Belknap County, New Hampshire: fatal crash statistics

Counties of New Hampshire by year (CSV)Cite this page

FARS records 14 deaths in 12 fatal crashes in Belknap County in 2024.

FARS records 87 deaths in 81 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 13.9 deaths for each 100,000 residents in a year.

The rate of New Hampshire in the same years is 8.9.

By deaths from 2015 to 2024, Belknap County was number 6 of 10 counties of New Hampshire.

Deaths in Belknap County rose by 22.5% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (71) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (87).

In the counties of New Hampshire the deaths rose by 0.2% between the same years.

From 2015 to 2024, 77.5% of the fatal crashes in Belknap County with a known setting were rural, against 52.9% in New Hampshire.

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 Belknap 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.Belknap County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	14	12	1 or 2
2023	8	7	1 or 2
2022	9	9	3
2021	3	1 or 2	1 or 2
2020	11	10	3
2019	4	4	0
2018	13	12	5
2017	11	11	3
2016	8	8	1 or 2
2015	6	6	4
2015 to 2024	87	81	25

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 17 (1979)2024: 14

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

Table 2.Belknap County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	14	12
2023	8	7
2022	9	9
2021	3	1 or 2
2020	11	10
2019	4	4
2018	13	12
2017	11	11
2016	8	8
2015	6	6
2014	4	4
2013	10	9
2012	6	6
2011	1 or 2	1 or 2
2010	5	5
2009	5	5
2008	14	12
2007	10	8
2006	5	5
2005	10	8
2004	17	16
2003	8	8
2002	5	5
2001	16	15
2000	7	7
1999	9	8
1998	8	7
1997	9	9
1996	6	4
1995	14	13
1994	5	4
1993	10	10
1992	7	7
1991	11	8
1990	12	10
1989	9	7
1988	12	10
1987	13	13
1986	11	10
1985	14	14
1984	8	7
1983	10	8
1982	12	11
1981	7	7
1980	4	4
1979	17	16
1978	11	10
1977	9	7
1976	7	7
1975	11	9

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.Belknap County beside New Hampshire and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Belknap County	New Hampshire	United States
2024	21.5	9.4	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	13.9	8.9	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. Belknap County had 65,169 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.Belknap County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in New Hampshire
A driver recorded as drinkingof 81 fatal crashes	25	81 fatal crashes	30.9%	32.7%
A speeding-related driverof 81 fatal crashes	31	81 fatal crashes	38.3%	39.9%
No restraint usedof 41 occupant deaths with restraint use known	28	41 occupant deathswith restraint use known	68.3%	69.2%
Pedestriansof 87 deaths	11	87 deaths	12.6%	9.7%
Bicyclistsof 87 deaths	0	87 deaths	0.0%	1.7%
Motorcyclistsof 87 deaths	28	87 deaths	32.2%	22.6%
On a rural roadof 80 fatal crashes with the condition reported	62	80 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	77.5%	52.9%
In the darkof 80 fatal crashes with the condition reported	24	80 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	30.0%	37.1%

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.Belknap 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	3	8
Monday	0	4	1 or 2	1 or 2	8
Tuesday	1 or 2	1 or 2	4	4	11
Wednesday	0	1 or 2	3	4	8
Thursday	1 or 2	0	10	1 or 2	12
Friday	1 or 2	4	8	7	21
Saturday	1 or 2	1 or 2	6	5	13
All days	5	14	36	26	81

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.Belknap County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in New Hampshire
Interstate	7	8.8%	11.0%
Other freeways and expressways	0	0.0%	2.6%
Other principal arterial	21	26.3%	26.3%
Minor arterial	23	28.7%	21.2%
Major collector	13	16.3%	14.4%
Minor collector	4	5.0%	5.2%
Local	12	15.0%	19.3%
Not reported	1 or 2	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.Belknap County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	54
Dark, not lighted	17
Dark, lighted	7
Dawn	0
Dusk	1 or 2
Dark, lighting unknown	0
Other or unknown	1 or 2

Table 8.Belknap County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	60
Cloudy	8
Rain	6
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	5
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 Belknap County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In Belknap	In all of New Hampshire
Interstate 93	Interstate	9	86
State Route 11	State highway	11	33
State Route 28	State highway	5	37
US Route 3	US highway	12	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 New Hampshire

Adjacent counties

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

Figure 3.Belknap County on the county map of New Hampshire

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

Fewer than 105 counties
10 to 14.93 counties
15 to 19.92 counties
20 to 29.90 counties
30 or more0 counties
Belknap County: 13.9

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 New Hampshire

Table 10.Counties that share a boundary line with Belknap County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Carroll County	New Hampshire	10	85	17.0
Grafton County	New Hampshire	6	96	10.5
Merrimack County	New Hampshire	20	173	11.3
Strafford County	New Hampshire	7	119	9.1

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

Counties of similar population

These counties of New Hampshire have a population nearest to that of Belknap 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.
New Hampshire Office of Highway SafetyThe highway safety office of New Hampshire.

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

Cite this page

Fatal Roads. Belknap County, New Hampshire: fatal crash statistics. https://fatalroads.com/county/nh/belknap/. 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 Belknap in the ten years before 2015?

FARS records 71 deaths in Belknap County from 2005 to 2014. It records 87 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of Belknap in 2024?

The rate of Belknap County in 2024 was 21.5 deaths for each 100,000 residents. The rate of New Hampshire was 9.4. The rate of the United States was 11.5.

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

FARS records a driver as drinking in 25 of 81 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 Belknap?

4 signed routes in the county have a page. FARS records 37 fatal crashes on them in the county from 2015 to 2024. The table of routes on this page gives the count for each route.