Otter Tail County, Minnesota: fatal crash statistics

Counties of Minnesota by year (CSV)Cite this page

FARS records 10 deaths in 10 fatal crashes in Otter Tail County in 2024.

FARS records 64 deaths in 61 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 10.8 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, Otter Tail County was number 16 of 87 counties of Minnesota.

Deaths in Otter Tail County fell by 24.7% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (85) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (64).

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

From 2015 to 2024, 90.0% of the fatal crashes in Otter Tail 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 Otter Tail County by year, 2015 to 2024

1 or 2

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.Otter Tail County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	10	10	1 or 2
2023	1 or 2	1 or 2	0
2022	9	9	1 or 2
2021	9	9	3
2020	9	8	4
2019	3	3	0
2018	4	4	3
2017	7	6	1 or 2
2016	1 or 2	1 or 2	0
2015	9	8	1 or 2
2015 to 2024	64	61	17

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 18 (2000)2024: 10

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

Table 2.Otter Tail County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	10	10
2023	1 or 2	1 or 2
2022	9	9
2021	9	9
2020	9	8
2019	3	3
2018	4	4
2017	7	6
2016	1 or 2	1 or 2
2015	9	8
2014	3	3
2013	8	7
2012	10	8
2011	11	11
2010	14	12
2009	13	12
2008	5	5
2007	7	7
2006	4	4
2005	10	9
2004	9	8
2003	10	10
2002	11	11
2001	14	12
2000	18	15
1999	14	13
1998	4	4
1997	12	12
1996	12	10
1995	10	9
1994	13	13
1993	8	8
1992	13	9
1991	7	7
1990	11	10
1989	13	12
1988	7	7
1987	13	12
1986	15	13
1985	7	5
1984	10	8
1983	15	14
1982	12	10
1981	14	12
1980	11	10
1979	12	9
1978	13	13
1977	11	7
1976	12	12
1975	13	10

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.Otter Tail County beside Minnesota and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Otter Tail County	Minnesota	United States
2024	16.4	8.2	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	10.8	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. Otter Tail County had 60,958 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.Otter Tail County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in Minnesota
A driver recorded as drinkingof 61 fatal crashes	17	61 fatal crashes	27.9%	30.3%
A speeding-related driverof 61 fatal crashes	16	61 fatal crashes	26.2%	27.1%
No restraint usedof 42 occupant deaths with restraint use known	19	42 occupant deathswith restraint use known	45.2%	39.8%
Pedestriansof 64 deaths	4	64 deaths	6.3%	11.1%
Bicyclistsof 64 deaths	0	64 deaths	0.0%	1.9%
Motorcyclistsof 64 deaths	12	64 deaths	18.8%	15.5%
On a rural roadof 60 fatal crashes with the condition reported	54	60 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	90.0%	57.8%
In the darkof 60 fatal crashes with the condition reported	20	60 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	33.3%	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.Otter Tail 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	1 or 2	0	8	1 or 2	12
Monday	1 or 2	1 or 2	1 or 2	1 or 2	6
Tuesday	1 or 2	3	1 or 2	1 or 2	7
Wednesday	1 or 2	4	4	4	13
Thursday	0	3	1 or 2	1 or 2	7
Friday	1 or 2	3	3	3	10
Saturday	0	1 or 2	3	1 or 2	6
All days	7	15	23	16	61

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.Otter Tail County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in Minnesota
Interstate	7	11.7%	8.5%
Other freeways and expressways	0	0.0%	2.6%
Other principal arterial	15	25.0%	22.0%
Minor arterial	9	15.0%	32.2%
Major collector	11	18.3%	18.9%
Minor collector	7	11.7%	5.1%
Local	11	18.3%	10.7%
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.Otter Tail County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	38
Dark, not lighted	17
Dark, lighted	1 or 2
Dawn	0
Dusk	1 or 2
Dark, lighting unknown	1 or 2
Other or unknown	1 or 2

Table 8.Otter Tail County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	43
Cloudy	8
Rain	3
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	3
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 Otter Tail County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In Otter Tail	In all of Minnesota
Interstate 94	Interstate	7	97
State Route 210	State highway	11	45
US Route 10	US highway	4	71

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.Otter Tail 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
Otter Tail County: 10.8

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 Otter Tail County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Becker County	Minnesota	9	53	15.3
Clay County	Minnesota	7	45	6.9
Douglas County	Minnesota	1 or 2	48	12.5
Grant County	Minnesota	0	10	16.6
Todd County	Minnesota	4	26	10.4
Wadena County	Minnesota	3	22	15.8
Wilkin County	Minnesota	1 or 2	9	14.2

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 Otter Tail 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. Otter Tail County, Minnesota: fatal crash statistics. https://fatalroads.com/county/mn/otter-tail/. 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 Otter Tail in the ten years before 2015?

FARS records 85 deaths in Otter Tail County from 2005 to 2014. It records 64 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of Otter Tail in 2024?

The rate of Otter Tail County in 2024 was 16.4 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 Otter Tail had a driver recorded as drinking?

FARS records a driver as drinking in 17 of 61 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 Otter Tail?

FARS records 7 fatal crashes on Interstate 94 in the county from 2015 to 2024. FARS records 11 fatal crashes on State Route 210 in the county from 2015 to 2024. FARS records 4 fatal crashes on US Route 10 in the county from 2015 to 2024.