Jefferson County, New York: fatal crash statistics

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

FARS records 8 deaths in 8 fatal crashes in Jefferson County in 2024.

FARS records 101 deaths in 94 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 8.9 deaths for each 100,000 residents in a year.

The rate of New York in the same years is 5.4.

By deaths from 2015 to 2024, Jefferson County was number 27 of 62 counties of New York.

Deaths in Jefferson County fell by 26.3% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (137) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (101).

In the counties of New York the deaths fell by 13.9% between the same years.

From 2015 to 2024, 63.8% of the fatal crashes in Jefferson County with a known setting were rural, against 30.4% in New York.

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 Jefferson 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.Jefferson County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	8	8	3
2023	11	10	3
2022	16	16	3
2021	9	9	4
2020	15	10	3
2019	10	10	5
2018	7	7	3
2017	4	4	0
2016	9	8	4
2015	12	12	5
2015 to 2024	101	94	33

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 27 (1987)2024: 8

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

Table 2.Jefferson County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	8	8
2023	11	10
2022	16	16
2021	9	9
2020	15	10
2019	10	10
2018	7	7
2017	4	4
2016	9	8
2015	12	12
2014	8	8
2013	12	10
2012	22	16
2011	13	13
2010	8	8
2009	19	14
2008	14	13
2007	10	8
2006	13	13
2005	18	16
2004	10	9
2003	8	8
2002	16	15
2001	19	17
2000	12	12
1999	12	12
1998	13	12
1997	11	9
1996	15	10
1995	11	9
1994	13	12
1993	17	16
1992	13	12
1991	16	16
1990	19	18
1989	23	21
1988	15	15
1987	27	20
1986	18	16
1985	15	13
1984	22	13
1983	19	18
1982	20	19
1981	10	10
1980	21	21
1979	23	19
1978	22	21
1977	15	15
1976	23	20
1975	22	22

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.Jefferson County beside New York and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Jefferson County	New York	United States
2024	7.1	5.5	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	8.9	5.4	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. Jefferson County had 112,795 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.Jefferson County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in New York
A driver recorded as drinkingof 94 fatal crashes	33	94 fatal crashes	35.1%	20.2%
A speeding-related driverof 94 fatal crashes	36	94 fatal crashes	38.3%	30.9%
No restraint usedof 57 occupant deaths with restraint use known	30	57 occupant deathswith restraint use known	52.6%	38.5%
Pedestriansof 101 deaths	15	101 deaths	14.9%	26.3%
Bicyclistsof 101 deaths	4	101 deaths	4.0%	4.0%
Motorcyclistsof 101 deaths	17	101 deaths	16.8%	16.4%
On a rural roadof 94 fatal crashes with the condition reported	60	94 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	63.8%	30.4%
In the darkof 94 fatal crashes with the condition reported	36	94 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	38.3%	46.9%

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.Jefferson 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	3	4	5	0	12
Monday	1 or 2	1 or 2	1 or 2	1 or 2	6
Tuesday	1 or 2	0	1 or 2	3	7
Wednesday	0	5	8	3	16
Thursday	0	3	5	10	18
Friday	1 or 2	3	6	4	14
Saturday	6	3	7	5	21
All days	13	19	35	27	94

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.Jefferson County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in New York
Interstate	8	8.5%	7.6%
Other freeways and expressways	0	0.0%	6.9%
Other principal arterial	25	26.6%	29.1%
Minor arterial	20	21.3%	19.6%
Major collector	19	20.2%	9.5%
Minor collector	3	3.2%	2.9%
Local	19	20.2%	24.6%
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.Jefferson County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	55
Dark, not lighted	28
Dark, lighted	8
Dawn	1 or 2
Dusk	1 or 2
Dark, lighting unknown	0
Other or unknown	0

Table 8.Jefferson County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	51
Cloudy	34
Rain	4
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	3
Fog, smog or smoke	1 or 2
Crosswinds or blowing sand/snow	0
Other or not reported	0

Routes in the county

Table 9.Signed routes in Jefferson County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In Jefferson	In all of New York
Interstate 81	Interstate	6	61
State Route 3	State highway	10	43
State Route 12	State highway	8	47
State Route 26	State highway	5	22
US Route 11	US highway	14	71

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 York

Adjacent counties

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

Figure 3.Jefferson County on the county map of New York

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

Fewer than 1040 counties
10 to 14.917 counties
15 to 19.95 counties
20 to 29.90 counties
30 or more0 counties
Jefferson County: 8.9

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 York

Table 10.Counties that share a boundary line with Jefferson County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Cayuga County	New York	9	68	8.9
Lewis County	New York	3	37	13.9
Oswego County	New York	12	155	13.1
St. Lawrence County	New York	14	117	10.8

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

Counties of similar population

These counties of New York have a population nearest to that of Jefferson 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 York Governor's Traffic Safety CommitteeThe highway safety office of New York.

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

Cite this page

Fatal Roads. Jefferson County, New York: fatal crash statistics. https://fatalroads.com/county/ny/jefferson/. 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 Jefferson in the ten years before 2015?

FARS records 137 deaths in Jefferson County from 2005 to 2014. It records 101 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of Jefferson in 2024?

The rate of Jefferson County in 2024 was 7.1 deaths for each 100,000 residents. The rate of New York was 5.5. The rate of the United States was 11.5.

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

FARS records a driver as drinking in 33 of 94 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 Jefferson?

5 signed routes in the county have a page. FARS records 43 fatal crashes on them in the county from 2015 to 2024. The table of routes on this page gives the count for each route.