Plymouth County, Massachusetts: fatal crash statistics

Counties of Massachusetts by year (CSV)Cite this page

FARS records 40 deaths in 39 fatal crashes in Plymouth County in 2024.

FARS records 370 deaths in 349 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 7.0 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, Plymouth County was number 5 of 14 counties of Massachusetts.

Deaths in Plymouth County fell by 6.8% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (397) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (370).

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

From 2015 to 2024, 68.2% of the occupants killed in Plymouth County with restraint use known had no restraint, against 61.7% 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 Plymouth 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.Plymouth County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	40	39	11
2023	36	35	8
2022	42	42	10
2021	37	34	15
2020	30	27	4
2019	31	31	10
2018	32	29	15
2017	45	43	18
2016	39	34	10
2015	38	35	7
2015 to 2024	370	349	108

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 84 (1975)2024: 40

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

Table 2.Plymouth County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	40	39
2023	36	35
2022	42	42
2021	37	34
2020	30	27
2019	31	31
2018	32	29
2017	45	43
2016	39	34
2015	38	35
2014	50	48
2013	46	41
2012	31	29
2011	35	35
2010	29	28
2009	25	24
2008	48	45
2007	42	41
2006	45	45
2005	46	44
2004	59	55
2003	48	44
2002	54	50
2001	52	46
2000	35	33
1999	30	30
1998	53	47
1997	39	38
1996	35	33
1995	42	40
1994	43	39
1993	45	42
1992	35	34
1991	50	45
1990	54	49
1989	56	53
1988	71	65
1987	64	58
1986	75	63
1985	65	63
1984	76	73
1983	63	60
1982	60	56
1981	66	58
1980	64	58
1979	71	64
1978	69	63
1977	59	56
1976	71	60
1975	84	77

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.Plymouth County beside Massachusetts and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Plymouth County	Massachusetts	United States
2024	7.3	5.1	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	7.0	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. Plymouth County had 544,663 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.Plymouth County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in Massachusetts
A driver recorded as drinkingof 349 fatal crashes	108	349 fatal crashes	30.9%	29.7%
A speeding-related driverof 349 fatal crashes	101	349 fatal crashes	28.9%	29.2%
No restraint usedof 198 occupant deaths with restraint use known	135	198 occupant deathswith restraint use known	68.2%	61.7%
Pedestriansof 370 deaths	53	370 deaths	14.3%	20.4%
Bicyclistsof 370 deaths	6	370 deaths	1.6%	2.3%
Motorcyclistsof 370 deaths	70	370 deaths	18.9%	15.6%
On a rural roadof 347 fatal crashes with the condition reported	8	347 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	2.3%	6.6%
In the darkof 348 fatal crashes with the condition reported	162	348 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	46.6%	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.Plymouth 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	18	11	10	20	59
Monday	8	11	11	13	43
Tuesday	3	9	17	18	47
Wednesday	6	15	11	9	41
Thursday	1 or 2	9	18	12	41
Friday	11	12	16	24	63
Saturday	13	7	14	18	52
All days	61	74	97	114	346

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.Plymouth County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in Massachusetts
Interstate	29	8.4%	15.9%
Other freeways and expressways	37	10.7%	4.3%
Other principal arterial	80	23.1%	30.6%
Minor arterial	115	33.1%	26.7%
Major collector	47	13.5%	10.0%
Minor collector	0	0.0%	0.9%
Local	39	11.2%	11.5%
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.Plymouth County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	167
Dark, not lighted	74
Dark, lighted	81
Dawn	8
Dusk	11
Dark, lighting unknown	7
Other or unknown	1 or 2

Table 8.Plymouth County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	249
Cloudy	53
Rain	35
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	1 or 2
Fog, smog or smoke	1 or 2
Crosswinds or blowing sand/snow	0
Other or not reported	8

Routes in the county

Table 9.Signed routes in Plymouth County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In Plymouth	In all of Massachusetts
Interstate 195	Interstate	10	51
Interstate 495	Interstate	20	148
State Route 3	State highway	22	35
State Route 18	State highway	15	29
State Route 24	State highway	19	58
State Route 28	State highway	17	73
State Route 110	State highway	1 or 2	27
State Route 140	State highway	4	45
US Route 6	US highway	8	48
US Route 44	US highway	4	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.Plymouth 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
Plymouth County: 7.0

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 Plymouth County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Barnstable County	Massachusetts	13	138	6.2
Bristol County	Massachusetts	35	429	7.5
Norfolk County	Massachusetts	37	368	5.1
Suffolk County	Massachusetts	33	271	3.4

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 Plymouth 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. Plymouth County, Massachusetts: fatal crash statistics. https://fatalroads.com/county/ma/plymouth/. 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.

Embed this card on your site

Copy this code into your page. The card shows the figures above with their source. A line under the card links to this page.

<iframe src="https://fatalroads.com/embed/county/ma/plymouth/" title="Fatal crashes in Plymouth County, Massachusetts" width="100%" height="300" style="border:0;max-width:640px" loading="lazy"></iframe>
<p style="margin:4px 0 0;font-size:13px"><a href="https://fatalroads.com/county/ma/plymouth/">Fatal crashes in Plymouth County, Massachusetts</a>, from fatalroads.com</p>

How embedding works. It is free. Keep the link in the card and the link line under it.

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 Plymouth in the ten years before 2015?

FARS records 397 deaths in Plymouth County from 2005 to 2014. It records 370 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of Plymouth in 2024?

The rate of Plymouth County in 2024 was 7.3 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 Plymouth had a driver recorded as drinking?

FARS records a driver as drinking in 108 of 349 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 Plymouth?

10 signed routes in the county have a page. FARS records 120 fatal crashes on them in the county from 2015 to 2024. The table of routes on this page gives the count for each route.