Phelps County, Missouri: fatal crash statistics

Counties of Missouri by year (CSV)Cite this page

FARS records 8 deaths in 8 fatal crashes in Phelps County in 2024.

FARS records 108 deaths in 97 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 24.1 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, Phelps County was number 19 of 115 counties of Missouri.

Deaths in Phelps County fell by 7.7% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (117) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (108).

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

From 2015 to 2024, 80.2% of the fatal crashes in Phelps 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 Phelps 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.Phelps County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	8	8	0
2023	11	9	1 or 2
2022	12	12	3
2021	5	5	1 or 2
2020	4	4	1 or 2
2019	10	10	1 or 2
2018	11	8	1 or 2
2017	21	19	4
2016	13	12	1 or 2
2015	13	10	3
2015 to 2024	108	97	18

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 24 (2000)2024: 8

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

Table 2.Phelps County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	8	8
2023	11	9
2022	12	12
2021	5	5
2020	4	4
2019	10	10
2018	11	8
2017	21	19
2016	13	12
2015	13	10
2014	5	5
2013	8	8
2012	20	17
2011	10	10
2010	4	4
2009	4	4
2008	18	14
2007	13	12
2006	12	12
2005	23	21
2004	12	9
2003	17	16
2002	13	12
2001	13	12
2000	24	19
1999	12	10
1998	4	4
1997	12	12
1996	13	12
1995	19	14
1994	7	7
1993	13	11
1992	8	7
1991	9	8
1990	9	9
1989	14	10
1988	10	9
1987	13	12
1986	16	10
1985	7	6
1984	5	5
1983	13	12
1982	7	7
1981	13	13
1980	13	10
1979	6	6
1978	12	10
1977	7	7
1976	11	10
1975	6	5

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.Phelps County beside Missouri and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Phelps County	Missouri	United States
2024	17.7	15.3	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	24.1	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. Phelps County had 45,206 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.Phelps County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in Missouri
A driver recorded as drinkingof 97 fatal crashes	18	97 fatal crashes	18.6%	27.5%
A speeding-related driverof 97 fatal crashes	27	97 fatal crashes	27.8%	36.5%
No restraint usedof 80 occupant deaths with restraint use known	49	80 occupant deathswith restraint use known	61.3%	63.5%
Pedestriansof 108 deaths	10	108 deaths	9.3%	11.9%
Bicyclistsof 108 deaths	1 or 2	108 deaths	0.9%	1.0%
Motorcyclistsof 108 deaths	11	108 deaths	10.2%	14.1%
On a rural roadof 96 fatal crashes with the condition reported	77	96 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	80.2%	52.2%
In the darkof 97 fatal crashes with the condition reported	37	97 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	38.1%	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.Phelps 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	9	6	5	22
Monday	1 or 2	0	8	1 or 2	10
Tuesday	4	0	6	1 or 2	11
Wednesday	0	1 or 2	4	4	10
Thursday	3	1 or 2	7	3	15
Friday	5	4	4	1 or 2	14
Saturday	3	1 or 2	5	6	15
All days	18	18	40	21	97

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.Phelps County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in Missouri
Interstate	34	35.8%	15.3%
Other freeways and expressways	0	0.0%	7.0%
Other principal arterial	19	20.0%	23.2%
Minor arterial	8	8.4%	20.9%
Major collector	17	17.9%	19.3%
Minor collector	1 or 2	1.1%	2.5%
Local	16	16.8%	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.Phelps County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	60
Dark, not lighted	34
Dark, lighted	3
Dawn	0
Dusk	0
Dark, lighting unknown	0
Other or unknown	0

Table 8.Phelps County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	68
Cloudy	19
Rain	6
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	0
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 Phelps County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In Phelps	In all of Missouri
Interstate 44	Interstate	34	272
State Route 5	State highway	1 or 2	83
State Route 72	State highway	6	32
State Route A	State highway	1 or 2	48
State Route BB	State highway	1 or 2	25
State Route CC	State highway	1 or 2	29
State Route D	State highway	1 or 2	84
State Route E	State highway	1 or 2	51
State Route FF	State highway	1 or 2	22
State Route O	State highway	1 or 2	47
State Route T	State highway	1 or 2	36
US Route 63	US highway	15	150

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.Phelps 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
Phelps County: 24.1

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 Missouri

Table 10.Counties that share a boundary line with Phelps County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Crawford County	Missouri	6	58	24.7
Dent County	Missouri	6	36	23.9
Gasconade County	Missouri	1 or 2	42	28.5
Maries County	Missouri	3	32	37.1
Pulaski County	Missouri	7	63	11.8
Texas County	Missouri	8	74	29.1

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

FARS records 117 deaths in Phelps County from 2005 to 2014. It records 108 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of Phelps in 2024?

The rate of Phelps County in 2024 was 17.7 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 Phelps had a driver recorded as drinking?

FARS records a driver as drinking in 18 of 97 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 Phelps?

12 signed routes in the county have a page. FARS records 64 fatal crashes on them in the county from 2015 to 2024. The table of routes on this page gives the count for each route.