Lincoln County, North Carolina: fatal crash statistics

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

FARS records 7 deaths in 7 fatal crashes in Lincoln County in 2024.

FARS records 127 deaths in 119 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 14.5 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, Lincoln County was number 46 of 100 counties of North Carolina.

Deaths in Lincoln County rose by 7.6% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (118) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (127).

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

From 2015 to 2024, 79.0% of the fatal crashes in Lincoln County with a known setting were rural, against 57.2% 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 Lincoln 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.Lincoln County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	7	7	1 or 2
2023	14	14	4
2022	12	11	0
2021	13	11	5
2020	9	9	1 or 2
2019	14	11	3
2018	11	10	1 or 2
2017	14	13	6
2016	14	14	3
2015	19	19	7
2015 to 2024	127	119	34

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 23 (2007)2024: 7

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

Table 2.Lincoln County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	7	7
2023	14	14
2022	12	11
2021	13	11
2020	9	9
2019	14	11
2018	11	10
2017	14	13
2016	14	14
2015	19	19
2014	7	6
2013	12	12
2012	9	8
2011	11	10
2010	5	4
2009	8	7
2008	12	11
2007	23	22
2006	15	15
2005	16	15
2004	12	11
2003	10	10
2002	17	15
2001	17	15
2000	11	8
1999	11	11
1998	21	20
1997	10	9
1996	19	18
1995	15	11
1994	10	9
1993	17	15
1992	7	4
1991	17	15
1990	16	16
1989	15	13
1988	16	14
1987	12	10
1986	15	14
1985	15	15
1984	16	12
1983	10	8
1982	9	9
1981	6	6
1980	11	11
1979	18	17
1978	13	12
1977	15	14
1976	11	11
1975	11	11

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.Lincoln County beside North Carolina and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Lincoln County	North Carolina	United States
2024	7.2	14.6	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	14.5	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. Lincoln County had 97,519 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.Lincoln County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in North Carolina
A driver recorded as drinkingof 119 fatal crashes	34	119 fatal crashes	28.6%	25.3%
A speeding-related driverof 119 fatal crashes	41	119 fatal crashes	34.5%	31.8%
No restraint usedof 92 occupant deaths with restraint use known	33	92 occupant deathswith restraint use known	35.9%	46.8%
Pedestriansof 127 deaths	11	127 deaths	8.7%	14.9%
Bicyclistsof 127 deaths	1 or 2	127 deaths	0.8%	1.7%
Motorcyclistsof 127 deaths	16	127 deaths	12.6%	13.5%
On a rural roadof 119 fatal crashes with the condition reported	94	119 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	79.0%	57.2%
In the darkof 119 fatal crashes with the condition reported	41	119 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	34.5%	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.Lincoln 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	4	1 or 2	4	4	14
Monday	1 or 2	3	10	1 or 2	16
Tuesday	0	3	3	4	10
Wednesday	3	5	5	4	17
Thursday	3	3	7	4	17
Friday	0	3	8	5	16
Saturday	1 or 2	4	10	13	29
All days	14	23	47	35	119

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.Lincoln County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in North Carolina
Interstate	0	0.0%	9.7%
Other freeways and expressways	3	2.5%	4.1%
Other principal arterial	47	39.5%	27.0%
Minor arterial	10	8.4%	16.1%
Major collector	21	17.6%	15.1%
Minor collector	12	10.1%	5.7%
Local	26	21.8%	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.Lincoln County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	72
Dark, not lighted	37
Dark, lighted	4
Dawn	1 or 2
Dusk	4
Dark, lighting unknown	0
Other or unknown	0

Table 8.Lincoln County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	88
Cloudy	18
Rain	10
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	1 or 2
Fog, smog or smoke	0
Crosswinds or blowing sand/snow	0
Other or not reported	1 or 2

Routes in the county

Table 9.Signed routes in Lincoln County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In Lincoln	In all of North Carolina
State Route 10	State highway	3	22
State Route 16	State highway	8	77
State Route 18	State highway	3	37
State Route 27	State highway	12	56
State Route 73	State highway	7	37
State Route 150	State highway	9	90
US Route 321	US highway	15	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.Lincoln 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
Lincoln County: 14.5

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 Lincoln County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Burke County	North Carolina	18	142	16.0
Catawba County	North Carolina	22	237	14.8
Cleveland County	North Carolina	16	208	21.0
Gaston County	North Carolina	37	277	12.2
Iredell County	North Carolina	27	238	12.8
Mecklenburg County	North Carolina	121	1,059	9.5

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 Lincoln 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. Lincoln County, North Carolina: fatal crash statistics. https://fatalroads.com/county/nc/lincoln/. 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 Lincoln in the ten years before 2015?

FARS records 118 deaths in Lincoln County from 2005 to 2014. It records 127 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of Lincoln in 2024?

The rate of Lincoln County in 2024 was 7.2 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 Lincoln had a driver recorded as drinking?

FARS records a driver as drinking in 34 of 119 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 Lincoln?

7 signed routes in the county have a page. FARS records 57 fatal crashes on them in the county from 2015 to 2024. The table of routes on this page gives the count for each route.