Bay County, Michigan: fatal crash statistics

Counties of Michigan by year (CSV)Cite this page

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

FARS records 119 deaths in 112 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 11.5 deaths for each 100,000 residents in a year.

The rate of Michigan in the same years is 10.6.

By deaths from 2015 to 2024, Bay County was number 23 of 83 counties of Michigan.

Deaths in Bay County did not change between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (119) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (119).

In the counties of Michigan the deaths rose by 8.1% between the same years.

From 2015 to 2024, 51.6% of the occupants killed in Bay County with restraint use known had no restraint, against 39.4% in Michigan.

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 Bay 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.Bay County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	13	12	4
2023	15	15	6
2022	17	15	4
2021	13	13	3
2020	11	10	3
2019	9	8	1 or 2
2018	11	11	4
2017	5	5	1 or 2
2016	10	8	1 or 2
2015	15	15	7
2015 to 2024	119	112	36

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 42 (1977)2024: 13

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

Table 2.Bay County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	13	12
2023	15	15
2022	17	15
2021	13	13
2020	11	10
2019	9	8
2018	11	11
2017	5	5
2016	10	8
2015	15	15
2014	10	9
2013	10	10
2012	20	17
2011	15	14
2010	12	11
2009	10	10
2008	6	6
2007	10	10
2006	7	7
2005	19	15
2004	11	10
2003	22	19
2002	11	9
2001	18	17
2000	20	18
1999	25	22
1998	18	17
1997	21	18
1996	14	14
1995	19	17
1994	14	13
1993	25	20
1992	20	17
1991	20	18
1990	25	21
1989	30	28
1988	21	21
1987	23	23
1986	25	22
1985	16	16
1984	20	20
1983	11	11
1982	23	21
1981	18	16
1980	24	23
1979	29	25
1978	32	28
1977	42	34
1976	30	23
1975	26	21

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.Bay County beside Michigan and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Bay County	Michigan	United States
2024	12.7	10.9	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	11.5	10.6	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. Bay County had 102,432 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.Bay County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in Michigan
A driver recorded as drinkingof 112 fatal crashes	36	112 fatal crashes	32.1%	28.1%
A speeding-related driverof 112 fatal crashes	23	112 fatal crashes	20.5%	25.4%
No restraint usedof 64 occupant deaths with restraint use known	33	64 occupant deathswith restraint use known	51.6%	39.4%
Pedestriansof 119 deaths	21	119 deaths	17.6%	15.2%
Bicyclistsof 119 deaths	4	119 deaths	3.4%	2.8%
Motorcyclistsof 119 deaths	18	119 deaths	15.1%	15.2%
On a rural roadof 111 fatal crashes with the condition reported	54	111 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	48.6%	40.6%
In the darkof 112 fatal crashes with the condition reported	53	112 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	47.3%	46.3%

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.Bay 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	1 or 2	6	4	17
Monday	1 or 2	5	3	0	10
Tuesday	1 or 2	3	5	5	14
Wednesday	1 or 2	1 or 2	10	8	20
Thursday	0	1 or 2	1 or 2	6	10
Friday	1 or 2	3	6	9	20
Saturday	5	5	4	7	21
All days	17	20	36	39	112

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.Bay County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in Michigan
Interstate	14	12.6%	9.0%
Other freeways and expressways	6	5.4%	4.0%
Other principal arterial	20	18.0%	27.7%
Minor arterial	28	25.2%	26.1%
Major collector	24	21.6%	18.4%
Minor collector	3	2.7%	1.7%
Local	16	14.4%	13.2%
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.Bay County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	54
Dark, not lighted	34
Dark, lighted	19
Dawn	1 or 2
Dusk	3
Dark, lighting unknown	0
Other or unknown	0

Table 8.Bay County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	81
Cloudy	16
Rain	9
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	5
Fog, smog or smoke	1 or 2
Crosswinds or blowing sand/snow	0
Other or not reported	0

Routes in the county

Table 9.Signed routes in Bay County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In Bay	In all of Michigan
Interstate 75	Interstate	14	222
State Route 13	State highway	18	30
State Route 15	State highway	1 or 2	26
State Route 25	State highway	7	39
State Route 43	State highway	1 or 2	73
US Route 10	US highway	6	40

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 Michigan

Adjacent counties

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

Figure 3.Bay County on the county map of Michigan

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

Fewer than 1012 counties
10 to 14.943 counties
15 to 19.919 counties
20 to 29.98 counties
30 or more1 county
Bay County: 11.5

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 Michigan

Table 10.Counties that share a boundary line with Bay County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Arenac County	Michigan	5	43	28.5
Gladwin County	Michigan	3	29	11.4
Huron County	Michigan	1 or 2	42	13.5
Midland County	Michigan	9	88	10.5
Saginaw County	Michigan	29	204	10.7
Tuscola County	Michigan	6	79	14.9

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

Counties of similar population

These counties of Michigan have a population nearest to that of Bay 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.
Michigan Office of Highway Safety PlanningThe highway safety office of Michigan.

These links go to the sites of the agencies. They were checked on 2 Oct 2026.

Cite this page

Fatal Roads. Bay County, Michigan: fatal crash statistics. https://fatalroads.com/county/mi/bay/. 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 Bay in the ten years before 2015?

FARS records 119 deaths in Bay County from 2005 to 2014. It records 119 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of Bay in 2024?

The rate of Bay County in 2024 was 12.7 deaths for each 100,000 residents. The rate of Michigan was 10.9. The rate of the United States was 11.5.

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

FARS records a driver as drinking in 36 of 112 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 Bay?

6 signed routes in the county have a page. FARS records 48 fatal crashes on them in the county from 2015 to 2024. The table of routes on this page gives the count for each route.