Jefferson County, Kentucky: fatal crash statistics

Counties of Kentucky by year (CSV)Cite this page

FARS records 113 deaths in 109 fatal crashes in Jefferson County in 2024.

FARS records 1,088 deaths in 1,039 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 14.0 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, Jefferson County was number 1 of 120 counties of Kentucky.

Deaths in Jefferson County rose by 43.2% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (760) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (1,088).

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

From 2015 to 2024, 5.5% of the fatal crashes in Jefferson County with a known setting were rural, against 66.4% 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 Jefferson County by year, 2015 to 2024

107

124

129

134

113

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.Jefferson County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	113	109	29
2023	134	130	31
2022	129	123	38
2021	124	116	35
2020	124	116	35
2019	97	90	27
2018	76	74	9
2017	107	104	29
2016	99	94	22
2015	85	83	28
2015 to 2024	1,088	1,039	283

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 134 (2023)2024: 113

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

Table 2.Jefferson County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	113	109
2023	134	130
2022	129	123
2021	124	116
2020	124	116
2019	97	90
2018	76	74
2017	107	104
2016	99	94
2015	85	83
2014	78	69
2013	88	87
2012	65	63
2011	61	60
2010	73	70
2009	57	52
2008	77	71
2007	80	78
2006	79	77
2005	102	94
2004	83	73
2003	81	78
2002	69	66
2001	60	58
2000	98	89
1999	67	62
1998	68	67
1997	85	75
1996	68	67
1995	67	62
1994	54	50
1993	77	69
1992	54	50
1991	69	64
1990	72	67
1989	67	61
1988	48	48
1987	74	72
1986	84	76
1985	70	68
1984	76	76
1983	104	98
1982	93	87
1981	92	80
1980	106	100
1979	111	106
1978	93	87
1977	122	111
1976	94	87
1975	91	83

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.Jefferson County beside Kentucky and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Jefferson County	Kentucky	United States
2024	14.2	15.4	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	14.0	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. Jefferson County had 794,166 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.Jefferson County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in Kentucky
A driver recorded as drinkingof 1,039 fatal crashes	283	1,039 fatal crashes	27.2%	25.3%
A speeding-related driverof 1,039 fatal crashes	223	1,039 fatal crashes	21.5%	16.2%
No restraint usedof 563 occupant deaths with restraint use known	314	563 occupant deathswith restraint use known	55.8%	52.5%
Pedestriansof 1,088 deaths	288	1,088 deaths	26.5%	11.1%
Bicyclistsof 1,088 deaths	33	1,088 deaths	3.0%	1.2%
Motorcyclistsof 1,088 deaths	191	1,088 deaths	17.6%	13.1%
On a rural roadof 1,038 fatal crashes with the condition reported	57	1,038 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	5.5%	66.4%
In the darkof 1,035 fatal crashes with the condition reported	627	1,035 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	60.6%	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.Jefferson 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	74	14	36	51	175
Monday	28	16	43	47	134
Tuesday	25	19	25	58	127
Wednesday	28	20	30	46	124
Thursday	38	23	37	67	165
Friday	32	24	28	72	156
Saturday	48	19	29	61	157
All days	273	135	228	402	1,038

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.Jefferson County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in Kentucky
Interstate	187	18.1%	10.8%
Other freeways and expressways	31	3.0%	2.2%
Other principal arterial	333	32.2%	22.3%
Minor arterial	263	25.4%	20.4%
Major collector	9	0.9%	18.9%
Minor collector	18	1.7%	10.5%
Local	194	18.7%	14.9%
Not reported	4	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.Jefferson County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	377
Dark, not lighted	333
Dark, lighted	266
Dawn	12
Dusk	19
Dark, lighting unknown	28
Other or unknown	4

Table 8.Jefferson County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	710
Cloudy	233
Rain	84
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	3
Fog, smog or smoke	4
Crosswinds or blowing sand/snow	3
Other or not reported	1 or 2

Routes in the county

Table 9.Signed routes in Jefferson County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In Jefferson	In all of Kentucky
Interstate 64	Interstate	49	157
Interstate 65	Interstate	37	166
Interstate 71	Interstate	16	64
Interstate 264	Interstate	45	45
Interstate 265	Interstate	38	38
State Route 22	State highway	7	20
State Route 61	State highway	42	83
State Route 155	State highway	25	30
State Route 1020	State highway	25	27
State Route 1065	State highway	20	20
State Route 1747	State highway	40	40
State Route 1865	State highway	28	28
State Route 1931	State highway	31	31
State Route 1934	State highway	40	40
US Route 31	US highway	62	108
US Route 31E	US highway	31	76
US Route 31W	US highway	63	129
US Route 42	US highway	7	53
US Route 60	US highway	30	253
US Route 150	US highway	15	61

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.Jefferson 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
Jefferson County: 14.0

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 Jefferson County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Clark County	Indiana	14	132	11.0
Floyd County	Indiana	6	79	10.0
Harrison County	Indiana	10	104	26.0
Bullitt County	Kentucky	10	116	14.1
Hardin County	Kentucky	25	199	18.0
Oldham County	Kentucky	4	59	8.7
Shelby County	Kentucky	10	67	13.9
Spencer County	Kentucky	1 or 2	24	12.4

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 Jefferson 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. Jefferson County, Kentucky: fatal crash statistics. https://fatalroads.com/county/ky/jefferson/. 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 Jefferson in the ten years before 2015?

FARS records 760 deaths in Jefferson County from 2005 to 2014. It records 1,088 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of Jefferson in 2024?

The rate of Jefferson County in 2024 was 14.2 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 Jefferson had a driver recorded as drinking?

FARS records a driver as drinking in 283 of 1,039 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 Jefferson?

20 signed routes in the county have a page. FARS records 651 fatal crashes on them in the county from 2015 to 2024. The table of routes on this page gives the count for each route.