Barnstable County, Massachusetts: fatal crash statistics

Counties of Massachusetts by year (CSV)Cite this page

FARS records 13 deaths in 12 fatal crashes in Barnstable County in 2024.

FARS records 138 deaths in 132 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 6.2 deaths for each 100,000 residents in a year.

The rate of Massachusetts in the same years is 5.3.

By deaths from 2015 to 2024, Barnstable County was number 9 of 14 counties of Massachusetts.

Deaths in Barnstable County fell by 33.0% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (206) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (138).

In the counties of Massachusetts the deaths fell by 4.0% between the same years.

From 2015 to 2024, 0.8% of the fatal crashes in Barnstable County with a known setting were rural, against 6.6% in Massachusetts.

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 Barnstable 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.Barnstable County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	13	12	1 or 2
2023	12	12	6
2022	15	15	6
2021	19	19	4
2020	12	12	4
2019	7	7	4
2018	16	14	6
2017	14	13	4
2016	18	16	5
2015	12	12	3
2015 to 2024	138	132	44

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 46 (1979)2024: 13

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

Table 2.Barnstable County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	13	12
2023	12	12
2022	15	15
2021	19	19
2020	12	12
2019	7	7
2018	16	14
2017	14	13
2016	18	16
2015	12	12
2014	16	16
2013	18	16
2012	26	26
2011	22	21
2010	17	17
2009	15	15
2008	17	15
2007	30	27
2006	21	20
2005	24	24
2004	21	21
2003	25	23
2002	23	22
2001	28	22
2000	22	21
1999	18	17
1998	22	20
1997	18	18
1996	22	20
1995	19	19
1994	24	21
1993	19	19
1992	20	20
1991	27	24
1990	32	28
1989	39	35
1988	33	29
1987	25	24
1986	25	24
1985	34	31
1984	29	28
1983	32	29
1982	25	23
1981	36	34
1980	29	26
1979	46	44
1978	42	37
1977	42	32
1976	34	24
1975	29	29

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.Barnstable County beside Massachusetts and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Barnstable County	Massachusetts	United States
2024	5.6	5.1	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	6.2	5.3	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. Barnstable County had 233,951 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.Barnstable County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in Massachusetts
A driver recorded as drinkingof 132 fatal crashes	44	132 fatal crashes	33.3%	29.7%
A speeding-related driverof 132 fatal crashes	32	132 fatal crashes	24.2%	29.2%
No restraint usedof 71 occupant deaths with restraint use known	47	71 occupant deathswith restraint use known	66.2%	61.7%
Pedestriansof 138 deaths	25	138 deaths	18.1%	20.4%
Bicyclistsof 138 deaths	3	138 deaths	2.2%	2.3%
Motorcyclistsof 138 deaths	19	138 deaths	13.8%	15.6%
On a rural roadof 132 fatal crashes with the condition reported	1 or 2	132 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	0.8%	6.6%
In the darkof 131 fatal crashes with the condition reported	63	131 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	48.1%	48.5%

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.Barnstable 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	6	4	6	3	19
Monday	1 or 2	4	5	3	14
Tuesday	3	3	9	7	22
Wednesday	1 or 2	1 or 2	8	5	15
Thursday	4	4	9	1 or 2	18
Friday	1 or 2	3	3	13	21
Saturday	8	3	7	4	22
All days	26	22	47	36	131

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.Barnstable County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in Massachusetts
Interstate	0	0.0%	15.9%
Other freeways and expressways	11	8.3%	4.3%
Other principal arterial	51	38.6%	30.6%
Minor arterial	47	35.6%	26.7%
Major collector	7	5.3%	10.0%
Minor collector	0	0.0%	0.9%
Local	16	12.1%	11.5%
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.Barnstable County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	64
Dark, not lighted	36
Dark, lighted	26
Dawn	1 or 2
Dusk	1 or 2
Dark, lighting unknown	1 or 2
Other or unknown	1 or 2

Table 8.Barnstable County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	92
Cloudy	20
Rain	17
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	3
Fog, smog or smoke	0
Crosswinds or blowing sand/snow	0
Other or not reported	0

Routes in the county

Table 9.Signed routes in Barnstable County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In Barnstable	In all of Massachusetts
State Route 3	State highway	1 or 2	35
State Route 28	State highway	25	73
US Route 6	US highway	16	48

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 Massachusetts

Adjacent counties

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

Figure 3.Barnstable County on the county map of Massachusetts

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

Fewer than 1013 counties
10 to 14.91 county
15 to 19.90 counties
20 to 29.90 counties
30 or more0 counties
Barnstable County: 6.2

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 Massachusetts

Table 10.Counties that share a boundary line with Barnstable County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Bristol County	Massachusetts	35	429	7.5
Dukes County	Massachusetts	1 or 2	10	5.2
Plymouth County	Massachusetts	40	370	7.0

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

Counties of similar population

These counties of Massachusetts have a population nearest to that of Barnstable 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. Barnstable County, Massachusetts: fatal crash statistics. https://fatalroads.com/county/ma/barnstable/. 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 Barnstable in the ten years before 2015?

FARS records 206 deaths in Barnstable County from 2005 to 2014. It records 138 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of Barnstable in 2024?

The rate of Barnstable County in 2024 was 5.6 deaths for each 100,000 residents. The rate of Massachusetts was 5.1. The rate of the United States was 11.5.

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

FARS records a driver as drinking in 44 of 132 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 Barnstable?

FARS records 1 or 2 fatal crashes on State Route 3 in the county from 2015 to 2024. FARS records 25 fatal crashes on State Route 28 in the county from 2015 to 2024. FARS records 16 fatal crashes on US Route 6 in the county from 2015 to 2024.