McCracken County, Kentucky: fatal crash statistics

Counties of Kentucky by year (CSV)Cite this page

FARS records 16 deaths in 14 fatal crashes in McCracken County in 2024.

FARS records 127 deaths in 110 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 19.1 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, McCracken County was number 8 of 120 counties of Kentucky.

Deaths in McCracken County rose by 5.0% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (121) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (127).

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

From 2015 to 2024, 51.8% of the fatal crashes in McCracken 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 McCracken 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.McCracken County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	16	14	3
2023	7	6	1 or 2
2022	6	5	0
2021	20	15	1 or 2
2020	14	12	1 or 2
2019	14	12	3
2018	9	7	1 or 2
2017	11	11	1 or 2
2016	15	14	1 or 2
2015	15	14	1 or 2
2015 to 2024	127	110	17

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 24 (2001)2024: 16

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

Table 2.McCracken County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	16	14
2023	7	6
2022	6	5
2021	20	15
2020	14	12
2019	14	12
2018	9	7
2017	11	11
2016	15	14
2015	15	14
2014	4	4
2013	7	7
2012	19	16
2011	12	11
2010	16	13
2009	10	10
2008	13	12
2007	19	18
2006	12	12
2005	9	9
2004	12	11
2003	16	15
2002	9	8
2001	24	20
2000	20	17
1999	12	12
1998	7	7
1997	12	12
1996	16	15
1995	13	12
1994	13	13
1993	19	19
1992	7	5
1991	10	9
1990	19	19
1989	10	9
1988	14	13
1987	23	21
1986	12	11
1985	11	9
1984	9	8
1983	8	6
1982	16	15
1981	5	5
1980	8	7
1979	12	12
1978	12	10
1977	12	11
1976	19	19
1975	16	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.McCracken County beside Kentucky and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	McCracken County	Kentucky	United States
2024	23.6	15.4	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	19.1	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. McCracken County had 67,732 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.McCracken County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in Kentucky
A driver recorded as drinkingof 110 fatal crashes	17	110 fatal crashes	15.5%	25.3%
A speeding-related driverof 110 fatal crashes	25	110 fatal crashes	22.7%	16.2%
No restraint usedof 99 occupant deaths with restraint use known	47	99 occupant deathswith restraint use known	47.5%	52.5%
Pedestriansof 127 deaths	11	127 deaths	8.7%	11.1%
Bicyclistsof 127 deaths	1 or 2	127 deaths	0.8%	1.2%
Motorcyclistsof 127 deaths	15	127 deaths	11.8%	13.1%
On a rural roadof 110 fatal crashes with the condition reported	57	110 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	51.8%	66.4%
In the darkof 110 fatal crashes with the condition reported	29	110 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	26.4%	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.McCracken 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	3	6	5	3	17
Monday	1 or 2	3	10	1 or 2	16
Tuesday	5	4	5	1 or 2	15
Wednesday	1 or 2	5	7	1 or 2	16
Thursday	0	7	7	1 or 2	16
Friday	1 or 2	1 or 2	5	1 or 2	10
Saturday	4	1 or 2	8	6	20
All days	17	29	47	17	110

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.McCracken County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in Kentucky
Interstate	15	13.6%	10.8%
Other freeways and expressways	1 or 2	0.9%	2.2%
Other principal arterial	34	30.9%	22.3%
Minor arterial	25	22.7%	20.4%
Major collector	17	15.5%	18.9%
Minor collector	9	8.2%	10.5%
Local	9	8.2%	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.McCracken County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	78
Dark, not lighted	19
Dark, lighted	9
Dawn	1 or 2
Dusk	1 or 2
Dark, lighting unknown	1 or 2
Other or unknown	0

Table 8.McCracken County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	87
Cloudy	10
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 McCracken County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In McCracken	In all of Kentucky
Interstate 24	Interstate	15	52
US Route 45	US highway	11	20
US Route 60	US highway	17	253
US Route 62	US highway	12	114
US Route 68	US highway	1 or 2	165

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.McCracken 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
McCracken County: 19.1

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 Kentucky

Table 10.Counties that share a boundary line with McCracken County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Massac County	Illinois	1 or 2	27	19.2
Pulaski County	Illinois	1 or 2	16	30.4
Ballard County	Kentucky	1 or 2	33	42.2
Carlisle County	Kentucky	0	14	29.4
Graves County	Kentucky	7	75	20.3
Livingston County	Kentucky	4	20	22.1
Marshall County	Kentucky	8	84	26.7

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

FARS records 121 deaths in McCracken County from 2005 to 2014. It records 127 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of McCracken in 2024?

The rate of McCracken County in 2024 was 23.6 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 McCracken had a driver recorded as drinking?

FARS records a driver as drinking in 17 of 110 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 McCracken?

5 signed routes in the county have a page. FARS records 57 fatal crashes on them in the county from 2015 to 2024. The table of routes on this page gives the count for each route.