Cape Girardeau County, Missouri: fatal crash statistics

Counties of Missouri by year (CSV)Cite this page

FARS records 10 deaths in 9 fatal crashes in Cape Girardeau County in 2024.

FARS records 110 deaths in 104 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 13.6 deaths for each 100,000 residents in a year.

The rate of Missouri in the same years is 15.5.

By deaths from 2015 to 2024, Cape Girardeau County was number 18 of 115 counties of Missouri.

Deaths in Cape Girardeau County rose by 52.8% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (72) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (110).

In the counties of Missouri the deaths rose by 4.6% between the same years.

From 2015 to 2024, a speeding-related driver was recorded in 23.1% of fatal crashes in Cape Girardeau County and 36.5% in Missouri.

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 Cape Girardeau 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.Cape Girardeau County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	10	9	1 or 2
2023	13	12	1 or 2
2022	11	11	5
2021	15	12	1 or 2
2020	11	10	1 or 2
2019	8	8	3
2018	4	4	0
2017	14	14	5
2016	12	12	1 or 2
2015	12	12	4
2015 to 2024	110	104	26

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 20 (2002)2024: 10

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

Table 2.Cape Girardeau County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	10	9
2023	13	12
2022	11	11
2021	15	12
2020	11	10
2019	8	8
2018	4	4
2017	14	14
2016	12	12
2015	12	12
2014	8	7
2013	7	7
2012	9	9
2011	8	6
2010	8	8
2009	6	6
2008	3	3
2007	8	7
2006	8	7
2005	7	7
2004	13	13
2003	12	8
2002	20	18
2001	7	7
2000	15	15
1999	3	3
1998	10	10
1997	15	15
1996	9	7
1995	15	12
1994	8	8
1993	8	7
1992	4	4
1991	7	6
1990	9	8
1989	12	12
1988	8	6
1987	8	8
1986	12	11
1985	13	11
1984	9	9
1983	8	7
1982	9	8
1981	4	3
1980	15	14
1979	10	10
1978	15	10
1977	7	5
1976	15	13
1975	16	13

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.Cape Girardeau County beside Missouri and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Cape Girardeau County	Missouri	United States
2024	12.0	15.3	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	13.6	15.5	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. Cape Girardeau County had 83,457 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.Cape Girardeau County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in Missouri
A driver recorded as drinkingof 104 fatal crashes	26	104 fatal crashes	25.0%	27.5%
A speeding-related driverof 104 fatal crashes	24	104 fatal crashes	23.1%	36.5%
No restraint usedof 78 occupant deaths with restraint use known	50	78 occupant deathswith restraint use known	64.1%	63.5%
Pedestriansof 110 deaths	9	110 deaths	8.2%	11.9%
Bicyclistsof 110 deaths	1 or 2	110 deaths	0.9%	1.0%
Motorcyclistsof 110 deaths	18	110 deaths	16.4%	14.1%
On a rural roadof 104 fatal crashes with the condition reported	55	104 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	52.9%	52.2%
In the darkof 103 fatal crashes with the condition reported	42	103 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	40.8%	45.3%

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.Cape Girardeau 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	5	1 or 2	5	4	16
Monday	3	1 or 2	4	1 or 2	11
Tuesday	1 or 2	1 or 2	6	4	14
Wednesday	1 or 2	9	4	5	19
Thursday	1 or 2	5	4	6	16
Friday	0	1 or 2	1 or 2	8	11
Saturday	3	1 or 2	4	6	15
All days	15	24	28	35	102

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.Cape Girardeau County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in Missouri
Interstate	20	19.6%	15.3%
Other freeways and expressways	1 or 2	2.0%	7.0%
Other principal arterial	22	21.6%	23.2%
Minor arterial	17	16.7%	20.9%
Major collector	30	29.4%	19.3%
Minor collector	0	0.0%	2.5%
Local	11	10.8%	11.9%
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.Cape Girardeau County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	61
Dark, not lighted	29
Dark, lighted	13
Dawn	0
Dusk	0
Dark, lighting unknown	0
Other or unknown	1 or 2

Table 8.Cape Girardeau County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	57
Cloudy	32
Rain	10
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	1 or 2
Fog, smog or smoke	3
Crosswinds or blowing sand/snow	0
Other or not reported	1 or 2

Routes in the county

Table 9.Signed routes in Cape Girardeau County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In Cape Girardeau	In all of Missouri
Interstate 55	Interstate	20	179
State Route 25	State highway	8	29
State Route 72	State highway	4	32
State Route A	State highway	1 or 2	48
State Route B	State highway	4	76
State Route C	State highway	1 or 2	57
State Route D	State highway	1 or 2	84
State Route E	State highway	1 or 2	51
State Route K	State highway	1 or 2	45
State Route N	State highway	4	58
State Route OO	State highway	1 or 2	21
State Route W	State highway	1 or 2	42
State Route Y	State highway	1 or 2	42
US Route 61	US highway	16	158

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 Missouri

Adjacent counties

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

Figure 3.Cape Girardeau County on the county map of Missouri

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

Fewer than 104 counties
10 to 14.917 counties
15 to 19.926 counties
20 to 29.950 counties
30 or more18 counties
Cape Girardeau County: 13.6

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 Missouri

Table 10.Counties that share a boundary line with Cape Girardeau County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Alexander County	Illinois	3	25	44.9
Union County	Illinois	4	42	24.7
Bollinger County	Missouri	8	33	29.0
Perry County	Missouri	3	39	20.4
Scott County	Missouri	6	61	15.9
Stoddard County	Missouri	5	60	20.7

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

Counties of similar population

These counties of Missouri have a population nearest to that of Cape Girardeau 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. Cape Girardeau County, Missouri: fatal crash statistics. https://fatalroads.com/county/mo/cape-girardeau/. Source: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Fatality Analysis Reporting System, FARS 2024 annual file. Data to 31 Dec 2024.

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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 Cape Girardeau in the ten years before 2015?

FARS records 72 deaths in Cape Girardeau County from 2005 to 2014. It records 110 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of Cape Girardeau in 2024?

The rate of Cape Girardeau County in 2024 was 12.0 deaths for each 100,000 residents. The rate of Missouri was 15.3. The rate of the United States was 11.5.

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

FARS records a driver as drinking in 26 of 104 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 Cape Girardeau?

14 signed routes in the county have a page. FARS records 66 fatal crashes on them in the county from 2015 to 2024. The table of routes on this page gives the count for each route.