Burke County, North Carolina: fatal crash statistics

Counties of North Carolina by year (CSV)Cite this page

FARS records 18 deaths in 18 fatal crashes in Burke County in 2024.

FARS records 142 deaths in 132 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 16.0 deaths for each 100,000 residents in a year.

The rate of North Carolina in the same years is 14.5.

By deaths from 2015 to 2024, Burke County was number 37 of 100 counties of North Carolina.

Deaths in Burke County rose by 2.2% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (139) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (142).

In the counties of North Carolina the deaths rose by 9.0% between the same years.

From 2015 to 2024, 35.6% of the fatal crashes in Burke County with known light were in the dark, against 46.3% in North Carolina.

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 Burke 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.Burke County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	18	18	4
2023	11	9	1 or 2
2022	12	12	3
2021	10	9	0
2020	14	13	1 or 2
2019	16	16	0
2018	20	16	7
2017	17	16	3
2016	16	15	1 or 2
2015	8	8	0
2015 to 2024	142	132	21

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 26 (1985)2024: 18

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

Table 2.Burke County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	18	18
2023	11	9
2022	12	12
2021	10	9
2020	14	13
2019	16	16
2018	20	16
2017	17	16
2016	16	15
2015	8	8
2014	16	15
2013	9	9
2012	7	7
2011	13	12
2010	10	8
2009	14	13
2008	18	18
2007	22	19
2006	17	16
2005	13	12
2004	18	16
2003	20	18
2002	21	18
2001	24	21
2000	18	15
1999	16	16
1998	15	14
1997	17	14
1996	23	23
1995	17	15
1994	15	14
1993	16	16
1992	13	10
1991	17	13
1990	16	14
1989	11	10
1988	23	20
1987	14	14
1986	20	16
1985	26	23
1984	16	16
1983	7	7
1982	19	16
1981	13	12
1980	13	12
1979	11	10
1978	19	15
1977	14	11
1976	21	18
1975	18	15

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.Burke County beside North Carolina and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Burke County	North Carolina	United States
2024	20.3	14.6	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	16.0	14.5	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. Burke County had 88,569 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.Burke County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in North Carolina
A driver recorded as drinkingof 132 fatal crashes	21	132 fatal crashes	15.9%	25.3%
A speeding-related driverof 132 fatal crashes	30	132 fatal crashes	22.7%	31.8%
No restraint usedof 90 occupant deaths with restraint use known	36	90 occupant deathswith restraint use known	40.0%	46.8%
Pedestriansof 142 deaths	22	142 deaths	15.5%	14.9%
Bicyclistsof 142 deaths	5	142 deaths	3.5%	1.7%
Motorcyclistsof 142 deaths	24	142 deaths	16.9%	13.5%
On a rural roadof 132 fatal crashes with the condition reported	89	132 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	67.4%	57.2%
In the darkof 132 fatal crashes with the condition reported	47	132 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	35.6%	46.3%

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.Burke 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	3	1 or 2	5	5	15
Monday	1 or 2	6	6	5	19
Tuesday	1 or 2	1 or 2	6	5	14
Wednesday	3	8	7	5	23
Thursday	3	6	10	4	23
Friday	5	1 or 2	10	6	22
Saturday	0	4	6	6	16
All days	18	28	50	36	132

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.Burke County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in North Carolina
Interstate	26	19.7%	9.7%
Other freeways and expressways	1 or 2	0.8%	4.1%
Other principal arterial	26	19.7%	27.0%
Minor arterial	47	35.6%	16.1%
Major collector	12	9.1%	15.1%
Minor collector	5	3.8%	5.7%
Local	15	11.4%	22.3%
Not reported	0	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.Burke County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	77
Dark, not lighted	42
Dark, lighted	5
Dawn	1 or 2
Dusk	6
Dark, lighting unknown	0
Other or unknown	0

Table 8.Burke County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	96
Cloudy	17
Rain	14
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	1 or 2
Fog, smog or smoke	4
Crosswinds or blowing sand/snow	0
Other or not reported	0

Routes in the county

Table 9.Signed routes in Burke County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In Burke	In all of North Carolina
Interstate 40	Interstate	26	363
State Route 18	State highway	4	37
US Route 64	US highway	16	293
US Route 70	US highway	15	318
US Route 321	US highway	1 or 2	94

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 North Carolina

Adjacent counties

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

Figure 3.Burke County on the county map of North Carolina

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

Fewer than 106 counties
10 to 14.925 counties
15 to 19.934 counties
20 to 29.922 counties
30 or more13 counties
Burke County: 16.0

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 North Carolina

Table 10.Counties that share a boundary line with Burke County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Avery County	North Carolina	1 or 2	24	13.6
Caldwell County	North Carolina	24	123	15.1
Catawba County	North Carolina	22	237	14.8
Cleveland County	North Carolina	16	208	21.0
Lincoln County	North Carolina	7	127	14.5
McDowell County	North Carolina	6	70	15.5
Rutherford County	North Carolina	16	118	17.9

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

Counties of similar population

These counties of North Carolina have a population nearest to that of Burke 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.
North Carolina Governor's Highway Safety ProgramThe highway safety office of North Carolina.

These links go to the sites of the agencies. They were checked on 2 Oct 2026.

Cite this page

Fatal Roads. Burke County, North Carolina: fatal crash statistics. https://fatalroads.com/county/nc/burke/. 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 Burke in the ten years before 2015?

FARS records 139 deaths in Burke County from 2005 to 2014. It records 142 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of Burke in 2024?

The rate of Burke County in 2024 was 20.3 deaths for each 100,000 residents. The rate of North Carolina was 14.6. The rate of the United States was 11.5.

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

FARS records a driver as drinking in 21 of 132 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 Burke?

5 signed routes in the county have a page. FARS records 62 fatal crashes on them in the county from 2015 to 2024. The table of routes on this page gives the count for each route.