Cuyahoga County, Ohio: fatal crash statistics

Counties of Ohio by year (CSV)Cite this page

FARS records 118 deaths in 111 fatal crashes in Cuyahoga County in 2024.

FARS records 949 deaths in 893 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 7.6 deaths for each 100,000 residents in a year.

The rate of Ohio in the same years is 10.1.

By deaths from 2015 to 2024, Cuyahoga County was number 2 of 88 counties of Ohio.

Deaths in Cuyahoga County rose by 52.6% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (622) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (949).

In the counties of Ohio the deaths rose by 5.9% between the same years.

From 2015 to 2024, 1.0% of the fatal crashes in Cuyahoga County with a known setting were rural, against 42.3% in Ohio.

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 Cuyahoga County by year, 2015 to 2024

111

129

104

118

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.Cuyahoga County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	118	111	42
2023	104	100	22
2022	86	82	35
2021	129	121	49
2020	111	105	40
2019	86	79	41
2018	63	59	21
2017	95	91	32
2016	82	75	27
2015	75	70	30
2015 to 2024	949	893	339

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 217 (1979)2024: 118

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

Table 2.Cuyahoga County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	118	111
2023	104	100
2022	86	82
2021	129	121
2020	111	105
2019	86	79
2018	63	59
2017	95	91
2016	82	75
2015	75	70
2014	46	45
2013	56	52
2012	48	47
2011	61	56
2010	63	60
2009	60	59
2008	96	93
2007	65	63
2006	68	63
2005	59	58
2004	75	67
2003	69	62
2002	66	62
2001	77	69
2000	71	62
1999	96	86
1998	91	86
1997	91	81
1996	86	82
1995	83	81
1994	73	72
1993	78	74
1992	80	76
1991	112	106
1990	127	113
1989	121	111
1988	126	119
1987	148	134
1986	133	124
1985	154	148
1984	170	154
1983	155	144
1982	136	122
1981	172	161
1980	194	178
1979	217	198
1978	173	157
1977	176	164
1976	193	171
1975	170	159

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.Cuyahoga County beside Ohio and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Cuyahoga County	Ohio	United States
2024	9.6	9.8	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	7.6	10.1	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. Cuyahoga County had 1,233,614 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.Cuyahoga County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in Ohio
A driver recorded as drinkingof 893 fatal crashes	339	893 fatal crashes	38.0%	31.7%
A speeding-related driverof 893 fatal crashes	325	893 fatal crashes	36.4%	22.7%
No restraint usedof 500 occupant deaths with restraint use known	327	500 occupant deathswith restraint use known	65.4%	55.4%
Pedestriansof 949 deaths	169	949 deaths	17.8%	11.7%
Bicyclistsof 949 deaths	15	949 deaths	1.6%	1.8%
Motorcyclistsof 949 deaths	149	949 deaths	15.7%	16.3%
On a rural roadof 866 fatal crashes with the condition reported	9	866 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	1.0%	42.3%
In the darkof 893 fatal crashes with the condition reported	515	893 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	57.7%	45.0%

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.Cuyahoga 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	54	16	25	40	135
Monday	30	16	27	29	102
Tuesday	19	22	27	32	100
Wednesday	26	21	21	28	96
Thursday	22	21	31	45	119
Friday	38	24	37	53	152
Saturday	74	15	31	69	189
All days	263	135	199	296	893

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.Cuyahoga County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in Ohio
Interstate	220	25.3%	11.6%
Other freeways and expressways	17	2.0%	3.4%
Other principal arterial	190	21.9%	19.5%
Minor arterial	271	31.2%	21.6%
Major collector	104	12.0%	24.5%
Minor collector	1 or 2	0.1%	4.2%
Local	65	7.5%	15.2%
Not reported	25	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.Cuyahoga County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	331
Dark, not lighted	30
Dark, lighted	484
Dawn	21
Dusk	26
Dark, lighting unknown	1 or 2
Other or unknown	0

Table 8.Cuyahoga County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	522
Cloudy	259
Rain	82
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	28
Fog, smog or smoke	1 or 2
Crosswinds or blowing sand/snow	0
Other or not reported	1 or 2

Routes in the county

Table 9.Signed routes in Cuyahoga County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In Cuyahoga	In all of Ohio
Interstate 71	Interstate	29	214
Interstate 77	Interstate	19	85
Interstate 80	Interstate	13	111
Interstate 90	Interstate	73	99
Interstate 270	Interstate	1 or 2	88
Interstate 271	Interstate	21	29
Interstate 480	Interstate	53	60
State Route 2	State highway	10	67
State Route 3	State highway	1 or 2	59
State Route 8	State highway	3	20
State Route 10	State highway	18	21
State Route 14	State highway	10	36
State Route 29	State highway	1 or 2	20
State Route 43	State highway	11	48
State Route 82	State highway	6	25
US Route 6	US highway	37	121
US Route 20	US highway	15	114
US Route 42	US highway	11	90
US Route 322	US highway	8	26
US Route 422	US highway	38	55

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 Ohio

Adjacent counties

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

Figure 3.Cuyahoga County on the county map of Ohio

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

Fewer than 1022 counties
10 to 14.929 counties
15 to 19.927 counties
20 to 29.99 counties
30 or more1 county
Cuyahoga County: 7.6

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 Ohio

Table 10.Counties that share a boundary line with Cuyahoga County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Geauga County	Ohio	10	122	12.9
Lake County	Ohio	11	109	4.7
Lorain County	Ohio	26	270	8.6
Medina County	Ohio	19	122	6.7
Summit County	Ohio	37	405	7.5

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

Counties of similar population

These counties of Ohio have a population nearest to that of Cuyahoga 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.
Ohio Traffic Safety OfficeThe highway safety office of Ohio.

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

Cite this page

Fatal Roads. Cuyahoga County, Ohio: fatal crash statistics. https://fatalroads.com/county/oh/cuyahoga/. 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 Cuyahoga in the ten years before 2015?

FARS records 622 deaths in Cuyahoga County from 2005 to 2014. It records 949 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of Cuyahoga in 2024?

The rate of Cuyahoga County in 2024 was 9.6 deaths for each 100,000 residents. The rate of Ohio was 9.8. The rate of the United States was 11.5.

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

FARS records a driver as drinking in 339 of 893 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 Cuyahoga?

20 signed routes in the county have a page. FARS records 379 fatal crashes on them in the county from 2015 to 2024. The table of routes on this page gives the count for each route.