Worcester County, Massachusetts: fatal crash statistics

Counties of Massachusetts by year (CSV)Cite this page

FARS records 49 deaths in 46 fatal crashes in Worcester County in 2024.

FARS records 533 deaths in 497 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 6.3 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, Worcester County was number 1 of 14 counties of Massachusetts.

Deaths in Worcester County fell by 4.3% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (557) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (533).

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

From 2015 to 2024, 56.8% of the occupants killed in Worcester 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 Worcester 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.Worcester County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	49	46	17
2023	45	42	14
2022	78	70	16
2021	59	54	23
2020	33	31	6
2019	48	47	17
2018	64	62	24
2017	55	52	21
2016	49	46	20
2015	53	47	13
2015 to 2024	533	497	171

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 137 (1978)2024: 49

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

Table 2.Worcester County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	49	46
2023	45	42
2022	78	70
2021	59	54
2020	33	31
2019	48	47
2018	64	62
2017	55	52
2016	49	46
2015	53	47
2014	50	50
2013	67	64
2012	44	43
2011	54	52
2010	54	49
2009	43	38
2008	56	49
2007	64	60
2006	67	58
2005	58	51
2004	73	68
2003	74	68
2002	64	61
2001	66	62
2000	66	64
1999	62	59
1998	64	60
1997	62	58
1996	66	58
1995	49	47
1994	57	54
1993	65	64
1992	70	66
1991	74	70
1990	91	85
1989	88	73
1988	94	86
1987	98	91
1986	126	111
1985	99	88
1984	91	84
1983	109	100
1982	88	82
1981	104	91
1980	121	108
1979	134	125
1978	137	121
1977	94	84
1976	105	90
1975	129	113

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.Worcester County beside Massachusetts and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Worcester County	Massachusetts	United States
2024	5.5	5.1	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	6.3	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. Worcester County had 883,722 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.Worcester County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in Massachusetts
A driver recorded as drinkingof 497 fatal crashes	171	497 fatal crashes	34.4%	29.7%
A speeding-related driverof 497 fatal crashes	148	497 fatal crashes	29.8%	29.2%
No restraint usedof 303 occupant deaths with restraint use known	172	303 occupant deathswith restraint use known	56.8%	61.7%
Pedestriansof 533 deaths	86	533 deaths	16.1%	20.4%
Bicyclistsof 533 deaths	4	533 deaths	0.8%	2.3%
Motorcyclistsof 533 deaths	73	533 deaths	13.7%	15.6%
On a rural roadof 495 fatal crashes with the condition reported	56	495 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	11.3%	6.6%
In the darkof 494 fatal crashes with the condition reported	249	494 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	50.4%	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.Worcester 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	19	9	21	25	74
Monday	7	15	19	15	56
Tuesday	9	8	17	19	53
Wednesday	10	19	25	23	77
Thursday	7	11	14	26	58
Friday	14	11	25	28	78
Saturday	21	15	20	35	91
All days	87	88	141	171	487

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.Worcester County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in Massachusetts
Interstate	97	19.6%	15.9%
Other freeways and expressways	17	3.4%	4.3%
Other principal arterial	141	28.5%	30.6%
Minor arterial	130	26.3%	26.7%
Major collector	46	9.3%	10.0%
Minor collector	9	1.8%	0.9%
Local	55	11.1%	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.Worcester County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	219
Dark, not lighted	125
Dark, lighted	119
Dawn	13
Dusk	13
Dark, lighting unknown	5
Other or unknown	3

Table 8.Worcester County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	349
Cloudy	80
Rain	47
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	7
Fog, smog or smoke	3
Crosswinds or blowing sand/snow	1 or 2
Other or not reported	9

Routes in the county

Table 9.Signed routes in Worcester County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In Worcester	In all of Massachusetts
Interstate 90	Interstate	28	83
Interstate 290	Interstate	20	25
Interstate 495	Interstate	17	148
State Route 2	State highway	17	40
State Route 2A	State highway	13	29
State Route 9	State highway	21	48
State Route 12	State highway	22	22
State Route 16	State highway	6	21
State Route 110	State highway	5	27
State Route 140	State highway	11	45
US Route 20	US highway	26	74
US Route 202	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.Worcester 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
Worcester County: 6.3

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 Worcester County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Tolland County	Connecticut	13	143	9.5
Windham County	Connecticut	8	159	13.6
Franklin County	Massachusetts	8	71	10.0
Hampden County	Massachusetts	35	418	9.0
Hampshire County	Massachusetts	13	84	5.2
Middlesex County	Massachusetts	55	513	3.2
Norfolk County	Massachusetts	37	368	5.1
Cheshire County	New Hampshire	11	74	9.6
Hillsborough County	New Hampshire	32	262	6.2
Providence County	Rhode Island	30	357	5.5

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

FARS records 557 deaths in Worcester County from 2005 to 2014. It records 533 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of Worcester in 2024?

The rate of Worcester County in 2024 was 5.5 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 Worcester had a driver recorded as drinking?

FARS records a driver as drinking in 171 of 497 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 Worcester?

12 signed routes in the county have a page. FARS records 190 fatal crashes on them in the county from 2015 to 2024. The table of routes on this page gives the count for each route.