McDonald County, Missouri: fatal crash statistics

Counties of Missouri by year (CSV)Cite this page

FARS records 12 deaths in 10 fatal crashes in McDonald County in 2024.

FARS records 87 deaths in 77 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 37.4 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, McDonald County was number 25 of 115 counties of Missouri.

Deaths in McDonald County fell by 3.3% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (90) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (87).

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

From 2015 to 2024, 97.4% of the fatal crashes in McDonald County with a known setting were rural, against 52.2% 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 McDonald 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.McDonald County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	12	10	3
2023	6	6	1 or 2
2022	9	7	1 or 2
2021	8	8	0
2020	8	7	1 or 2
2019	10	8	1 or 2
2018	8	8	1 or 2
2017	9	8	1 or 2
2016	8	8	1 or 2
2015	9	7	3
2015 to 2024	87	77	15

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 20 (2006)2024: 12

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

Table 2.McDonald County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	12	10
2023	6	6
2022	9	7
2021	8	8
2020	8	7
2019	10	8
2018	8	8
2017	9	8
2016	8	8
2015	9	7
2014	7	7
2013	9	8
2012	5	5
2011	1 or 2	1 or 2
2010	7	7
2009	9	5
2008	10	8
2007	12	10
2006	20	15
2005	10	9
2004	8	8
2003	14	13
2002	10	10
2001	14	12
2000	18	14
1999	8	7
1998	17	12
1997	8	8
1996	12	11
1995	11	9
1994	11	10
1993	10	9
1992	6	6
1991	15	11
1990	14	9
1989	7	6
1988	15	10
1987	9	8
1986	7	7
1985	7	6
1984	9	8
1983	6	6
1982	10	8
1981	10	10
1980	4	4
1979	12	10
1978	7	7
1977	7	5
1976	6	5
1975	8	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.McDonald County beside Missouri and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	McDonald County	Missouri	United States
2024	50.4	15.3	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	37.4	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. McDonald County had 23,825 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.McDonald County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in Missouri
A driver recorded as drinkingof 77 fatal crashes	15	77 fatal crashes	19.5%	27.5%
A speeding-related driverof 77 fatal crashes	25	77 fatal crashes	32.5%	36.5%
No restraint usedof 63 occupant deaths with restraint use known	34	63 occupant deathswith restraint use known	54.0%	63.5%
Pedestriansof 87 deaths	3	87 deaths	3.4%	11.9%
Bicyclistsof 87 deaths	0	87 deaths	0.0%	1.0%
Motorcyclistsof 87 deaths	16	87 deaths	18.4%	14.1%
On a rural roadof 77 fatal crashes with the condition reported	75	77 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	97.4%	52.2%
In the darkof 77 fatal crashes with the condition reported	31	77 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	40.3%	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.McDonald 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	0	8
Monday	3	1 or 2	4	7	16
Tuesday	1 or 2	1 or 2	4	3	10
Wednesday	1 or 2	1 or 2	3	5	11
Thursday	1 or 2	3	6	4	14
Friday	1 or 2	0	6	3	10
Saturday	1 or 2	1 or 2	1 or 2	1 or 2	7
All days	11	13	28	24	76

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.McDonald County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in Missouri
Interstate	6	7.9%	15.3%
Other freeways and expressways	1 or 2	1.3%	7.0%
Other principal arterial	11	14.5%	23.2%
Minor arterial	18	23.7%	20.9%
Major collector	30	39.5%	19.3%
Minor collector	1 or 2	1.3%	2.5%
Local	9	11.8%	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.McDonald County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	46
Dark, not lighted	29
Dark, lighted	1 or 2
Dawn	0
Dusk	0
Dark, lighting unknown	0
Other or unknown	0

Table 8.McDonald County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	44
Cloudy	20
Rain	8
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	1 or 2
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 McDonald County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In McDonald	In all of Missouri
Interstate 49	Interstate	6	92
State Route 19	State highway	1 or 2	55
State Route 43	State highway	6	35
State Route 59	State highway	15	20
State Route 76	State highway	3	50
State Route B	State highway	1 or 2	76
State Route C	State highway	1 or 2	57
State Route CC	State highway	1 or 2	29
State Route E	State highway	3	51
US Route 71	US highway	14	64

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.McDonald 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
McDonald County: 37.4

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 Missouri

Table 10.Counties that share a boundary line with McDonald County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Benton County	Arkansas	27	261	9.2
Barry County	Missouri	4	101	28.6
Newton County	Missouri	29	166	28.1
Delaware County	Oklahoma	9	82	19.6
Ottawa County	Oklahoma	13	117	37.8

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 McDonald 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. McDonald County, Missouri: fatal crash statistics. https://fatalroads.com/county/mo/mcdonald/. 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 McDonald in the ten years before 2015?

FARS records 90 deaths in McDonald County from 2005 to 2014. It records 87 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of McDonald in 2024?

The rate of McDonald County in 2024 was 50.4 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 McDonald had a driver recorded as drinking?

FARS records a driver as drinking in 15 of 77 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 McDonald?

10 signed routes in the county have a page. FARS records 53 fatal crashes on them in the county from 2015 to 2024. The table of routes on this page gives the count for each route.