Shawnee County, Kansas: fatal crash statistics

Counties of Kansas by year (CSV)Cite this page

FARS records 24 deaths in 23 fatal crashes in Shawnee County in 2024.

FARS records 197 deaths in 177 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 11.1 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, Shawnee County was number 4 of 105 counties of Kansas.

Deaths in Shawnee County rose by 34.0% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (147) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (197).

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

From 2015 to 2024, 27.7% of the fatal crashes in Shawnee 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 Shawnee 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.Shawnee County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	24	23	6
2023	12	11	3
2022	21	16	4
2021	27	26	8
2020	21	20	1 or 2
2019	15	13	1 or 2
2018	18	16	3
2017	15	15	1 or 2
2016	32	26	5
2015	12	11	3
2015 to 2024	197	177	37

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 32 (2016)2024: 24

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

Table 2.Shawnee County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	24	23
2023	12	11
2022	21	16
2021	27	26
2020	21	20
2019	15	13
2018	18	16
2017	15	15
2016	32	26
2015	12	11
2014	22	18
2013	12	12
2012	17	15
2011	15	14
2010	14	13
2009	13	12
2008	14	14
2007	9	9
2006	20	20
2005	11	11
2004	12	10
2003	21	21
2002	13	12
2001	19	18
2000	19	16
1999	20	18
1998	11	11
1997	17	16
1996	23	22
1995	13	13
1994	18	15
1993	14	14
1992	16	11
1991	11	11
1990	15	13
1989	9	9
1988	21	19
1987	26	25
1986	11	11
1985	21	15
1984	23	22
1983	13	12
1982	19	19
1981	22	21
1980	26	24
1979	15	12
1978	28	27
1977	23	21
1976	12	12
1975	17	15

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.Shawnee County beside Kansas and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Shawnee County	Kansas	United States
2024	13.5	11.4	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	11.1	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. Shawnee County had 178,222 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.Shawnee County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in Kansas
A driver recorded as drinkingof 177 fatal crashes	37	177 fatal crashes	20.9%	22.5%
A speeding-related driverof 177 fatal crashes	42	177 fatal crashes	23.7%	24.2%
No restraint usedof 114 occupant deaths with restraint use known	51	114 occupant deathswith restraint use known	44.7%	52.4%
Pedestriansof 197 deaths	27	197 deaths	13.7%	8.3%
Bicyclistsof 197 deaths	3	197 deaths	1.5%	1.4%
Motorcyclistsof 197 deaths	37	197 deaths	18.8%	12.9%
On a rural roadof 177 fatal crashes with the condition reported	49	177 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	27.7%	63.3%
In the darkof 176 fatal crashes with the condition reported	89	176 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	50.6%	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.Shawnee 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	12	3	4	9	28
Monday	5	9	9	1 or 2	24
Tuesday	1 or 2	1 or 2	10	6	19
Wednesday	1 or 2	5	7	10	23
Thursday	5	1 or 2	6	6	19
Friday	6	1 or 2	9	16	32
Saturday	5	1 or 2	8	13	28
All days	35	24	53	61	173

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.Shawnee County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in Kansas
Interstate	29	16.4%	12.5%
Other freeways and expressways	17	9.6%	5.5%
Other principal arterial	25	14.1%	24.1%
Minor arterial	49	27.7%	20.7%
Major collector	18	10.2%	19.1%
Minor collector	6	3.4%	2.4%
Local	33	18.6%	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.Shawnee County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	76
Dark, not lighted	38
Dark, lighted	51
Dawn	5
Dusk	6
Dark, lighting unknown	0
Other or unknown	1 or 2

Table 8.Shawnee County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	37
Cloudy	6
Rain	7
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	3
Fog, smog or smoke	1 or 2
Crosswinds or blowing sand/snow	0
Other or not reported	123

Routes in the county

Table 9.Signed routes in Shawnee County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In Shawnee	In all of Kansas
Interstate 70	Interstate	18	183
State Route 4	State highway	5	27
US Route 24	US highway	11	87
US Route 40	US highway	6	25
US Route 75	US highway	13	66

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.Shawnee 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
Shawnee County: 11.1

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 Kansas

Table 10.Counties that share a boundary line with Shawnee County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Douglas County	Kansas	8	86	7.2
Jackson County	Kansas	4	33	24.8
Jefferson County	Kansas	4	52	27.9
Osage County	Kansas	1 or 2	33	20.9
Pottawatomie County	Kansas	1 or 2	36	14.4
Wabaunsee County	Kansas	3	26	37.5

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 Shawnee 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. Shawnee County, Kansas: fatal crash statistics. https://fatalroads.com/county/ks/shawnee/. 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 Shawnee in the ten years before 2015?

FARS records 147 deaths in Shawnee County from 2005 to 2014. It records 197 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of Shawnee in 2024?

The rate of Shawnee County in 2024 was 13.5 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 Shawnee had a driver recorded as drinking?

FARS records a driver as drinking in 37 of 177 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 Shawnee?

5 signed routes in the county have a page. FARS records 53 fatal crashes on them in the county from 2015 to 2024. The table of routes on this page gives the count for each route.