Grand Forks County, North Dakota: fatal crash statistics

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

FARS records 1 or 2 deaths in 1 or 2 fatal crashes in Grand Forks County in 2024.

FARS records 62 deaths in 52 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 8.7 deaths for each 100,000 residents in a year.

The rate of North Dakota in the same years is 13.7.

By deaths from 2015 to 2024, Grand Forks County was number 4 of 53 counties of North Dakota.

Deaths in Grand Forks County rose by 24.0% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (50) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (62).

In the counties of North Dakota the deaths fell by 18.1% between the same years.

From 2015 to 2024, 61.5% of the fatal crashes in Grand Forks County with a known setting were rural, against 84.5% in North Dakota.

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 Grand Forks County by year, 2015 to 2024

1 or 2

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.Grand Forks County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	1 or 2	1 or 2	1 or 2
2023	8	7	0
2022	5	4	1 or 2
2021	8	6	0
2020	5	5	3
2019	6	5	1 or 2
2018	14	12	3
2017	7	5	1 or 2
2016	1 or 2	1 or 2	0
2015	6	5	1 or 2
2015 to 2024	62	52	15

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 15 (1987)2024: 1 or 2

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

Table 2.Grand Forks County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	1 or 2	1 or 2
2023	8	7
2022	5	4
2021	8	6
2020	5	5
2019	6	5
2018	14	12
2017	7	5
2016	1 or 2	1 or 2
2015	6	5
2014	3	3
2013	5	5
2012	5	4
2011	1 or 2	1 or 2
2010	8	6
2009	5	5
2008	5	5
2007	4	4
2006	8	7
2005	5	5
2004	12	10
2003	5	4
2002	6	6
2001	10	9
2000	10	7
1999	3	3
1998	3	3
1997	6	4
1996	4	4
1995	3	3
1994	5	4
1993	7	7
1992	7	6
1991	7	7
1990	7	7
1989	8	7
1988	4	4
1987	15	11
1986	8	7
1985	4	4
1984	10	9
1983	1 or 2	1 or 2
1982	9	7
1981	7	6
1980	6	6
1979	5	5
1978	10	10
1977	10	10
1976	7	6
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.Grand Forks County beside North Dakota and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Grand Forks County	North Dakota	United States
2024	n/a	11.3	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	8.7	13.7	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. No rate is given for a count of 1 or 2.

Population: Census Bureau estimates, vintage 2025. Grand Forks County had 73,633 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.Grand Forks County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in North Dakota
A driver recorded as drinkingof 52 fatal crashes	15	52 fatal crashes	28.8%	39.7%
A speeding-related driverof 52 fatal crashes	12	52 fatal crashes	23.1%	27.0%
No restraint usedof 37 occupant deaths with restraint use known	17	37 occupant deathswith restraint use known	45.9%	62.9%
Pedestriansof 62 deaths	4	62 deaths	6.5%	6.5%
Bicyclistsof 62 deaths	1 or 2	62 deaths	1.6%	1.3%
Motorcyclistsof 62 deaths	8	62 deaths	12.9%	13.1%
On a rural roadof 52 fatal crashes with the condition reported	32	52 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	61.5%	84.5%
In the darkof 51 fatal crashes with the condition reported	18	51 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	35.3%	39.5%

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.Grand Forks 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	1 or 2	1 or 2	1 or 2	0	6
Monday	0	1 or 2	4	5	10
Tuesday	1 or 2	1 or 2	0	3	6
Wednesday	0	0	5	5	10
Thursday	1 or 2	1 or 2	0	4	8
Friday	0	1 or 2	0	1 or 2	4
Saturday	1 or 2	0	1 or 2	3	7
All days	7	9	13	22	51

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.Grand Forks County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in North Dakota
Interstate	8	15.4%	10.6%
Other freeways and expressways	1 or 2	3.8%	0.8%
Other principal arterial	21	40.4%	36.2%
Minor arterial	4	7.7%	12.6%
Major collector	9	17.3%	20.0%
Minor collector	1 or 2	1.9%	1.8%
Local	7	13.5%	18.1%
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.Grand Forks County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	32
Dark, not lighted	9
Dark, lighted	9
Dawn	0
Dusk	1 or 2
Dark, lighting unknown	0
Other or unknown	1 or 2

Table 8.Grand Forks County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	36
Cloudy	12
Rain	1 or 2
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	1 or 2
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 Grand Forks County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In Grand Forks	In all of North Dakota
Interstate 29	Interstate	7	28
US Route 2	US highway	10	49

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 Dakota

Adjacent counties

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

Figure 3.Grand Forks County on the county map of North Dakota

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

Fewer than 104 counties
10 to 14.910 counties
15 to 19.910 counties
20 to 29.911 counties
30 or more14 counties
Count of 1 or 2, no rate shown4 counties
Grand Forks County: 8.7

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 Dakota

Table 10.Counties that share a boundary line with Grand Forks County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Marshall County	Minnesota	0	14	15.3
Polk County	Minnesota	1 or 2	32	10.3
Nelson County	North Dakota	1 or 2	7	23.8
Steele County	North Dakota	0	3	16.2
Traill County	North Dakota	1 or 2	13	16.3
Walsh County	North Dakota	1 or 2	23	21.8

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

Counties of similar population

These counties of North Dakota have a population nearest to that of Grand Forks 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 Dakota Department of Transportation Highway Safety DivisionThe highway safety office of North Dakota.

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

Cite this page

Fatal Roads. Grand Forks County, North Dakota: fatal crash statistics. https://fatalroads.com/county/nd/grand-forks/. 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.

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 Grand Forks in the ten years before 2015?

FARS records 50 deaths in Grand Forks County from 2005 to 2014. It records 62 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

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

FARS records a driver as drinking in 15 of 52 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 Grand Forks?

FARS records 7 fatal crashes on Interstate 29 in the county from 2015 to 2024. FARS records 10 fatal crashes on US Route 2 in the county from 2015 to 2024.