Rutherford County, North Carolina: fatal crash statistics

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

FARS records 16 deaths in 11 fatal crashes in Rutherford County in 2024.

FARS records 118 deaths in 106 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 17.9 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, Rutherford County was number 50 of 100 counties of North Carolina.

Deaths in Rutherford County rose by 8.3% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (109) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (118).

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

From 2015 to 2024, 74.5% of the fatal crashes in Rutherford 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 Rutherford 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.Rutherford County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	16	11	1 or 2
2023	11	10	1 or 2
2022	11	10	0
2021	13	12	4
2020	24	21	1 or 2
2019	10	10	1 or 2
2018	10	10	3
2017	11	11	1 or 2
2016	6	6	0
2015	6	5	0
2015 to 2024	118	106	14

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 24 (2020)2024: 16

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

Table 2.Rutherford County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	16	11
2023	11	10
2022	11	10
2021	13	12
2020	24	21
2019	10	10
2018	10	10
2017	11	11
2016	6	6
2015	6	5
2014	14	14
2013	11	11
2012	8	8
2011	7	7
2010	11	10
2009	9	9
2008	5	5
2007	12	12
2006	17	15
2005	15	14
2004	9	9
2003	13	12
2002	16	16
2001	12	12
2000	18	11
1999	10	10
1998	17	15
1997	9	9
1996	15	12
1995	13	11
1994	15	14
1993	14	13
1992	11	9
1991	15	13
1990	11	11
1989	19	15
1988	15	13
1987	15	13
1986	21	18
1985	15	13
1984	17	17
1983	10	9
1982	16	13
1981	15	14
1980	23	21
1979	17	16
1978	20	18
1977	23	19
1976	19	17
1975	13	12

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.Rutherford County beside North Carolina and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Rutherford County	North Carolina	United States
2024	24.4	14.6	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	17.9	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. Rutherford County had 65,579 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.Rutherford County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in North Carolina
A driver recorded as drinkingof 106 fatal crashes	14	106 fatal crashes	13.2%	25.3%
A speeding-related driverof 106 fatal crashes	37	106 fatal crashes	34.9%	31.8%
No restraint usedof 79 occupant deaths with restraint use known	35	79 occupant deathswith restraint use known	44.3%	46.8%
Pedestriansof 118 deaths	18	118 deaths	15.3%	14.9%
Bicyclistsof 118 deaths	1 or 2	118 deaths	1.7%	1.7%
Motorcyclistsof 118 deaths	12	118 deaths	10.2%	13.5%
On a rural roadof 106 fatal crashes with the condition reported	79	106 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	74.5%	57.2%
In the darkof 106 fatal crashes with the condition reported	45	106 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	42.5%	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.Rutherford 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	0	1 or 2	3	6	11
Monday	1 or 2	6	3	9	20
Tuesday	0	5	4	5	14
Wednesday	1 or 2	3	8	6	19
Thursday	1 or 2	4	5	1 or 2	12
Friday	0	3	5	5	13
Saturday	5	1 or 2	1 or 2	9	17
All days	10	24	30	42	106

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.Rutherford 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	7	6.6%	4.1%
Other principal arterial	16	15.1%	27.0%
Minor arterial	20	18.9%	16.1%
Major collector	11	10.4%	15.1%
Minor collector	11	10.4%	5.7%
Local	41	38.7%	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.Rutherford County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	55
Dark, not lighted	41
Dark, lighted	4
Dawn	4
Dusk	1 or 2
Dark, lighting unknown	0
Other or unknown	0

Table 8.Rutherford County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	80
Cloudy	13
Rain	12
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	0
Fog, smog or smoke	0
Crosswinds or blowing sand/snow	1 or 2
Other or not reported	0

Routes in the county

Table 9.Signed routes in Rutherford County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In Rutherford	In all of North Carolina
State Route 226	State highway	1 or 2	29
US Route 64	US highway	11	293
US Route 74	US highway	14	256
US Route 221	US highway	11	46

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.Rutherford 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
Rutherford County: 17.9

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 Rutherford County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Buncombe County	North Carolina	44	347	13.1
Burke County	North Carolina	18	142	16.0
Cleveland County	North Carolina	16	208	21.0
Henderson County	North Carolina	16	123	10.5
McDowell County	North Carolina	6	70	15.5
Polk County	North Carolina	5	35	17.3
Cherokee County	South Carolina	20	160	28.2
Spartanburg County	South Carolina	66	672	20.5

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

FARS records 109 deaths in Rutherford County from 2005 to 2014. It records 118 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of Rutherford in 2024?

The rate of Rutherford County in 2024 was 24.4 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 Rutherford had a driver recorded as drinking?

FARS records a driver as drinking in 14 of 106 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 Rutherford?

4 signed routes in the county have a page. FARS records 38 fatal crashes on them in the county from 2015 to 2024. The table of routes on this page gives the count for each route.