Rensselaer County, New York: fatal crash statistics

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

FARS records 13 deaths in 12 fatal crashes in Rensselaer County in 2024.

FARS records 95 deaths in 90 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 5.9 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, Rensselaer County was number 29 of 62 counties of New York.

Deaths in Rensselaer County fell by 24.0% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (125) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (95).

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

From 2015 to 2024, 53.3% of the fatal crashes in Rensselaer 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 Rensselaer 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.Rensselaer County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	13	12	1 or 2
2023	12	11	4
2022	12	11	3
2021	9	9	4
2020	13	11	3
2019	4	4	0
2018	6	6	1 or 2
2017	9	9	1 or 2
2016	8	8	1 or 2
2015	9	9	1 or 2
2015 to 2024	95	90	22

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 39 (1977)2024: 13

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

Table 2.Rensselaer County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	13	12
2023	12	11
2022	12	11
2021	9	9
2020	13	11
2019	4	4
2018	6	6
2017	9	9
2016	8	8
2015	9	9
2014	10	10
2013	11	10
2012	11	11
2011	9	8
2010	22	16
2009	7	7
2008	13	13
2007	12	12
2006	16	14
2005	14	12
2004	17	14
2003	12	12
2002	18	18
2001	18	17
2000	15	15
1999	15	12
1998	25	20
1997	10	10
1996	18	17
1995	17	16
1994	14	13
1993	16	15
1992	14	12
1991	18	16
1990	12	12
1989	22	21
1988	28	25
1987	21	17
1986	21	19
1985	21	20
1984	19	17
1983	23	20
1982	29	24
1981	23	21
1980	21	20
1979	20	20
1978	26	23
1977	39	31
1976	17	15
1975	32	31

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.Rensselaer County beside New York and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Rensselaer County	New York	United States
2024	8.1	5.5	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	5.9	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. Rensselaer County had 160,014 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.Rensselaer County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in New York
A driver recorded as drinkingof 90 fatal crashes	22	90 fatal crashes	24.4%	20.2%
A speeding-related driverof 90 fatal crashes	28	90 fatal crashes	31.1%	30.9%
No restraint usedof 49 occupant deaths with restraint use known	17	49 occupant deathswith restraint use known	34.7%	38.5%
Pedestriansof 95 deaths	16	95 deaths	16.8%	26.3%
Bicyclistsof 95 deaths	1 or 2	95 deaths	2.1%	4.0%
Motorcyclistsof 95 deaths	24	95 deaths	25.3%	16.4%
On a rural roadof 90 fatal crashes with the condition reported	48	90 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	53.3%	30.4%
In the darkof 90 fatal crashes with the condition reported	34	90 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	37.8%	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.Rensselaer 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	0	7	1 or 2	12
Monday	1 or 2	1 or 2	6	4	13
Tuesday	1 or 2	3	5	4	13
Wednesday	1 or 2	1 or 2	4	1 or 2	10
Thursday	1 or 2	1 or 2	5	1 or 2	9
Friday	0	5	1 or 2	4	11
Saturday	4	3	5	10	22
All days	12	16	34	28	90

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.Rensselaer County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in New York
Interstate	1 or 2	2.2%	7.6%
Other freeways and expressways	1 or 2	1.1%	6.9%
Other principal arterial	38	42.2%	29.1%
Minor arterial	24	26.7%	19.6%
Major collector	9	10.0%	9.5%
Minor collector	1 or 2	2.2%	2.9%
Local	14	15.6%	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.Rensselaer County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	52
Dark, not lighted	17
Dark, lighted	17
Dawn	3
Dusk	1 or 2
Dark, lighting unknown	0
Other or unknown	0

Table 8.Rensselaer County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	58
Cloudy	23
Rain	8
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	1 or 2
Fog, smog or smoke	0
Crosswinds or blowing sand/snow	0
Other or not reported	0

Routes in the county

Table 9.Signed routes in Rensselaer County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In Rensselaer	In all of New York
Interstate 90	Interstate	1 or 2	90
State Route 7	State highway	13	45
State Route 22	State highway	6	53
US Route 4	US highway	7	21
US Route 9	US highway	7	118
US Route 20	US highway	5	97

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.Rensselaer 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
Rensselaer County: 5.9

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 Rensselaer County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Berkshire County	Massachusetts	13	122	9.5
Albany County	New York	17	197	6.3
Columbia County	New York	5	82	13.5
Saratoga County	New York	14	166	7.1
Washington County	New York	8	75	12.3
Bennington County	Vermont	4	41	11.2

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 Rensselaer 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. Rensselaer County, New York: fatal crash statistics. https://fatalroads.com/county/ny/rensselaer/. 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 Rensselaer in the ten years before 2015?

FARS records 125 deaths in Rensselaer County from 2005 to 2014. It records 95 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of Rensselaer in 2024?

The rate of Rensselaer County in 2024 was 8.1 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 Rensselaer had a driver recorded as drinking?

FARS records a driver as drinking in 22 of 90 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 Rensselaer?

6 signed routes in the county have a page. FARS records 40 fatal crashes on them in the county from 2015 to 2024. The table of routes on this page gives the count for each route.