Laurel County, Kentucky: fatal crash statistics

Counties of Kentucky by year (CSV)Cite this page

FARS records 18 deaths in 17 fatal crashes in Laurel County in 2024.

FARS records 132 deaths in 122 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 21.4 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, Laurel County was number 7 of 120 counties of Kentucky.

Deaths in Laurel County fell by 17.0% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (159) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (132).

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

From 2015 to 2024, 43.0% of the occupants killed in Laurel County with restraint use known had no restraint, against 52.5% 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 Laurel 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.Laurel County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	18	17	1 or 2
2023	9	8	1 or 2
2022	11	9	3
2021	15	14	4
2020	13	12	3
2019	9	8	3
2018	20	18	3
2017	18	17	7
2016	11	11	3
2015	8	8	1 or 2
2015 to 2024	132	122	31

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 27 (2005)2024: 18

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

Table 2.Laurel County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	18	17
2023	9	8
2022	11	9
2021	15	14
2020	13	12
2019	9	8
2018	20	18
2017	18	17
2016	11	11
2015	8	8
2014	10	10
2013	13	12
2012	17	16
2011	8	8
2010	19	19
2009	14	14
2008	17	15
2007	17	15
2006	17	17
2005	27	23
2004	25	23
2003	18	16
2002	16	16
2001	7	6
2000	14	13
1999	13	11
1998	23	17
1997	17	15
1996	10	9
1995	16	14
1994	9	8
1993	19	17
1992	10	10
1991	15	10
1990	12	11
1989	12	11
1988	7	7
1987	7	7
1986	15	13
1985	12	12
1984	7	7
1983	1 or 2	1 or 2
1982	11	10
1981	6	6
1980	13	11
1979	15	11
1978	11	11
1977	12	8
1976	11	11
1975	15	14

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.Laurel County beside Kentucky and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Laurel County	Kentucky	United States
2024	28.5	15.4	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	21.4	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. Laurel County had 63,244 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.Laurel County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in Kentucky
A driver recorded as drinkingof 122 fatal crashes	31	122 fatal crashes	25.4%	25.3%
A speeding-related driverof 122 fatal crashes	19	122 fatal crashes	15.6%	16.2%
No restraint usedof 100 occupant deaths with restraint use known	43	100 occupant deathswith restraint use known	43.0%	52.5%
Pedestriansof 132 deaths	10	132 deaths	7.6%	11.1%
Bicyclistsof 132 deaths	0	132 deaths	0.0%	1.2%
Motorcyclistsof 132 deaths	21	132 deaths	15.9%	13.1%
On a rural roadof 121 fatal crashes with the condition reported	80	121 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	66.1%	66.4%
In the darkof 122 fatal crashes with the condition reported	40	122 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	32.8%	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.Laurel 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	5	5	5	20
Monday	1 or 2	1 or 2	8	8	19
Tuesday	1 or 2	6	4	5	17
Wednesday	0	3	10	3	16
Thursday	0	5	10	4	19
Friday	4	3	5	3	15
Saturday	4	1 or 2	6	4	16
All days	16	26	48	32	122

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.Laurel County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in Kentucky
Interstate	17	14.0%	10.8%
Other freeways and expressways	1 or 2	0.8%	2.2%
Other principal arterial	17	14.0%	22.3%
Minor arterial	19	15.7%	20.4%
Major collector	29	24.0%	18.9%
Minor collector	17	14.0%	10.5%
Local	21	17.4%	14.9%
Not reported	1 or 2	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.Laurel County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	78
Dark, not lighted	31
Dark, lighted	1 or 2
Dawn	1 or 2
Dusk	1 or 2
Dark, lighting unknown	7
Other or unknown	0

Table 8.Laurel County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	88
Cloudy	17
Rain	13
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	3
Fog, smog or smoke	0
Crosswinds or blowing sand/snow	0
Other or not reported	1 or 2

Routes in the county

Table 9.Signed routes in Laurel County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In Laurel	In all of Kentucky
Interstate 75	Interstate	17	166
State Route 30	State highway	4	26
State Route 80	State highway	9	66
State Route 9006	State highway	5	23
US Route 25	US highway	24	141

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.Laurel 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
Laurel County: 21.4

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 Kentucky

Table 10.Counties that share a boundary line with Laurel County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Clay County	Kentucky	1 or 2	56	27.8
Jackson County	Kentucky	1 or 2	37	28.0
Knox County	Kentucky	3	53	17.3
McCreary County	Kentucky	1 or 2	46	26.7
Pulaski County	Kentucky	18	136	20.9
Rockcastle County	Kentucky	6	57	34.6
Whitley County	Kentucky	12	85	23.3

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

FARS records 159 deaths in Laurel County from 2005 to 2014. It records 132 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of Laurel in 2024?

The rate of Laurel County in 2024 was 28.5 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 Laurel had a driver recorded as drinking?

FARS records a driver as drinking in 31 of 122 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 Laurel?

5 signed routes in the county have a page. FARS records 59 fatal crashes on them in the county from 2015 to 2024. The table of routes on this page gives the count for each route.