Essex County, Massachusetts: fatal crash statistics

Counties of Massachusetts by year (CSV)Cite this page

FARS records 29 deaths in 27 fatal crashes in Essex County in 2024.

FARS records 332 deaths in 322 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 4.2 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, Essex County was number 7 of 14 counties of Massachusetts.

Deaths in Essex County fell by 9.5% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (367) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (332).

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

From 2015 to 2024, a speeding-related driver was recorded in 34.2% of fatal crashes in Essex County and 29.2% 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 Essex 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.Essex County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	29	27	6
2023	37	35	12
2022	31	30	7
2021	40	40	12
2020	40	40	12
2019	34	33	13
2018	29	28	7
2017	36	36	4
2016	33	30	8
2015	23	23	4
2015 to 2024	332	322	85

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 106 (1980)2024: 29

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

Table 2.Essex County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	29	27
2023	37	35
2022	31	30
2021	40	40
2020	40	40
2019	34	33
2018	29	28
2017	36	36
2016	33	30
2015	23	23
2014	27	25
2013	34	33
2012	45	44
2011	42	40
2010	31	30
2009	38	36
2008	29	28
2007	40	37
2006	35	31
2005	46	45
2004	52	49
2003	41	38
2002	56	52
2001	34	32
2000	50	48
1999	52	44
1998	38	35
1997	58	56
1996	42	42
1995	46	43
1994	39	37
1993	40	39
1992	52	48
1991	63	58
1990	59	49
1989	67	59
1988	79	70
1987	68	58
1986	71	67
1985	82	76
1984	52	47
1983	62	57
1982	71	67
1981	72	65
1980	106	96
1979	90	85
1978	103	99
1977	80	76
1976	84	77
1975	86	82

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.Essex County beside Massachusetts and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Essex County	Massachusetts	United States
2024	3.5	5.1	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	4.2	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. Essex County had 826,170 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.Essex County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in Massachusetts
A driver recorded as drinkingof 322 fatal crashes	85	322 fatal crashes	26.4%	29.7%
A speeding-related driverof 322 fatal crashes	110	322 fatal crashes	34.2%	29.2%
No restraint usedof 161 occupant deaths with restraint use known	92	161 occupant deathswith restraint use known	57.1%	61.7%
Pedestriansof 332 deaths	62	332 deaths	18.7%	20.4%
Bicyclistsof 332 deaths	11	332 deaths	3.3%	2.3%
Motorcyclistsof 332 deaths	49	332 deaths	14.8%	15.6%
On a rural roadof 322 fatal crashes with the condition reported	7	322 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	2.2%	6.6%
In the darkof 319 fatal crashes with the condition reported	148	319 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	46.4%	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.Essex 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	10	6	17	19	52
Monday	8	6	10	14	38
Tuesday	5	10	13	11	39
Wednesday	7	13	14	13	47
Thursday	5	9	14	15	43
Friday	6	6	15	16	43
Saturday	15	8	14	19	56
All days	56	58	97	107	318

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.Essex County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in Massachusetts
Interstate	66	20.5%	15.9%
Other freeways and expressways	7	2.2%	4.3%
Other principal arterial	114	35.4%	30.6%
Minor arterial	80	24.8%	26.7%
Major collector	23	7.1%	10.0%
Minor collector	1 or 2	0.3%	0.9%
Local	31	9.6%	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.Essex County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	153
Dark, not lighted	51
Dark, lighted	92
Dawn	8
Dusk	10
Dark, lighting unknown	5
Other or unknown	3

Table 8.Essex County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	239
Cloudy	39
Rain	30
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	6
Fog, smog or smoke	4
Crosswinds or blowing sand/snow	0
Other or not reported	4

Routes in the county

Table 9.Signed routes in Essex County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In Essex	In all of Massachusetts
Interstate 93	Interstate	14	77
Interstate 95	Interstate	20	88
Interstate 495	Interstate	32	148
State Route 1A	State highway	11	28
State Route 9	State highway	1 or 2	48
State Route 28	State highway	1 or 2	73
State Route 110	State highway	14	27
US Route 1	US highway	22	45

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.Essex 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
Essex County: 4.2

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 Essex County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Middlesex County	Massachusetts	55	513	3.2
Suffolk County	Massachusetts	33	271	3.4
Hillsborough County	New Hampshire	32	262	6.2
Rockingham County	New Hampshire	30	239	7.6

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 Essex 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. Essex County, Massachusetts: fatal crash statistics. https://fatalroads.com/county/ma/essex/. 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 Essex in the ten years before 2015?

FARS records 367 deaths in Essex County from 2005 to 2014. It records 332 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of Essex in 2024?

The rate of Essex County in 2024 was 3.5 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 Essex had a driver recorded as drinking?

FARS records a driver as drinking in 85 of 322 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 Essex?

8 signed routes in the county have a page. FARS records 116 fatal crashes on them in the county from 2015 to 2024. The table of routes on this page gives the count for each route.