Merrimack County, New Hampshire: fatal crash statistics

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

FARS records 20 deaths in 20 fatal crashes in Merrimack County in 2024.

FARS records 173 deaths in 164 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 11.3 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, Merrimack County was number 3 of 10 counties of New Hampshire.

Deaths in Merrimack County rose by 13.8% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (152) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (173).

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

From 2015 to 2024, 64.1% of the occupants killed in Merrimack County with restraint use known had no restraint, against 69.2% 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 Merrimack 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.Merrimack County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	20	20	1 or 2
2023	20	18	7
2022	20	19	8
2021	11	10	1 or 2
2020	20	19	11
2019	17	14	5
2018	24	23	6
2017	12	12	0
2016	13	13	3
2015	16	16	3
2015 to 2024	173	164	47

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 29 (1987)2024: 20

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

Table 2.Merrimack County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	20	20
2023	20	18
2022	20	19
2021	11	10
2020	20	19
2019	17	14
2018	24	23
2017	12	12
2016	13	13
2015	16	16
2014	13	13
2013	7	7
2012	14	12
2011	15	14
2010	17	17
2009	20	18
2008	15	14
2007	15	15
2006	12	11
2005	24	22
2004	25	22
2003	22	19
2002	21	20
2001	20	18
2000	11	11
1999	29	24
1998	15	15
1997	25	24
1996	26	23
1995	9	9
1994	13	13
1993	16	14
1992	9	7
1991	14	14
1990	18	16
1989	25	24
1988	23	21
1987	29	29
1986	20	17
1985	20	20
1984	27	24
1983	26	19
1982	18	17
1981	25	21
1980	27	25
1979	19	14
1978	18	17
1977	18	16
1976	16	16
1975	17	16

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.Merrimack County beside New Hampshire and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Merrimack County	New Hampshire	United States
2024	12.7	9.4	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	11.3	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. Merrimack County had 157,547 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.Merrimack County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in New Hampshire
A driver recorded as drinkingof 164 fatal crashes	47	164 fatal crashes	28.7%	32.7%
A speeding-related driverof 164 fatal crashes	64	164 fatal crashes	39.0%	39.9%
No restraint usedof 103 occupant deaths with restraint use known	66	103 occupant deathswith restraint use known	64.1%	69.2%
Pedestriansof 173 deaths	22	173 deaths	12.7%	9.7%
Bicyclistsof 173 deaths	4	173 deaths	2.3%	1.7%
Motorcyclistsof 173 deaths	36	173 deaths	20.8%	22.6%
On a rural roadof 162 fatal crashes with the condition reported	92	162 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	56.8%	52.9%
In the darkof 164 fatal crashes with the condition reported	57	164 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	34.8%	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.Merrimack 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	7	8	9	11	35
Monday	1 or 2	7	11	10	29
Tuesday	1 or 2	5	1 or 2	5	13
Wednesday	1 or 2	3	15	5	24
Thursday	3	3	9	4	19
Friday	4	5	9	10	28
Saturday	1 or 2	4	8	1 or 2	16
All days	19	35	63	47	164

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.Merrimack County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in New Hampshire
Interstate	37	22.8%	11.0%
Other freeways and expressways	0	0.0%	2.6%
Other principal arterial	46	28.4%	26.3%
Minor arterial	29	17.9%	21.2%
Major collector	19	11.7%	14.4%
Minor collector	5	3.1%	5.2%
Local	26	16.0%	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.Merrimack County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	93
Dark, not lighted	43
Dark, lighted	13
Dawn	3
Dusk	11
Dark, lighting unknown	1 or 2
Other or unknown	0

Table 8.Merrimack County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	116
Cloudy	29
Rain	4
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	10
Fog, smog or smoke	4
Crosswinds or blowing sand/snow	0
Other or not reported	1 or 2

Routes in the county

Table 9.Signed routes in Merrimack County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In Merrimack	In all of New Hampshire
Interstate 93	Interstate	27	86
State Route 9	State highway	4	21
State Route 11	State highway	6	33
State Route 28	State highway	10	37
US Route 3	US highway	17	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.Merrimack 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
Merrimack County: 11.3

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 Merrimack County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Belknap County	New Hampshire	14	87	13.9
Grafton County	New Hampshire	6	96	10.5
Hillsborough County	New Hampshire	32	262	6.2
Rockingham County	New Hampshire	30	239	7.6
Strafford County	New Hampshire	7	119	9.1
Sullivan County	New Hampshire	1 or 2	40	9.2

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 Merrimack 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. Merrimack County, New Hampshire: fatal crash statistics. https://fatalroads.com/county/nh/merrimack/. 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.

Embed this card on your site

Copy this code into your page. The card shows the figures above with their source. A line under the card links to this page.

<iframe src="https://fatalroads.com/embed/county/nh/merrimack/" title="Fatal crashes in Merrimack County, New Hampshire" width="100%" height="300" style="border:0;max-width:640px" loading="lazy"></iframe>
<p style="margin:4px 0 0;font-size:13px"><a href="https://fatalroads.com/county/nh/merrimack/">Fatal crashes in Merrimack County, New Hampshire</a>, from fatalroads.com</p>

How embedding works. It is free. Keep the link in the card and the link line under it.

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 Merrimack in the ten years before 2015?

FARS records 152 deaths in Merrimack County from 2005 to 2014. It records 173 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of Merrimack in 2024?

The rate of Merrimack County in 2024 was 12.7 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 Merrimack had a driver recorded as drinking?

FARS records a driver as drinking in 47 of 164 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 Merrimack?

5 signed routes in the county have a page. FARS records 64 fatal crashes on them in the county from 2015 to 2024. The table of routes on this page gives the count for each route.