Berrien County, Michigan: fatal crash statistics

Counties of Michigan by year (CSV)Cite this page

FARS records 17 deaths in 17 fatal crashes in Berrien County in 2024.

FARS records 191 deaths in 175 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 12.4 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, Berrien County was number 16 of 83 counties of Michigan.

Deaths in Berrien County fell by 11.6% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (216) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (191).

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

From 2015 to 2024, 32.0% of the occupants killed in Berrien 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 Berrien 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.Berrien County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	17	17	3
2023	18	16	5
2022	13	13	5
2021	25	24	6
2020	12	12	7
2019	28	24	7
2018	20	18	4
2017	20	18	7
2016	20	16	3
2015	18	17	9
2015 to 2024	191	175	56

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 60 (1975)2024: 17

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

Table 2.Berrien County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	17	17
2023	18	16
2022	13	13
2021	25	24
2020	12	12
2019	28	24
2018	20	18
2017	20	18
2016	20	16
2015	18	17
2014	14	14
2013	24	23
2012	17	16
2011	22	21
2010	27	26
2009	15	15
2008	24	22
2007	26	25
2006	21	21
2005	26	21
2004	19	17
2003	25	21
2002	27	22
2001	29	28
2000	27	24
1999	31	28
1998	40	36
1997	28	26
1996	29	27
1995	35	31
1994	37	34
1993	33	31
1992	15	14
1991	26	24
1990	34	32
1989	29	27
1988	38	36
1987	44	37
1986	38	35
1985	45	39
1984	39	30
1983	22	20
1982	21	21
1981	44	36
1980	33	28
1979	28	28
1978	41	40
1977	30	26
1976	37	31
1975	60	53

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.Berrien County beside Michigan and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Berrien County	Michigan	United States
2024	11.2	10.9	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	12.4	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. Berrien County had 152,394 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.Berrien County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in Michigan
A driver recorded as drinkingof 175 fatal crashes	56	175 fatal crashes	32.0%	28.1%
A speeding-related driverof 175 fatal crashes	34	175 fatal crashes	19.4%	25.4%
No restraint usedof 103 occupant deaths with restraint use known	33	103 occupant deathswith restraint use known	32.0%	39.4%
Pedestriansof 191 deaths	35	191 deaths	18.3%	15.2%
Bicyclistsof 191 deaths	4	191 deaths	2.1%	2.8%
Motorcyclistsof 191 deaths	20	191 deaths	10.5%	15.2%
On a rural roadof 173 fatal crashes with the condition reported	82	173 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	47.4%	40.6%
In the darkof 173 fatal crashes with the condition reported	74	173 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	42.8%	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.Berrien 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	11	6	6	10	33
Monday	3	7	8	8	26
Tuesday	1 or 2	3	6	9	19
Wednesday	4	7	7	8	26
Thursday	3	6	8	1 or 2	19
Friday	4	6	8	5	23
Saturday	3	3	10	13	29
All days	29	38	53	55	175

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.Berrien County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in Michigan
Interstate	25	14.5%	9.0%
Other freeways and expressways	8	4.7%	4.0%
Other principal arterial	34	19.8%	27.7%
Minor arterial	42	24.4%	26.1%
Major collector	34	19.8%	18.4%
Minor collector	8	4.7%	1.7%
Local	21	12.2%	13.2%
Not reported	3	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.Berrien County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	91
Dark, not lighted	55
Dark, lighted	19
Dawn	5
Dusk	3
Dark, lighting unknown	0
Other or unknown	1 or 2

Table 8.Berrien County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	117
Cloudy	32
Rain	16
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	9
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 Berrien County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In Berrien	In all of Michigan
Interstate 94	Interstate	23	288
Interstate 196	Interstate	1 or 2	28
State Route 39	State highway	1 or 2	33
State Route 51	State highway	7	20
US Route 12	US highway	14	143
US Route 31	US highway	9	136

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.Berrien 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
Berrien County: 12.4

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 Berrien County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Cook County	Illinois	362	3,325	6.4
Lake County	Illinois	50	472	6.7
LaPorte County	Indiana	22	185	16.7
Porter County	Indiana	23	194	11.3
St. Joseph County	Indiana	23	259	9.5
Cass County	Michigan	8	115	22.3
Van Buren County	Michigan	11	146	19.3

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 Berrien 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. Berrien County, Michigan: fatal crash statistics. https://fatalroads.com/county/mi/berrien/. 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/mi/berrien/" title="Fatal crashes in Berrien County, Michigan" 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/mi/berrien/">Fatal crashes in Berrien County, Michigan</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 Berrien in the ten years before 2015?

FARS records 216 deaths in Berrien County from 2005 to 2014. It records 191 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of Berrien in 2024?

The rate of Berrien County in 2024 was 11.2 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 Berrien had a driver recorded as drinking?

FARS records a driver as drinking in 56 of 175 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 Berrien?

6 signed routes in the county have a page. FARS records 56 fatal crashes on them in the county from 2015 to 2024. The table of routes on this page gives the count for each route.