Harlan County, Kentucky: fatal crash statistics

Counties of Kentucky by year (CSV)Cite this page

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

FARS records 54 deaths in 49 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 20.6 deaths for each 100,000 residents in a year.

The rate of Kentucky in the same years is 17.1.

By deaths from 2015 to 2024, Harlan County was number 44 of 120 counties of Kentucky.

Deaths in Harlan County fell by 37.9% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (87) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (54).

In the counties of Kentucky the deaths fell by 2.9% between the same years.

From 2015 to 2024, a speeding-related driver was recorded in 6.1% of fatal crashes in Harlan County and 16.2% in Kentucky.

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 Harlan 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.Harlan 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	4	4	0
2022	7	5	1 or 2
2021	9	8	0
2020	12	10	4
2019	1 or 2	1 or 2	0
2018	5	5	0
2017	1 or 2	1 or 2	0
2016	7	7	1 or 2
2015	3	3	1 or 2
2015 to 2024	54	49	10

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 15 (1977)2024: 4

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

Table 2.Harlan County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	4	4
2023	4	4
2022	7	5
2021	9	8
2020	12	10
2019	1 or 2	1 or 2
2018	5	5
2017	1 or 2	1 or 2
2016	7	7
2015	3	3
2014	11	10
2013	4	4
2012	3	3
2011	10	10
2010	6	6
2009	14	14
2008	12	11
2007	9	8
2006	10	10
2005	8	8
2004	9	8
2003	10	9
2002	5	5
2001	12	11
2000	11	6
1999	8	8
1998	9	7
1997	5	4
1996	9	7
1995	8	7
1994	7	6
1993	4	4
1992	9	8
1991	7	7
1990	5	5
1989	9	9
1988	10	8
1987	11	9
1986	9	7
1985	3	3
1984	10	9
1983	7	7
1982	8	7
1981	15	14
1980	10	10
1979	12	10
1978	12	12
1977	15	13
1976	12	11
1975	7	6

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.Harlan County beside Kentucky and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Harlan County	Kentucky	United States
2024	16.0	15.4	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	20.6	17.1	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. Harlan County had 25,046 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.Harlan County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in Kentucky
A driver recorded as drinkingof 49 fatal crashes	10	49 fatal crashes	20.4%	25.3%
A speeding-related driverof 49 fatal crashes	3	49 fatal crashes	6.1%	16.2%
No restraint usedof 46 occupant deaths with restraint use known	28	46 occupant deathswith restraint use known	60.9%	52.5%
Pedestriansof 54 deaths	3	54 deaths	5.6%	11.1%
Bicyclistsof 54 deaths	0	54 deaths	0.0%	1.2%
Motorcyclistsof 54 deaths	5	54 deaths	9.3%	13.1%
On a rural roadof 49 fatal crashes with the condition reported	36	49 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	73.5%	66.4%
In the darkof 49 fatal crashes with the condition reported	16	49 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	32.7%	40.5%

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.Harlan 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	5	8
Monday	0	3	1 or 2	0	4
Tuesday	1 or 2	1 or 2	9	1 or 2	13
Wednesday	0	1 or 2	1 or 2	0	3
Thursday	1 or 2	0	5	1 or 2	7
Friday	0	1 or 2	4	4	9
Saturday	0	1 or 2	1 or 2	3	5
All days	3	8	24	14	49

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.Harlan County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in Kentucky
Interstate	0	0.0%	10.8%
Other freeways and expressways	0	0.0%	2.2%
Other principal arterial	7	14.3%	22.3%
Minor arterial	12	24.5%	20.4%
Major collector	11	22.4%	18.9%
Minor collector	6	12.2%	10.5%
Local	13	26.5%	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.Harlan County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	30
Dark, not lighted	13
Dark, lighted	3
Dawn	1 or 2
Dusk	1 or 2
Dark, lighting unknown	0
Other or unknown	0

Table 8.Harlan County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	23
Cloudy	13
Rain	11
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	0
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 Harlan County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In Harlan	In all of Kentucky
US Route 119	US highway	7	48
US Route 421	US highway	12	79

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 Kentucky

Adjacent counties

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

Figure 3.Harlan County on the county map of Kentucky

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

Fewer than 106 counties
10 to 14.919 counties
15 to 19.922 counties
20 to 29.957 counties
30 or more16 counties
Harlan County: 20.6

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 Kentucky

Table 10.Counties that share a boundary line with Harlan County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Bell County	Kentucky	3	58	23.1
Leslie County	Kentucky	1 or 2	27	26.5
Letcher County	Kentucky	4	48	22.3
Perry County	Kentucky	1 or 2	83	30.7
Lee County	Virginia	1 or 2	35	15.2
Wise County	Virginia	3	45	12.2

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

Counties of similar population

These counties of Kentucky have a population nearest to that of Harlan 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.
Kentucky Office of Highway SafetyThe highway safety office of Kentucky.

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

Cite this page

Fatal Roads. Harlan County, Kentucky: fatal crash statistics. https://fatalroads.com/county/ky/harlan/. 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 Harlan in the ten years before 2015?

FARS records 87 deaths in Harlan County from 2005 to 2014. It records 54 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of Harlan in 2024?

The rate of Harlan County in 2024 was 16.0 deaths for each 100,000 residents. The rate of Kentucky was 15.4. The rate of the United States was 11.5.

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

FARS records a driver as drinking in 10 of 49 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 Harlan?

FARS records 7 fatal crashes on US Route 119 in the county from 2015 to 2024. FARS records 12 fatal crashes on US Route 421 in the county from 2015 to 2024.