Itasca County, Minnesota: fatal crash statistics

Counties of Minnesota by year (CSV)Cite this page

FARS records 7 deaths in 7 fatal crashes in Itasca County in 2024.

FARS records 58 deaths in 52 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 12.8 deaths for each 100,000 residents in a year.

The rate of Minnesota in the same years is 7.3.

By deaths from 2015 to 2024, Itasca County was number 21 of 87 counties of Minnesota.

Deaths in Itasca County did not change between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (58) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (58).

In the counties of Minnesota the deaths fell by 5.7% between the same years.

From 2015 to 2024, 90.4% of the fatal crashes in Itasca County with a known setting were rural, against 57.8% in Minnesota.

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 Itasca 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.Itasca County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	7	7	1 or 2
2023	7	7	4
2022	4	4	1 or 2
2021	8	7	1 or 2
2020	8	6	1 or 2
2019	5	4	1 or 2
2018	5	4	1 or 2
2017	5	5	1 or 2
2016	3	3	1 or 2
2015	6	5	1 or 2
2015 to 2024	58	52	18

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 24 (1977)2024: 7

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

Table 2.Itasca County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	7	7
2023	7	7
2022	4	4
2021	8	7
2020	8	6
2019	5	4
2018	5	4
2017	5	5
2016	3	3
2015	6	5
2014	1 or 2	1 or 2
2013	6	6
2012	8	6
2011	5	5
2010	5	5
2009	8	8
2008	5	5
2007	10	10
2006	5	5
2005	4	4
2004	10	8
2003	13	11
2002	5	5
2001	10	8
2000	11	11
1999	6	6
1998	7	6
1997	11	7
1996	5	5
1995	7	5
1994	6	5
1993	11	10
1992	7	5
1991	11	11
1990	19	13
1989	9	7
1988	8	6
1987	3	3
1986	6	5
1985	12	9
1984	8	7
1983	11	9
1982	7	7
1981	13	9
1980	9	9
1979	21	19
1978	22	20
1977	24	20
1976	13	13
1975	10	9

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.Itasca County beside Minnesota and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Itasca County	Minnesota	United States
2024	15.4	8.2	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	12.8	7.3	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. Itasca County had 45,452 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.Itasca County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in Minnesota
A driver recorded as drinkingof 52 fatal crashes	18	52 fatal crashes	34.6%	30.3%
A speeding-related driverof 52 fatal crashes	17	52 fatal crashes	32.7%	27.1%
No restraint usedof 44 occupant deaths with restraint use known	22	44 occupant deathswith restraint use known	50.0%	39.8%
Pedestriansof 58 deaths	8	58 deaths	13.8%	11.1%
Bicyclistsof 58 deaths	0	58 deaths	0.0%	1.9%
Motorcyclistsof 58 deaths	5	58 deaths	8.6%	15.5%
On a rural roadof 52 fatal crashes with the condition reported	47	52 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	90.4%	57.8%
In the darkof 52 fatal crashes with the condition reported	21	52 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	40.4%	38.5%

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.Itasca 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	3	1 or 2	3	1 or 2	9
Monday	1 or 2	1 or 2	1 or 2	0	5
Tuesday	0	5	1 or 2	1 or 2	8
Wednesday	0	1 or 2	3	1 or 2	5
Thursday	0	0	5	1 or 2	6
Friday	0	1 or 2	1 or 2	1 or 2	4
Saturday	5	3	3	4	15
All days	9	14	19	10	52

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.Itasca County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in Minnesota
Interstate	0	0.0%	8.5%
Other freeways and expressways	0	0.0%	2.6%
Other principal arterial	25	48.1%	22.0%
Minor arterial	10	19.2%	32.2%
Major collector	7	13.5%	18.9%
Minor collector	5	9.6%	5.1%
Local	5	9.6%	10.7%
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.Itasca County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	27
Dark, not lighted	18
Dark, lighted	1 or 2
Dawn	1 or 2
Dusk	1 or 2
Dark, lighting unknown	1 or 2
Other or unknown	0

Table 8.Itasca County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	35
Cloudy	7
Rain	3
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	4
Fog, smog or smoke	1 or 2
Crosswinds or blowing sand/snow	0
Other or not reported	1 or 2

Routes in the county

Table 9.Signed routes in Itasca County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In Itasca	In all of Minnesota
State Route 65	State highway	3	59
US Route 2	US highway	7	30
US Route 169	US highway	18	116

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 Minnesota

Adjacent counties

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

Figure 3.Itasca County on the county map of Minnesota

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

Fewer than 1028 counties
10 to 14.934 counties
15 to 19.916 counties
20 to 29.99 counties
30 or more0 counties
Itasca County: 12.8

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 Minnesota

Table 10.Counties that share a boundary line with Itasca County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Aitkin County	Minnesota	6	38	23.8
Beltrami County	Minnesota	8	53	11.4
Cass County	Minnesota	10	67	22.3
Koochiching County	Minnesota	5	17	14.0
St. Louis County	Minnesota	25	183	9.1

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

Counties of similar population

These counties of Minnesota have a population nearest to that of Itasca 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. Itasca County, Minnesota: fatal crash statistics. https://fatalroads.com/county/mn/itasca/. 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.

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 Itasca in the ten years before 2015?

FARS records 58 deaths in Itasca County from 2005 to 2014. It records 58 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of Itasca in 2024?

The rate of Itasca County in 2024 was 15.4 deaths for each 100,000 residents. The rate of Minnesota was 8.2. The rate of the United States was 11.5.

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

FARS records a driver as drinking in 18 of 52 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 Itasca?

FARS records 3 fatal crashes on State Route 65 in the county from 2015 to 2024. FARS records 7 fatal crashes on US Route 2 in the county from 2015 to 2024. FARS records 18 fatal crashes on US Route 169 in the county from 2015 to 2024.