Socorro County, New Mexico: fatal crash statistics

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

FARS records 14 deaths in 10 fatal crashes in Socorro County in 2024.

FARS records 94 deaths in 77 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 56.9 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, Socorro County was number 16 of 33 counties of New Mexico.

Deaths in Socorro County fell by 3.1% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (97) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (94).

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

From 2015 to 2024, 90.9% of the fatal crashes in Socorro 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 Socorro County by year, 2015 to 2024

1 or 2

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.Socorro County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	14	10	1 or 2
2023	12	9	1 or 2
2022	14	13	3
2021	13	11	1 or 2
2020	11	9	1 or 2
2019	6	6	0
2018	1 or 2	1 or 2	0
2017	1 or 2	1 or 2	0
2016	16	11	1 or 2
2015	4	4	1 or 2
2015 to 2024	94	77	11

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 20 (1979)2024: 14

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

Table 2.Socorro County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	14	10
2023	12	9
2022	14	13
2021	13	11
2020	11	9
2019	6	6
2018	1 or 2	1 or 2
2017	1 or 2	1 or 2
2016	16	11
2015	4	4
2014	8	7
2013	8	4
2012	4	4
2011	12	10
2010	5	5
2009	11	11
2008	15	10
2007	14	12
2006	5	5
2005	15	14
2004	13	12
2003	13	11
2002	6	5
2001	17	13
2000	11	9
1999	14	12
1998	12	6
1997	11	7
1996	12	7
1995	12	9
1994	8	7
1993	14	9
1992	16	13
1991	14	13
1990	8	6
1989	13	12
1988	11	10
1987	20	16
1986	11	8
1985	7	7
1984	7	7
1983	13	12
1982	9	9
1981	13	11
1980	20	11
1979	20	16
1978	14	14
1977	11	8
1976	9	8
1975	12	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.Socorro County beside New Mexico and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Socorro County	New Mexico	United States
2024	87.9	19.2	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	56.9	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. Socorro County had 15,930 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.Socorro County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in New Mexico
A driver recorded as drinkingof 77 fatal crashes	11	77 fatal crashes	14.3%	26.4%
A speeding-related driverof 77 fatal crashes	15	77 fatal crashes	19.5%	35.9%
No restraint usedof 62 occupant deaths with restraint use known	38	62 occupant deathswith restraint use known	61.3%	54.3%
Pedestriansof 94 deaths	9	94 deaths	9.6%	20.5%
Bicyclistsof 94 deaths	0	94 deaths	0.0%	1.7%
Motorcyclistsof 94 deaths	11	94 deaths	11.7%	12.2%
On a rural roadof 77 fatal crashes with the condition reported	70	77 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	90.9%	54.5%
In the darkof 77 fatal crashes with the condition reported	31	77 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	40.3%	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.Socorro 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	1 or 2	1 or 2	6	4	14
Monday	1 or 2	1 or 2	5	3	10
Tuesday	1 or 2	5	0	0	6
Wednesday	1 or 2	1 or 2	1 or 2	1 or 2	7
Thursday	0	1 or 2	4	1 or 2	8
Friday	1 or 2	0	5	4	10
Saturday	8	6	5	3	22
All days	15	18	27	17	77

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.Socorro County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in New Mexico
Interstate	52	67.5%	21.6%
Other freeways and expressways	0	0.0%	0.8%
Other principal arterial	13	16.9%	37.4%
Minor arterial	4	5.2%	14.8%
Major collector	1 or 2	2.6%	12.4%
Minor collector	3	3.9%	3.2%
Local	3	3.9%	9.7%
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.Socorro County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	44
Dark, not lighted	26
Dark, lighted	1 or 2
Dawn	1 or 2
Dusk	0
Dark, lighting unknown	3
Other or unknown	0

Table 8.Socorro County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	72
Cloudy	1 or 2
Rain	0
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	1 or 2
Fog, smog or smoke	0
Crosswinds or blowing sand/snow	1 or 2
Other or not reported	1 or 2

Routes in the county

Table 9.Signed routes in Socorro County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In Socorro	In all of New Mexico
Interstate 25	Interstate	51	314
US Route 60	US highway	16	57

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.Socorro 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
Socorro County: 56.9

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 Mexico

Table 10.Counties that share a boundary line with Socorro County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Catron County	New Mexico	1 or 2	15	41.3
Cibola County	New Mexico	6	141	52.5
Lincoln County	New Mexico	6	50	25.2
Sierra County	New Mexico	4	37	32.8
Torrance County	New Mexico	14	103	66.5
Valencia County	New Mexico	11	99	12.8

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 Socorro 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. Socorro County, New Mexico: fatal crash statistics. https://fatalroads.com/county/nm/socorro/. 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 Socorro in the ten years before 2015?

FARS records 97 deaths in Socorro County from 2005 to 2014. It records 94 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of Socorro in 2024?

The rate of Socorro County in 2024 was 87.9 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 Socorro had a driver recorded as drinking?

FARS records a driver as drinking in 11 of 77 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 Socorro?

FARS records 51 fatal crashes on Interstate 25 in the county from 2015 to 2024. FARS records 16 fatal crashes on US Route 60 in the county from 2015 to 2024.