Polk County, Missouri: fatal crash statistics

Counties of Missouri by year (CSV)Cite this page

FARS records 5 deaths in 5 fatal crashes in Polk County in 2024.

FARS records 56 deaths in 53 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 17.4 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, Polk County was number 46 of 115 counties of Missouri.

Deaths in Polk County fell by 18.8% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (69) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (56).

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

From 2015 to 2024, 92.5% of the fatal crashes in Polk 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 Polk County by year, 2015 to 2024

1 or 2

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.Polk County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	5	5	1 or 2
2023	5	5	1 or 2
2022	6	6	1 or 2
2021	8	8	1 or 2
2020	1 or 2	1 or 2	0
2019	1 or 2	1 or 2	0
2018	10	8	1 or 2
2017	4	4	1 or 2
2016	6	6	0
2015	9	8	0
2015 to 2024	56	53	7

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 18 (2001)2024: 5

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

Table 2.Polk County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	5	5
2023	5	5
2022	6	6
2021	8	8
2020	1 or 2	1 or 2
2019	1 or 2	1 or 2
2018	10	8
2017	4	4
2016	6	6
2015	9	8
2014	3	1 or 2
2013	8	7
2012	7	7
2011	11	9
2010	6	5
2009	4	4
2008	4	4
2007	7	6
2006	11	9
2005	8	8
2004	9	8
2003	7	6
2002	17	15
2001	18	14
2000	13	12
1999	15	9
1998	11	11
1997	9	8
1996	12	10
1995	10	9
1994	12	8
1993	6	6
1992	10	9
1991	1 or 2	1 or 2
1990	14	8
1989	10	8
1988	9	7
1987	12	9
1986	11	10
1985	4	1 or 2
1984	7	4
1983	4	4
1982	5	4
1981	3	3
1980	11	9
1979	5	5
1978	4	4
1977	5	3
1976	14	10
1975	8	8

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.Polk County beside Missouri and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Polk County	Missouri	United States
2024	15.1	15.3	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	17.4	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. Polk County had 33,211 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.Polk County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in Missouri
A driver recorded as drinkingof 53 fatal crashes	7	53 fatal crashes	13.2%	27.5%
A speeding-related driverof 53 fatal crashes	17	53 fatal crashes	32.1%	36.5%
No restraint usedof 41 occupant deaths with restraint use known	24	41 occupant deathswith restraint use known	58.5%	63.5%
Pedestriansof 56 deaths	1 or 2	56 deaths	1.8%	11.9%
Bicyclistsof 56 deaths	0	56 deaths	0.0%	1.0%
Motorcyclistsof 56 deaths	10	56 deaths	17.9%	14.1%
On a rural roadof 53 fatal crashes with the condition reported	49	53 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	92.5%	52.2%
In the darkof 53 fatal crashes with the condition reported	15	53 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	28.3%	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.Polk 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	0	5	1 or 2	8
Monday	1 or 2	1 or 2	3	1 or 2	7
Tuesday	1 or 2	3	1 or 2	1 or 2	8
Wednesday	0	1 or 2	1 or 2	1 or 2	5
Thursday	1 or 2	1 or 2	3	1 or 2	6
Friday	0	3	3	3	9
Saturday	0	1 or 2	4	3	8
All days	4	12	21	14	51

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.Polk County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in Missouri
Interstate	0	0.0%	15.3%
Other freeways and expressways	9	18.4%	7.0%
Other principal arterial	9	18.4%	23.2%
Minor arterial	6	12.2%	20.9%
Major collector	19	38.8%	19.3%
Minor collector	1 or 2	2.0%	2.5%
Local	5	10.2%	11.9%
Not reported	4	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.Polk County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	38
Dark, not lighted	13
Dark, lighted	1 or 2
Dawn	0
Dusk	0
Dark, lighting unknown	0
Other or unknown	0

Table 8.Polk County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	41
Cloudy	9
Rain	1 or 2
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	0
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 Polk County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In Polk	In all of Missouri
State Route 13	State highway	17	99
State Route 32	State highway	5	57
State Route D	State highway	1 or 2	84
State Route H	State highway	3	82
State Route HH	State highway	1 or 2	23
State Route N	State highway	1 or 2	58
State Route T	State highway	1 or 2	36

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.Polk 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
Polk County: 17.4

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 Polk County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Cedar County	Missouri	1 or 2	25	17.5
Dade County	Missouri	1 or 2	20	26.3
Dallas County	Missouri	1 or 2	46	26.9
Greene County	Missouri	38	398	13.4
Hickory County	Missouri	1 or 2	32	35.5
St. Clair County	Missouri	1 or 2	31	32.6

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

FARS records 69 deaths in Polk County from 2005 to 2014. It records 56 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of Polk in 2024?

The rate of Polk County in 2024 was 15.1 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 Polk had a driver recorded as drinking?

FARS records a driver as drinking in 7 of 53 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 Polk?

7 signed routes in the county have a page. FARS records 29 fatal crashes on them in the county from 2015 to 2024. The table of routes on this page gives the count for each route.