Ocean County, New Jersey: fatal crash statistics

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

FARS records 44 deaths in 42 fatal crashes in Ocean County in 2024.

FARS records 423 deaths in 400 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 6.8 deaths for each 100,000 residents in a year.

The rate of New Jersey in the same years is 6.7.

By deaths from 2015 to 2024, Ocean County was number 5 of 21 counties of New Jersey.

Deaths in Ocean County fell by 19.9% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (528) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (423).

In the counties of New Jersey the deaths fell by 2.2% between the same years.

From 2015 to 2024, pedestrians were 20.6% of the deaths in Ocean County and 29.4% in New Jersey.

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 Ocean 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.Ocean County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	44	42	6
2023	43	40	9
2022	52	48	11
2021	44	43	9
2020	30	30	11
2019	39	37	10
2018	39	31	7
2017	53	52	8
2016	41	39	7
2015	38	38	5
2015 to 2024	423	400	83

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 81 (1988)2024: 44

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

Table 2.Ocean County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	44	42
2023	43	40
2022	52	48
2021	44	43
2020	30	30
2019	39	37
2018	39	31
2017	53	52
2016	41	39
2015	38	38
2014	45	44
2013	49	43
2012	53	50
2011	52	47
2010	54	53
2009	63	57
2008	38	37
2007	74	68
2006	62	60
2005	38	35
2004	66	63
2003	50	46
2002	51	45
2001	69	58
2000	43	42
1999	46	42
1998	68	59
1997	57	49
1996	50	48
1995	57	54
1994	74	68
1993	67	57
1992	51	45
1991	66	60
1990	53	53
1989	53	45
1988	81	74
1987	53	49
1986	61	58
1985	72	58
1984	57	53
1983	59	55
1982	56	52
1981	71	64
1980	77	67
1979	70	67
1978	69	57
1977	58	53
1976	71	64
1975	58	47

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.Ocean County beside New Jersey and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Ocean County	New Jersey	United States
2024	6.6	7.0	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	6.8	6.7	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.

Population: Census Bureau estimates, vintage 2025. Ocean County had 668,395 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.Ocean County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in New Jersey
A driver recorded as drinkingof 400 fatal crashes	83	400 fatal crashes	20.8%	22.0%
A speeding-related driverof 400 fatal crashes	70	400 fatal crashes	17.5%	23.0%
No restraint usedof 256 occupant deaths with restraint use known	117	256 occupant deathswith restraint use known	45.7%	45.5%
Pedestriansof 423 deaths	87	423 deaths	20.6%	29.4%
Bicyclistsof 423 deaths	15	423 deaths	3.5%	3.2%
Motorcyclistsof 423 deaths	51	423 deaths	12.1%	13.3%
On a rural roadof 392 fatal crashes with the condition reported	44	392 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	11.2%	11.0%
In the darkof 398 fatal crashes with the condition reported	189	398 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	47.5%	51.3%

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.Ocean 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	12	11	19	21	63
Monday	5	10	20	17	52
Tuesday	4	16	17	11	48
Wednesday	7	9	20	18	54
Thursday	5	9	21	21	56
Friday	7	10	16	21	54
Saturday	9	8	17	39	73
All days	49	73	130	148	400

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.Ocean County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in New Jersey
Interstate	3	0.8%	10.2%
Other freeways and expressways	56	14.1%	10.2%
Other principal arterial	140	35.3%	34.6%
Minor arterial	84	21.2%	22.5%
Major collector	63	15.9%	10.7%
Minor collector	0	0.0%	0.8%
Local	51	12.8%	10.9%
Not reported	3	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.Ocean County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	193
Dark, not lighted	73
Dark, lighted	91
Dawn	4
Dusk	12
Dark, lighting unknown	25
Other or unknown	1 or 2

Table 8.Ocean County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	331
Cloudy	23
Rain	39
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	4
Fog, smog or smoke	1 or 2
Crosswinds or blowing sand/snow	1 or 2
Other or not reported	0

Routes in the county

Table 9.Signed routes in Ocean County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In Ocean	In all of New Jersey
Interstate 195	Interstate	3	21
State Route 35	State highway	4	57
State Route 70	State highway	39	78
State Route 73	State highway	1 or 2	41
US Route 9	US highway	23	126

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 Jersey

Adjacent counties

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

Figure 3.Ocean County on the county map of New Jersey

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

Fewer than 1015 counties
10 to 14.94 counties
15 to 19.91 county
20 to 29.91 county
30 or more0 counties
Ocean County: 6.8

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 Jersey

Table 10.Counties that share a boundary line with Ocean County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Atlantic County	New Jersey	56	385	14.2
Burlington County	New Jersey	45	445	9.7
Monmouth County	New Jersey	49	413	6.5

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

Counties of similar population

These counties of New Jersey have a population nearest to that of Ocean 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 Jersey Division of Highway Traffic SafetyThe highway safety office of New Jersey.

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

Cite this page

Fatal Roads. Ocean County, New Jersey: fatal crash statistics. https://fatalroads.com/county/nj/ocean/. 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 Ocean in the ten years before 2015?

FARS records 528 deaths in Ocean County from 2005 to 2014. It records 423 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of Ocean in 2024?

The rate of Ocean County in 2024 was 6.6 deaths for each 100,000 residents. The rate of New Jersey was 7.0. The rate of the United States was 11.5.

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

FARS records a driver as drinking in 83 of 400 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 Ocean?

5 signed routes in the county have a page. FARS records 71 fatal crashes on them in the county from 2015 to 2024. The table of routes on this page gives the count for each route.