Yellowstone County, Montana: fatal crash statistics

Counties of Montana by year (CSV)Cite this page

FARS records 24 deaths in 23 fatal crashes in Yellowstone County in 2024.

FARS records 203 deaths in 186 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 12.4 deaths for each 100,000 residents in a year.

The rate of Montana in the same years is 18.9.

By deaths from 2015 to 2024, Yellowstone County was number 1 of 56 counties of Montana.

Deaths in Yellowstone County rose by 1.5% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (200) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (203).

In the counties of Montana the deaths fell by 9.7% between the same years.

From 2015 to 2024, 41.6% of the fatal crashes in Yellowstone County with a known setting were rural, against 83.5% in Montana.

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 Yellowstone 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.Yellowstone County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	24	23	8
2023	27	23	10
2022	19	18	7
2021	29	25	11
2020	16	14	10
2019	18	17	8
2018	24	21	8
2017	12	12	4
2016	17	16	8
2015	17	17	5
2015 to 2024	203	186	79

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 33 (1981)2024: 24

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

Table 2.Yellowstone County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	24	23
2023	27	23
2022	19	18
2021	29	25
2020	16	14
2019	18	17
2018	24	21
2017	12	12
2016	17	16
2015	17	17
2014	18	16
2013	21	21
2012	19	18
2011	24	20
2010	18	18
2009	24	24
2008	22	19
2007	13	13
2006	18	17
2005	23	19
2004	20	20
2003	22	21
2002	24	21
2001	15	13
2000	19	19
1999	22	19
1998	19	16
1997	15	14
1996	16	14
1995	17	17
1994	16	16
1993	12	11
1992	15	14
1991	19	18
1990	13	13
1989	21	19
1988	9	9
1987	9	9
1986	26	19
1985	19	18
1984	23	16
1983	30	27
1982	13	13
1981	33	29
1980	30	28
1979	20	20
1978	15	14
1977	22	20
1976	15	14
1975	9	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.Yellowstone County beside Montana and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Yellowstone County	Montana	United States
2024	14.0	18.1	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	12.4	18.9	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. Yellowstone County had 171,548 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.Yellowstone County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in Montana
A driver recorded as drinkingof 186 fatal crashes	79	186 fatal crashes	42.5%	43.9%
A speeding-related driverof 186 fatal crashes	76	186 fatal crashes	40.9%	35.8%
No restraint usedof 117 occupant deaths with restraint use known	74	117 occupant deathswith restraint use known	63.2%	63.3%
Pedestriansof 203 deaths	21	203 deaths	10.3%	7.5%
Bicyclistsof 203 deaths	1 or 2	203 deaths	1.0%	1.0%
Motorcyclistsof 203 deaths	52	203 deaths	25.6%	13.0%
On a rural roadof 185 fatal crashes with the condition reported	77	185 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	41.6%	83.5%
In the darkof 186 fatal crashes with the condition reported	103	186 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	55.4%	41.8%

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.Yellowstone 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	12	1 or 2	4	3	20
Monday	4	4	7	11	26
Tuesday	5	7	8	7	27
Wednesday	0	1 or 2	10	12	24
Thursday	4	3	9	11	27
Friday	10	1 or 2	9	8	29
Saturday	10	1 or 2	8	14	33
All days	45	20	55	66	186

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.Yellowstone County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in Montana
Interstate	34	18.4%	16.6%
Other freeways and expressways	0	0.0%	0.2%
Other principal arterial	52	28.1%	32.9%
Minor arterial	21	11.4%	15.2%
Major collector	37	20.0%	15.2%
Minor collector	10	5.4%	4.1%
Local	31	16.8%	15.8%
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.Yellowstone County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	73
Dark, not lighted	61
Dark, lighted	42
Dawn	3
Dusk	7
Dark, lighting unknown	0
Other or unknown	0

Table 8.Yellowstone County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	126
Cloudy	46
Rain	4
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	4
Fog, smog or smoke	1 or 2
Crosswinds or blowing sand/snow	5
Other or not reported	0

Routes in the county

Table 9.Signed routes in Yellowstone County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In Yellowstone	In all of Montana
Interstate 90	Interstate	22	203
Interstate 94	Interstate	11	32
US Route 87	US highway	13	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 Montana

Adjacent counties

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

Figure 3.Yellowstone County on the county map of Montana

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

Fewer than 102 counties
10 to 14.911 counties
15 to 19.96 counties
20 to 29.97 counties
30 or more27 counties
Count of 1 or 2, no rate shown3 counties
Yellowstone County: 12.4

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 Montana

Table 10.Counties that share a boundary line with Yellowstone County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Big Horn County	Montana	10	130	99.0
Carbon County	Montana	4	42	38.7
Golden Valley County	Montana	1 or 2	5	60.3
Musselshell County	Montana	3	17	34.8
Rosebud County	Montana	3	47	54.2
Stillwater County	Montana	7	29	31.1
Treasure County	Montana	1 or 2	10	139.3

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

Counties of similar population

These counties of Montana have a population nearest to that of Yellowstone 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. Yellowstone County, Montana: fatal crash statistics. https://fatalroads.com/county/mt/yellowstone/. 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 Yellowstone in the ten years before 2015?

FARS records 200 deaths in Yellowstone County from 2005 to 2014. It records 203 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of Yellowstone in 2024?

The rate of Yellowstone County in 2024 was 14.0 deaths for each 100,000 residents. The rate of Montana was 18.1. The rate of the United States was 11.5.

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

FARS records a driver as drinking in 79 of 186 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 Yellowstone?

FARS records 22 fatal crashes on Interstate 90 in the county from 2015 to 2024. FARS records 11 fatal crashes on Interstate 94 in the county from 2015 to 2024. FARS records 13 fatal crashes on US Route 87 in the county from 2015 to 2024.