St. Louis County, Minnesota: fatal crash statistics

Counties of Minnesota by year (CSV)Cite this page

FARS records 25 deaths in 21 fatal crashes in St. Louis County in 2024.

FARS records 183 deaths in 167 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 9.1 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, St. Louis County was number 5 of 87 counties of Minnesota.

Deaths in St. Louis County rose by 7.6% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (170) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (183).

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

From 2015 to 2024, 63.0% of the fatal crashes in St. Louis 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 St. Louis 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. Louis County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	25	21	7
2023	26	22	8
2022	15	14	5
2021	19	18	3
2020	20	19	12
2019	9	9	5
2018	18	16	6
2017	16	14	4
2016	19	18	3
2015	16	16	6
2015 to 2024	183	167	59

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 66 (1977)2024: 25

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

Table 2.St. Louis County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	25	21
2023	26	22
2022	15	14
2021	19	18
2020	20	19
2019	9	9
2018	18	16
2017	16	14
2016	19	18
2015	16	16
2014	8	8
2013	19	17
2012	11	9
2011	12	11
2010	16	14
2009	19	18
2008	22	21
2007	23	23
2006	21	21
2005	19	19
2004	21	20
2003	29	29
2002	32	31
2001	27	22
2000	26	22
1999	23	23
1998	28	26
1997	30	28
1996	24	21
1995	26	22
1994	31	26
1993	21	19
1992	24	20
1991	27	24
1990	19	19
1989	31	27
1988	29	24
1987	15	15
1986	25	22
1985	37	34
1984	25	22
1983	26	24
1982	39	31
1981	43	38
1980	49	45
1979	50	48
1978	51	45
1977	66	59
1976	50	47
1975	52	46

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. Louis County beside Minnesota and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	St. Louis County	Minnesota	United States
2024	12.5	8.2	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	9.1	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. St. Louis County had 200,630 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.St. Louis County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in Minnesota
A driver recorded as drinkingof 167 fatal crashes	59	167 fatal crashes	35.3%	30.3%
A speeding-related driverof 167 fatal crashes	42	167 fatal crashes	25.1%	27.1%
No restraint usedof 113 occupant deaths with restraint use known	47	113 occupant deathswith restraint use known	41.6%	39.8%
Pedestriansof 183 deaths	17	183 deaths	9.3%	11.1%
Bicyclistsof 183 deaths	4	183 deaths	2.2%	1.9%
Motorcyclistsof 183 deaths	24	183 deaths	13.1%	15.5%
On a rural roadof 165 fatal crashes with the condition reported	104	165 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	63.0%	57.8%
In the darkof 162 fatal crashes with the condition reported	56	162 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	34.6%	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.St. Louis 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	8	1 or 2	6	10	25
Monday	4	6	14	1 or 2	26
Tuesday	1 or 2	7	8	7	23
Wednesday	1 or 2	7	12	6	26
Thursday	1 or 2	4	8	11	25
Friday	1 or 2	5	6	7	19
Saturday	3	4	9	7	23
All days	20	34	63	50	167

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. Louis County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in Minnesota
Interstate	6	3.6%	8.5%
Other freeways and expressways	0	0.0%	2.6%
Other principal arterial	38	23.0%	22.0%
Minor arterial	52	31.5%	32.2%
Major collector	32	19.4%	18.9%
Minor collector	17	10.3%	5.1%
Local	20	12.1%	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.St. Louis County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	99
Dark, not lighted	37
Dark, lighted	16
Dawn	1 or 2
Dusk	5
Dark, lighting unknown	3
Other or unknown	5

Table 8.St. Louis County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	108
Cloudy	25
Rain	14
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	11
Fog, smog or smoke	4
Crosswinds or blowing sand/snow	1 or 2
Other or not reported	4

Routes in the county

Table 9.Signed routes in St. Louis County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In St. Louis	In all of Minnesota
Interstate 35	Interstate	3	84
State Route 23	State highway	3	62
US Route 2	US highway	7	30
US Route 169	US highway	11	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.St. Louis 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
St. Louis County: 9.1

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 Minnesota

Table 10.Counties that share a boundary line with St. Louis County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Aitkin County	Minnesota	6	38	23.8
Carlton County	Minnesota	5	44	12.2
Itasca County	Minnesota	7	58	12.8
Koochiching County	Minnesota	5	17	14.0
Lake County	Minnesota	1 or 2	19	17.7
Douglas County	Wisconsin	12	55	12.6

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 St. Louis 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. St. Louis County, Minnesota: fatal crash statistics. https://fatalroads.com/county/mn/st-louis/. 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. Louis in the ten years before 2015?

FARS records 170 deaths in St. Louis County from 2005 to 2014. It records 183 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of St. Louis in 2024?

The rate of St. Louis County in 2024 was 12.5 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 St. Louis had a driver recorded as drinking?

FARS records a driver as drinking in 59 of 167 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. Louis?

4 signed routes in the county have a page. FARS records 24 fatal crashes on them in the county from 2015 to 2024. The table of routes on this page gives the count for each route.