McKinley County, New Mexico: fatal crash statistics

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

FARS records 17 deaths in 14 fatal crashes in McKinley County in 2024.

FARS records 278 deaths in 237 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 39.0 deaths for each 100,000 residents in a year.

The rate of New Mexico in the same years is 19.4.

By deaths from 2015 to 2024, McKinley County was number 3 of 33 counties of New Mexico.

Deaths in McKinley County fell by 22.3% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (358) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (278).

In the counties of New Mexico the deaths rose by 5.8% between the same years.

From 2015 to 2024, 79.7% of the fatal crashes in McKinley County with a known setting were rural, against 54.5% in New Mexico.

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 McKinley 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.McKinley County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	17	14	4
2023	29	26	9
2022	34	33	10
2021	32	25	7
2020	24	20	5
2019	26	21	6
2018	41	30	6
2017	30	28	14
2016	22	22	3
2015	23	18	5
2015 to 2024	278	237	69

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 83 (1975)2024: 17

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

Table 2.McKinley County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	17	14
2023	29	26
2022	34	33
2021	32	25
2020	24	20
2019	26	21
2018	41	30
2017	30	28
2016	22	22
2015	23	18
2014	48	41
2013	26	23
2012	29	24
2011	30	27
2010	21	19
2009	34	31
2008	32	27
2007	39	34
2006	45	39
2005	54	42
2004	57	46
2003	43	34
2002	36	33
2001	33	29
2000	48	40
1999	39	36
1998	32	28
1997	29	27
1996	39	33
1995	24	22
1994	34	31
1993	37	35
1992	41	39
1991	39	36
1990	45	42
1989	66	57
1988	47	41
1987	59	47
1986	36	32
1985	45	39
1984	57	47
1983	46	41
1982	53	40
1981	62	55
1980	66	54
1979	70	57
1978	74	68
1977	70	55
1976	78	66
1975	83	62

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.McKinley County beside New Mexico and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	McKinley County	New Mexico	United States
2024	24.8	19.2	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	39.0	19.4	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. McKinley County had 68,631 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.McKinley County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in New Mexico
A driver recorded as drinkingof 237 fatal crashes	69	237 fatal crashes	29.1%	26.4%
A speeding-related driverof 237 fatal crashes	95	237 fatal crashes	40.1%	35.9%
No restraint usedof 170 occupant deaths with restraint use known	103	170 occupant deathswith restraint use known	60.6%	54.3%
Pedestriansof 278 deaths	71	278 deaths	25.5%	20.5%
Bicyclistsof 278 deaths	0	278 deaths	0.0%	1.7%
Motorcyclistsof 278 deaths	7	278 deaths	2.5%	12.2%
On a rural roadof 236 fatal crashes with the condition reported	188	236 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	79.7%	54.5%
In the darkof 235 fatal crashes with the condition reported	112	235 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	47.7%	49.6%

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.McKinley 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	6	10	8	15	39
Monday	1 or 2	7	5	9	22
Tuesday	3	9	10	14	36
Wednesday	1 or 2	5	11	14	31
Thursday	1 or 2	3	8	9	22
Friday	1 or 2	5	12	17	36
Saturday	5	12	9	25	51
All days	20	51	63	103	237

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.McKinley County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in New Mexico
Interstate	85	36.3%	21.6%
Other freeways and expressways	3	1.3%	0.8%
Other principal arterial	65	27.8%	37.4%
Minor arterial	15	6.4%	14.8%
Major collector	25	10.7%	12.4%
Minor collector	10	4.3%	3.2%
Local	31	13.2%	9.7%
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.McKinley County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	110
Dark, not lighted	88
Dark, lighted	20
Dawn	6
Dusk	7
Dark, lighting unknown	4
Other or unknown	1 or 2

Table 8.McKinley County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	202
Cloudy	3
Rain	11
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	7
Fog, smog or smoke	1 or 2
Crosswinds or blowing sand/snow	4
Other or not reported	9

Routes in the county

Table 9.Signed routes in McKinley County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In McKinley	In all of New Mexico
Interstate 40	Interstate	86	374
State Route 53	State highway	11	22
State Route 118	State highway	25	25
US Route 491	US highway	18	44

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 Mexico

Adjacent counties

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

Figure 3.McKinley County on the county map of New Mexico

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

Fewer than 101 county
10 to 14.96 counties
15 to 19.92 counties
20 to 29.910 counties
30 or more14 counties
McKinley County: 39.0

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 Mexico

Table 10.Counties that share a boundary line with McKinley County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Apache County	Arizona	29	318	46.5
Cibola County	New Mexico	6	141	52.5
San Juan County	New Mexico	20	285	23.0
Sandoval County	New Mexico	13	157	10.6

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

Counties of similar population

These counties of New Mexico have a population nearest to that of McKinley 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 Mexico Traffic Safety DivisionThe highway safety office of New Mexico.

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

Cite this page

Fatal Roads. McKinley County, New Mexico: fatal crash statistics. https://fatalroads.com/county/nm/mckinley/. 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 McKinley in the ten years before 2015?

FARS records 358 deaths in McKinley County from 2005 to 2014. It records 278 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of McKinley in 2024?

The rate of McKinley County in 2024 was 24.8 deaths for each 100,000 residents. The rate of New Mexico was 19.2. The rate of the United States was 11.5.

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

FARS records a driver as drinking in 69 of 237 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 McKinley?

4 signed routes in the county have a page. FARS records 140 fatal crashes on them in the county from 2015 to 2024. The table of routes on this page gives the count for each route.