St. Joseph County, Michigan: fatal crash statistics

Counties of Michigan by year (CSV)Cite this page

FARS records 11 deaths in 9 fatal crashes in St. Joseph County in 2024.

FARS records 116 deaths in 105 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 19.1 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, St. Joseph County was number 25 of 83 counties of Michigan.

Deaths in St. Joseph County rose by 1.8% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (114) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (116).

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

From 2015 to 2024, 81.9% of the fatal crashes in St. Joseph County with a known setting were rural, against 40.6% 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 St. Joseph 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.St. Joseph County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	11	9	4
2023	11	10	3
2022	13	12	4
2021	9	9	3
2020	17	16	4
2019	9	7	1 or 2
2018	20	17	3
2017	11	10	6
2016	11	11	1 or 2
2015	4	4	1 or 2
2015 to 2024	116	105	32

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 27 (1989)2024: 11

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

Table 2.St. Joseph County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	11	9
2023	11	10
2022	13	12
2021	9	9
2020	17	16
2019	9	7
2018	20	17
2017	11	10
2016	11	11
2015	4	4
2014	9	9
2013	11	10
2012	7	7
2011	7	7
2010	14	14
2009	13	12
2008	11	11
2007	13	9
2006	17	13
2005	12	9
2004	16	13
2003	8	8
2002	17	16
2001	9	9
2000	21	16
1999	15	14
1998	13	10
1997	20	15
1996	21	18
1995	12	12
1994	13	11
1993	8	8
1992	14	14
1991	21	19
1990	12	11
1989	27	23
1988	20	18
1987	16	13
1986	10	8
1985	17	15
1984	21	18
1983	11	11
1982	10	9
1981	17	15
1980	14	13
1979	14	14
1978	13	12
1977	22	21
1976	13	12
1975	12	12

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.St. Joseph County beside Michigan and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	St. Joseph County	Michigan	United States
2024	18.0	10.9	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	19.1	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. St. Joseph County had 61,023 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.St. Joseph County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in Michigan
A driver recorded as drinkingof 105 fatal crashes	32	105 fatal crashes	30.5%	28.1%
A speeding-related driverof 105 fatal crashes	31	105 fatal crashes	29.5%	25.4%
No restraint usedof 81 occupant deaths with restraint use known	29	81 occupant deathswith restraint use known	35.8%	39.4%
Pedestriansof 116 deaths	5	116 deaths	4.3%	15.2%
Bicyclistsof 116 deaths	4	116 deaths	3.4%	2.8%
Motorcyclistsof 116 deaths	12	116 deaths	10.3%	15.2%
On a rural roadof 105 fatal crashes with the condition reported	86	105 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	81.9%	40.6%
In the darkof 104 fatal crashes with the condition reported	37	104 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	35.6%	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.St. Joseph 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	0	1 or 2	4	3	9
Monday	0	3	6	3	12
Tuesday	3	5	8	4	20
Wednesday	1 or 2	1 or 2	3	5	10
Thursday	1 or 2	3	6	3	14
Friday	5	6	1 or 2	8	20
Saturday	7	4	5	4	20
All days	18	24	33	30	105

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.St. Joseph County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in Michigan
Interstate	0	0.0%	9.0%
Other freeways and expressways	0	0.0%	4.0%
Other principal arterial	28	26.7%	27.7%
Minor arterial	27	25.7%	26.1%
Major collector	27	25.7%	18.4%
Minor collector	5	4.8%	1.7%
Local	18	17.1%	13.2%
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.St. Joseph County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	58
Dark, not lighted	33
Dark, lighted	4
Dawn	4
Dusk	5
Dark, lighting unknown	0
Other or unknown	1 or 2

Table 8.St. Joseph County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	50
Cloudy	37
Rain	11
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	4
Fog, smog or smoke	3
Crosswinds or blowing sand/snow	0
Other or not reported	0

Routes in the county

Table 9.Signed routes in St. Joseph County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In St. Joseph	In all of Michigan
State Route 60	State highway	5	27
State Route 66	State highway	7	60
US Route 12	US highway	9	143
US Route 31	US highway	3	136
US Route 131	US highway	18	148

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.St. Joseph 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
St. Joseph County: 19.1

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 St. Joseph County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Elkhart County	Indiana	32	278	13.5
LaGrange County	Indiana	9	71	17.7
Branch County	Michigan	6	54	12.2
Cass County	Michigan	8	115	22.3
Kalamazoo County	Michigan	25	310	11.8

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 St. Joseph 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. St. Joseph County, Michigan: fatal crash statistics. https://fatalroads.com/county/mi/st-joseph/. 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 St. Joseph in the ten years before 2015?

FARS records 114 deaths in St. Joseph County from 2005 to 2014. It records 116 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of St. Joseph in 2024?

The rate of St. Joseph County in 2024 was 18.0 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 St. Joseph had a driver recorded as drinking?

FARS records a driver as drinking in 32 of 105 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 St. Joseph?

5 signed routes in the county have a page. FARS records 42 fatal crashes on them in the county from 2015 to 2024. The table of routes on this page gives the count for each route.