Franklin County, Massachusetts: fatal crash statistics

Counties of Massachusetts by year (CSV)Cite this page

FARS records 8 deaths in 7 fatal crashes in Franklin County in 2024.

FARS records 71 deaths in 69 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 10.0 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, Franklin County was number 12 of 14 counties of Massachusetts.

Deaths in Franklin County rose by 14.5% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (62) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (71).

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

From 2015 to 2024, 53.6% of the fatal crashes in Franklin 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 Franklin 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.Franklin County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	8	7	1 or 2
2023	7	7	1 or 2
2022	6	6	1 or 2
2021	7	7	1 or 2
2020	4	4	1 or 2
2019	6	6	0
2018	9	9	1 or 2
2017	8	8	1 or 2
2016	5	4	1 or 2
2015	11	11	1 or 2
2015 to 2024	71	69	15

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 26 (1979)2024: 8

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

Table 2.Franklin County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	8	7
2023	7	7
2022	6	6
2021	7	7
2020	4	4
2019	6	6
2018	9	9
2017	8	8
2016	5	4
2015	11	11
2014	5	5
2013	7	6
2012	5	5
2011	5	4
2010	5	5
2009	1 or 2	1 or 2
2008	7	5
2007	10	9
2006	9	9
2005	8	7
2004	13	13
2003	5	5
2002	8	8
2001	8	7
2000	8	7
1999	8	7
1998	6	6
1997	12	10
1996	11	10
1995	17	14
1994	10	10
1993	11	9
1992	10	10
1991	9	9
1990	9	9
1989	9	9
1988	11	11
1987	16	16
1986	18	13
1985	21	20
1984	13	12
1983	16	15
1982	14	13
1981	9	9
1980	12	12
1979	26	25
1978	15	14
1977	12	10
1976	18	16
1975	20	16

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.Franklin County beside Massachusetts and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Franklin County	Massachusetts	United States
2024	11.3	5.1	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	10.0	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. Franklin County had 70,911 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.Franklin County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in Massachusetts
A driver recorded as drinkingof 69 fatal crashes	15	69 fatal crashes	21.7%	29.7%
A speeding-related driverof 69 fatal crashes	21	69 fatal crashes	30.4%	29.2%
No restraint usedof 43 occupant deaths with restraint use known	24	43 occupant deathswith restraint use known	55.8%	61.7%
Pedestriansof 71 deaths	5	71 deaths	7.0%	20.4%
Bicyclistsof 71 deaths	3	71 deaths	4.2%	2.3%
Motorcyclistsof 71 deaths	15	71 deaths	21.1%	15.6%
On a rural roadof 69 fatal crashes with the condition reported	37	69 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	53.6%	6.6%
In the darkof 69 fatal crashes with the condition reported	23	69 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	33.3%	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.Franklin 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	1 or 2	1 or 2	5	7	14
Monday	1 or 2	1 or 2	6	1 or 2	10
Tuesday	1 or 2	3	3	1 or 2	8
Wednesday	0	1 or 2	1 or 2	1 or 2	6
Thursday	0	3	6	3	12
Friday	1 or 2	0	4	1 or 2	7
Saturday	1 or 2	1 or 2	6	3	11
All days	6	11	32	19	68

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.Franklin County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in Massachusetts
Interstate	6	8.7%	15.9%
Other freeways and expressways	0	0.0%	4.3%
Other principal arterial	20	29.0%	30.6%
Minor arterial	15	21.7%	26.7%
Major collector	15	21.7%	10.0%
Minor collector	3	4.3%	0.9%
Local	10	14.5%	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.Franklin County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	44
Dark, not lighted	19
Dark, lighted	4
Dawn	1 or 2
Dusk	1 or 2
Dark, lighting unknown	0
Other or unknown	0

Table 8.Franklin County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	49
Cloudy	12
Rain	6
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	1 or 2
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 Franklin County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In Franklin	In all of Massachusetts
Interstate 91	Interstate	6	32
State Route 2	State highway	12	40
State Route 2A	State highway	1 or 2	29
State Route 116	State highway	6	23
US Route 202	US highway	1 or 2	20

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.Franklin 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
Franklin County: 10.0

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 Massachusetts

Table 10.Counties that share a boundary line with Franklin County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Berkshire County	Massachusetts	13	122	9.5
Hampshire County	Massachusetts	13	84	5.2
Worcester County	Massachusetts	49	533	6.3
Cheshire County	New Hampshire	11	74	9.6
Bennington County	Vermont	4	41	11.2
Windham County	Vermont	5	54	12.2

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 Franklin 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. Franklin County, Massachusetts: fatal crash statistics. https://fatalroads.com/county/ma/franklin/. 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.

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 Franklin in the ten years before 2015?

FARS records 62 deaths in Franklin County from 2005 to 2014. It records 71 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of Franklin in 2024?

The rate of Franklin County in 2024 was 11.3 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 Franklin had a driver recorded as drinking?

FARS records a driver as drinking in 15 of 69 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 Franklin?

5 signed routes in the county have a page. FARS records 27 fatal crashes on them in the county from 2015 to 2024. The table of routes on this page gives the count for each route.