Pender 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 Pender County in 2024.

FARS records 159 deaths in 146 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 25.2 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, Pender County was number 32 of 100 counties of North Carolina.

Deaths in Pender County rose by 33.6% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (119) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (159).

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

From 2015 to 2024, 90.4% of the fatal crashes in Pender 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 Pender 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.Pender County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	7	7	3
2023	15	14	3
2022	13	12	1 or 2
2021	14	14	5
2020	14	14	4
2019	20	18	7
2018	29	26	6
2017	17	15	1 or 2
2016	16	13	4
2015	14	13	3
2015 to 2024	159	146	37

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 29 (2018)2024: 7

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

Table 2.Pender County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	7	7
2023	15	14
2022	13	12
2021	14	14
2020	14	14
2019	20	18
2018	29	26
2017	17	15
2016	16	13
2015	14	13
2014	19	18
2013	15	12
2012	10	9
2011	13	12
2010	11	9
2009	10	9
2008	11	11
2007	17	15
2006	3	3
2005	10	10
2004	13	10
2003	10	8
2002	14	12
2001	11	11
2000	10	10
1999	16	15
1998	19	15
1997	15	14
1996	16	13
1995	3	3
1994	10	10
1993	13	12
1992	13	12
1991	10	9
1990	11	9
1989	10	9
1988	9	8
1987	10	8
1986	10	9
1985	7	7
1984	4	4
1983	6	6
1982	11	8
1981	9	7
1980	16	11
1979	10	8
1978	6	6
1977	12	10
1976	13	12
1975	6	6

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.Pender County beside North Carolina and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Pender County	North Carolina	United States
2024	10.0	14.6	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	25.2	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. Pender County had 70,150 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.Pender County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in North Carolina
A driver recorded as drinkingof 146 fatal crashes	37	146 fatal crashes	25.3%	25.3%
A speeding-related driverof 146 fatal crashes	41	146 fatal crashes	28.1%	31.8%
No restraint usedof 114 occupant deaths with restraint use known	52	114 occupant deathswith restraint use known	45.6%	46.8%
Pedestriansof 159 deaths	20	159 deaths	12.6%	14.9%
Bicyclistsof 159 deaths	4	159 deaths	2.5%	1.7%
Motorcyclistsof 159 deaths	19	159 deaths	11.9%	13.5%
On a rural roadof 146 fatal crashes with the condition reported	132	146 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	90.4%	57.2%
In the darkof 146 fatal crashes with the condition reported	67	146 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	45.9%	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.Pender 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	6	4	13	7	30
Monday	3	0	7	3	13
Tuesday	1 or 2	3	7	9	20
Wednesday	1 or 2	4	8	7	20
Thursday	3	5	6	8	22
Friday	3	5	6	4	18
Saturday	4	1 or 2	7	10	23
All days	21	23	54	48	146

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.Pender County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in North Carolina
Interstate	12	8.2%	9.7%
Other freeways and expressways	4	2.7%	4.1%
Other principal arterial	30	20.5%	27.0%
Minor arterial	24	16.4%	16.1%
Major collector	24	16.4%	15.1%
Minor collector	8	5.5%	5.7%
Local	44	30.1%	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.Pender County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	72
Dark, not lighted	65
Dark, lighted	1 or 2
Dawn	3
Dusk	4
Dark, lighting unknown	0
Other or unknown	0

Table 8.Pender County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	118
Cloudy	11
Rain	13
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	1 or 2
Fog, smog or smoke	1 or 2
Crosswinds or blowing sand/snow	1 or 2
Other or not reported	0

Routes in the county

Table 9.Signed routes in Pender County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In Pender	In all of North Carolina
Interstate 40	Interstate	12	363
State Route 11	State highway	4	85
State Route 50	State highway	5	33
State Route 53	State highway	10	25
State Route 210	State highway	13	68
US Route 17	US highway	11	188
US Route 117	US highway	19	61
US Route 421	US highway	16	197

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.Pender 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
Pender County: 25.2

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 Pender County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Bladen County	North Carolina	6	108	34.3
Brunswick County	North Carolina	24	214	15.1
Columbus County	North Carolina	18	204	38.4
Duplin County	North Carolina	19	181	33.4
New Hanover County	North Carolina	29	210	9.1
Onslow County	North Carolina	19	231	11.4
Sampson County	North Carolina	21	199	32.4

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

FARS records 119 deaths in Pender County from 2005 to 2014. It records 159 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of Pender in 2024?

The rate of Pender County in 2024 was 10.0 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 Pender had a driver recorded as drinking?

FARS records a driver as drinking in 37 of 146 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 Pender?

8 signed routes in the county have a page. FARS records 90 fatal crashes on them in the county from 2015 to 2024. The table of routes on this page gives the count for each route.