Lancaster County, Nebraska: fatal crash statistics

Counties of Nebraska by year (CSV)Cite this page

FARS records 24 deaths in 22 fatal crashes in Lancaster County in 2024.

FARS records 203 deaths in 191 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 6.4 deaths for each 100,000 residents in a year.

The rate of Nebraska in the same years is 12.1.

By deaths from 2015 to 2024, Lancaster County was number 2 of 93 counties of Nebraska.

Deaths in Lancaster County rose by 20.8% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (168) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (203).

In the counties of Nebraska the deaths rose by 4.2% between the same years.

From 2015 to 2024, 34.0% of the fatal crashes in Lancaster County with a known setting were rural, against 68.5% in Nebraska.

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 Lancaster 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.Lancaster County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	24	22	8
2023	16	16	3
2022	32	26	9
2021	17	16	5
2020	18	17	9
2019	24	24	9
2018	18	18	7
2017	18	17	3
2016	15	14	6
2015	21	21	5
2015 to 2024	203	191	64

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 34 (1976)2024: 24

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

Table 2.Lancaster County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	24	22
2023	16	16
2022	32	26
2021	17	16
2020	18	17
2019	24	24
2018	18	18
2017	18	17
2016	15	14
2015	21	21
2014	23	23
2013	15	13
2012	13	12
2011	20	18
2010	10	10
2009	10	10
2008	14	12
2007	24	22
2006	17	16
2005	22	18
2004	18	16
2003	33	31
2002	34	30
2001	23	20
2000	27	24
1999	25	21
1998	27	24
1997	21	18
1996	20	19
1995	9	9
1994	23	21
1993	18	12
1992	8	7
1991	17	15
1990	18	18
1989	34	30
1988	15	14
1987	18	17
1986	29	24
1985	16	14
1984	18	16
1983	17	16
1982	14	13
1981	31	23
1980	18	17
1979	26	21
1978	28	23
1977	28	20
1976	34	28
1975	23	22

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.Lancaster County beside Nebraska and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Lancaster County	Nebraska	United States
2024	7.2	12.5	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	6.4	12.1	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. Lancaster County had 331,341 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.Lancaster County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in Nebraska
A driver recorded as drinkingof 191 fatal crashes	64	191 fatal crashes	33.5%	32.6%
A speeding-related driverof 191 fatal crashes	52	191 fatal crashes	27.2%	17.5%
No restraint usedof 105 occupant deaths with restraint use known	67	105 occupant deathswith restraint use known	63.8%	63.2%
Pedestriansof 203 deaths	21	203 deaths	10.3%	7.8%
Bicyclistsof 203 deaths	4	203 deaths	2.0%	0.9%
Motorcyclistsof 203 deaths	43	203 deaths	21.2%	11.0%
On a rural roadof 191 fatal crashes with the condition reported	65	191 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	34.0%	68.5%
In the darkof 190 fatal crashes with the condition reported	95	190 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	50.0%	41.4%

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.Lancaster 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	8	7	11	1 or 2	28
Monday	1 or 2	1 or 2	9	9	22
Tuesday	1 or 2	3	7	5	16
Wednesday	1 or 2	9	6	9	25
Thursday	1 or 2	7	5	8	22
Friday	4	4	6	18	32
Saturday	8	4	6	10	28
All days	26	36	50	61	173

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.Lancaster County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in Nebraska
Interstate	14	7.3%	11.1%
Other freeways and expressways	10	5.2%	4.3%
Other principal arterial	66	34.6%	30.4%
Minor arterial	58	30.4%	25.5%
Major collector	16	8.4%	10.1%
Minor collector	1 or 2	1.0%	1.9%
Local	25	13.1%	16.7%
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.Lancaster County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	79
Dark, not lighted	30
Dark, lighted	65
Dawn	6
Dusk	10
Dark, lighting unknown	0
Other or unknown	1 or 2

Table 8.Lancaster County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	137
Cloudy	32
Rain	11
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	7
Fog, smog or smoke	1 or 2
Crosswinds or blowing sand/snow	0
Other or not reported	3

Routes in the county

Table 9.Signed routes in Lancaster County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In Lancaster	In all of Nebraska
Interstate 80	Interstate	13	205
State Route 2	State highway	11	39
US Route 6	US highway	18	78
US Route 34	US highway	14	46
US Route 77	US highway	14	52

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 Nebraska

Adjacent counties

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

Figure 3.Lancaster County on the county map of Nebraska

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

Fewer than 1010 counties
10 to 14.917 counties
15 to 19.912 counties
20 to 29.926 counties
30 or more21 counties
Count of 1 or 2, no rate shown7 counties
Lancaster County: 6.4

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 Nebraska

Table 10.Counties that share a boundary line with Lancaster County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Butler County	Nebraska	1 or 2	19	23.1
Cass County	Nebraska	3	62	23.4
Gage County	Nebraska	1 or 2	28	12.9
Otoe County	Nebraska	8	26	16.2
Saline County	Nebraska	1 or 2	27	18.6
Saunders County	Nebraska	5	47	21.3
Seward County	Nebraska	4	48	27.5

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

Counties of similar population

These counties of Nebraska have a population nearest to that of Lancaster 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.
Governors Highway Safety Association: State Highway Safety OfficesThe list of the highway safety offices of the states.

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

Cite this page

Fatal Roads. Lancaster County, Nebraska: fatal crash statistics. https://fatalroads.com/county/ne/lancaster/. 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 Lancaster in the ten years before 2015?

FARS records 168 deaths in Lancaster County from 2005 to 2014. It records 203 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of Lancaster in 2024?

The rate of Lancaster County in 2024 was 7.2 deaths for each 100,000 residents. The rate of Nebraska was 12.5. The rate of the United States was 11.5.

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

FARS records a driver as drinking in 64 of 191 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 Lancaster?

5 signed routes in the county have a page. FARS records 70 fatal crashes on them in the county from 2015 to 2024. The table of routes on this page gives the count for each route.