015	6	6	1 or 2
2015 to 2024	44	40	9

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 14 (1977)2024: 4

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

Table 2.Cherokee County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	4	4
2023	6	5
2022	3	3
2021	4	4
2020	4	4
2019	1 or 2	1 or 2
2018	8	6
2017	3	1 or 2
2016	4	4
2015	6	6
2014	5	4
2013	10	9
2012	6	5
2011	5	4
2010	1 or 2	1 or 2
2009	5	3
2008	8	8
2007	9	9
2006	4	4
2005	5	5
2004	5	5
2003	5	4
2002	8	7
2001	9	9
2000	5	4
1999	14	11
1998	11	10
1997	7	6
1996	7	6
1995	4	4
1994	8	7
1993	5	5
1992	5	5
1991	9	8
1990	7	5
1989	7	6
1988	8	6
1987	12	10
1986	11	7
1985	3	3
1984	9	9
1983	9	7
1982	3	3
1981	6	5
1980	7	7
1979	8	8
1978	12	9
1977	14	12
1976	11	8
1975	7	7

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.Cherokee County beside Kansas and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Cherokee County	Kansas	United States
2024	20.9	11.4	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	22.4	13.8	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. Cherokee County had 19,167 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.Cherokee County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in Kansas
A driver recorded as drinkingof 40 fatal crashes	9	40 fatal crashes	22.5%	22.5%
A speeding-related driverof 40 fatal crashes	6	40 fatal crashes	15.0%	24.2%
No restraint usedof 28 occupant deaths with restraint use known	13	28 occupant deathswith restraint use known	46.4%	52.4%
Pedestriansof 44 deaths	4	44 deaths	9.1%	8.3%
Bicyclistsof 44 deaths	3	44 deaths	6.8%	1.4%
Motorcyclistsof 44 deaths	7	44 deaths	15.9%	12.9%
On a rural roadof 40 fatal crashes with the condition reported	37	40 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	92.5%	63.3%
In the darkof 39 fatal crashes with the condition reported	14	39 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	35.9%	41.0%

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.Cherokee 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	0	1 or 2	1 or 2	1 or 2	5
Monday	0	0	3	1 or 2	5
Tuesday	0	1 or 2	0	1 or 2	3
Wednesday	0	1 or 2	1 or 2	3	5
Thursday	0	1 or 2	1 or 2	1 or 2	5
Friday	1 or 2	3	3	1 or 2	8
Saturday	0	0	4	4	8
All days	1 or 2	10	14	14	39

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.Cherokee County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in Kansas
Interstate	0	0.0%	12.5%
Other freeways and expressways	0	0.0%	5.5%
Other principal arterial	14	35.0%	24.1%
Minor arterial	9	22.5%	20.7%
Major collector	1 or 2	5.0%	19.1%
Minor collector	0	0.0%	2.4%
Local	15	37.5%	15.7%
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.Cherokee County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	22
Dark, not lighted	13
Dark, lighted	1 or 2
Dawn	1 or 2
Dusk	1 or 2
Dark, lighting unknown	0
Other or unknown	1 or 2

Table 8.Cherokee County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	16
Cloudy	4
Rain	3
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	1 or 2
Fog, smog or smoke	0
Crosswinds or blowing sand/snow	0
Other or not reported	16

Routes in the county

Table 9.Signed routes in Cherokee County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In Cherokee	In all of Kansas
State Route 7	State highway	1 or 2	32
US Route 69	US highway	3	51
US Route 160	US highway	3	64
US Route 166	US highway	8	35
US Route 400	US highway	1 or 2	47

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 Kansas

Adjacent counties

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

Figure 3.Cherokee County on the county map of Kansas

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

Fewer than 104 counties
10 to 14.917 counties
15 to 19.916 counties
20 to 29.929 counties
30 or more38 counties
Count of 1 or 2, no rate shown1 county
Cherokee County: 22.4

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 Kansas

Table 10.Counties that share a boundary line with Cherokee County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Crawford County	Kansas	6	54	13.8
Labette County	Kansas	1 or 2	42	21.0
Jasper County	Missouri	24	180	14.7
Newton County	Missouri	29	166	28.1
Craig County	Oklahoma	0	27	18.8
Ottawa County	Oklahoma	13	117	37.8

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

Counties of similar population

These counties of Kansas have a population nearest to that of Cherokee 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.
Governors Highway Safety Association: State Highway Safety OfficesThe list of the highway safety offices of the states.

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

Cite this page

Fatal Roads. Cherokee County, Kansas: fatal crash statistics. https://fatalroads.com/county/ks/cherokee/. 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 Cherokee in the ten years before 2015?

FARS records 59 deaths in Cherokee County from 2005 to 2014. It records 44 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of Cherokee in 2024?

The rate of Cherokee County in 2024 was 20.9 deaths for each 100,000 residents. The rate of Kansas was 11.4. The rate of the United States was 11.5.

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

FARS records a driver as drinking in 9 of 40 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 Cherokee?

5 signed routes in the county have a page. FARS records 16 fatal crashes on them in the county from 2015 to 2024. The table of routes on this page gives the count for each route.