Wright County, Minnesota: fatal crash statistics

Counties of Minnesota by year (CSV)Cite this page

FARS records 15 deaths in 13 fatal crashes in Wright County in 2024.

FARS records 91 deaths in 88 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 6.4 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, Wright County was number 10 of 87 counties of Minnesota.

Deaths in Wright County fell by 32.1% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (134) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (91).

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

From 2015 to 2024, 70.9% of the fatal crashes in Wright 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 Wright 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.Wright County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	15	13	6
2023	12	12	3
2022	11	10	4
2021	14	14	4
2020	8	8	3
2019	4	4	1 or 2
2018	4	4	1 or 2
2017	8	8	3
2016	7	7	3
2015	8	8	1 or 2
2015 to 2024	91	88	29

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 28 (1988)2024: 15

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

Table 2.Wright County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	15	13
2023	12	12
2022	11	10
2021	14	14
2020	8	8
2019	4	4
2018	4	4
2017	8	8
2016	7	7
2015	8	8
2014	16	15
2013	16	13
2012	12	9
2011	6	6
2010	6	6
2009	14	14
2008	17	14
2007	20	19
2006	11	11
2005	16	16
2004	15	14
2003	20	19
2002	17	17
2001	8	8
2000	8	7
1999	16	16
1998	11	11
1997	25	20
1996	13	11
1995	14	13
1994	15	14
1993	17	15
1992	16	14
1991	17	15
1990	11	11
1989	14	12
1988	28	27
1987	22	17
1986	16	14
1985	20	15
1984	13	10
1983	19	14
1982	16	14
1981	19	16
1980	13	12
1979	15	13
1978	18	15
1977	17	14
1976	10	10
1975	10	7

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.Wright County beside Minnesota and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Wright County	Minnesota	United States
2024	9.7	8.2	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	6.4	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. Wright County had 154,612 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.Wright County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in Minnesota
A driver recorded as drinkingof 88 fatal crashes	29	88 fatal crashes	33.0%	30.3%
A speeding-related driverof 88 fatal crashes	18	88 fatal crashes	20.5%	27.1%
No restraint usedof 64 occupant deaths with restraint use known	22	64 occupant deathswith restraint use known	34.4%	39.8%
Pedestriansof 91 deaths	6	91 deaths	6.6%	11.1%
Bicyclistsof 91 deaths	3	91 deaths	3.3%	1.9%
Motorcyclistsof 91 deaths	13	91 deaths	14.3%	15.5%
On a rural roadof 86 fatal crashes with the condition reported	61	86 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	70.9%	57.8%
In the darkof 86 fatal crashes with the condition reported	30	86 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	34.9%	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.Wright 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	1 or 2	4	3	9
Monday	1 or 2	1 or 2	4	1 or 2	9
Tuesday	0	3	6	3	12
Wednesday	1 or 2	4	5	4	14
Thursday	1 or 2	1 or 2	1 or 2	4	9
Friday	0	4	5	6	15
Saturday	4	4	6	6	20
All days	10	19	32	27	88

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.Wright County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in Minnesota
Interstate	14	16.3%	8.5%
Other freeways and expressways	0	0.0%	2.6%
Other principal arterial	17	19.8%	22.0%
Minor arterial	20	23.3%	32.2%
Major collector	16	18.6%	18.9%
Minor collector	7	8.1%	5.1%
Local	12	14.0%	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.Wright County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	52
Dark, not lighted	22
Dark, lighted	8
Dawn	0
Dusk	4
Dark, lighting unknown	0
Other or unknown	1 or 2

Table 8.Wright County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	55
Cloudy	16
Rain	8
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	5
Fog, smog or smoke	1 or 2
Crosswinds or blowing sand/snow	1 or 2
Other or not reported	1 or 2

Routes in the county

Table 9.Signed routes in Wright County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In Wright	In all of Minnesota
Interstate 94	Interstate	12	97
State Route 25	State highway	7	24
State Route 55	State highway	9	57
US Route 12	US highway	6	33

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.Wright 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
Wright County: 6.4

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 Minnesota

Table 10.Counties that share a boundary line with Wright County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Carver County	Minnesota	7	61	5.8
Hennepin County	Minnesota	55	509	4.0
McLeod County	Minnesota	4	40	11.0
Meeker County	Minnesota	1 or 2	25	10.7
Sherburne County	Minnesota	11	108	11.1
Stearns County	Minnesota	12	122	7.6

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 Wright 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. Wright County, Minnesota: fatal crash statistics. https://fatalroads.com/county/mn/wright/. 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 Wright in the ten years before 2015?

FARS records 134 deaths in Wright County from 2005 to 2014. It records 91 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of Wright in 2024?

The rate of Wright County in 2024 was 9.7 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 Wright had a driver recorded as drinking?

FARS records a driver as drinking in 29 of 88 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 Wright?

4 signed routes in the county have a page. FARS records 34 fatal crashes on them in the county from 2015 to 2024. The table of routes on this page gives the count for each route.