Mercer County, Ohio: fatal crash statistics

Counties of Ohio by year (CSV)Cite this page

FARS records 10 deaths in 10 fatal crashes in Mercer County in 2024.

FARS records 68 deaths in 66 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 16.3 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, Mercer County was number 53 of 88 counties of Ohio.

Deaths in Mercer County fell by 9.3% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (75) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (68).

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

From 2015 to 2024, 89.4% of the fatal crashes in Mercer 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 Mercer 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.Mercer County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	10	10	0
2023	4	4	0
2022	13	12	1 or 2
2021	6	6	1 or 2
2020	7	7	1 or 2
2019	10	9	3
2018	1 or 2	1 or 2	0
2017	7	7	3
2016	4	4	0
2015	5	5	1 or 2
2015 to 2024	68	66	11

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 24 (1976)2024: 10

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

Table 2.Mercer County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	10	10
2023	4	4
2022	13	12
2021	6	6
2020	7	7
2019	10	9
2018	1 or 2	1 or 2
2017	7	7
2016	4	4
2015	5	5
2014	4	3
2013	7	7
2012	16	11
2011	5	5
2010	8	6
2009	8	7
2008	10	7
2007	5	5
2006	1 or 2	1 or 2
2005	10	9
2004	9	9
2003	7	7
2002	1 or 2	1 or 2
2001	6	6
2000	12	9
1999	6	5
1998	11	11
1997	16	14
1996	9	7
1995	17	14
1994	8	7
1993	9	9
1992	13	11
1991	10	7
1990	10	10
1989	8	6
1988	9	9
1987	10	9
1986	8	7
1985	11	6
1984	10	10
1983	11	9
1982	9	9
1981	11	8
1980	6	5
1979	18	13
1978	21	17
1977	14	14
1976	24	14
1975	6	5

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.Mercer County beside Ohio and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Mercer County	Ohio	United States
2024	23.5	9.8	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	16.3	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. Mercer County had 42,520 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.Mercer County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in Ohio
A driver recorded as drinkingof 66 fatal crashes	11	66 fatal crashes	16.7%	31.7%
A speeding-related driverof 66 fatal crashes	7	66 fatal crashes	10.6%	22.7%
No restraint usedof 50 occupant deaths with restraint use known	27	50 occupant deathswith restraint use known	54.0%	55.4%
Pedestriansof 68 deaths	4	68 deaths	5.9%	11.7%
Bicyclistsof 68 deaths	1 or 2	68 deaths	2.9%	1.8%
Motorcyclistsof 68 deaths	8	68 deaths	11.8%	16.3%
On a rural roadof 66 fatal crashes with the condition reported	59	66 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	89.4%	42.3%
In the darkof 65 fatal crashes with the condition reported	23	65 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	35.4%	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.Mercer 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	0	1 or 2	4	1 or 2	8
Monday	4	5	5	1 or 2	15
Tuesday	1 or 2	0	3	1 or 2	6
Wednesday	0	1 or 2	4	1 or 2	6
Thursday	0	3	3	3	9
Friday	0	1 or 2	5	1 or 2	8
Saturday	5	3	3	3	14
All days	10	15	27	14	66

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.Mercer County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in Ohio
Interstate	0	0.0%	11.6%
Other freeways and expressways	1 or 2	1.5%	3.4%
Other principal arterial	7	10.6%	19.5%
Minor arterial	14	21.2%	21.6%
Major collector	20	30.3%	24.5%
Minor collector	1 or 2	3.0%	4.2%
Local	22	33.3%	15.2%
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.Mercer County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	38
Dark, not lighted	21
Dark, lighted	1 or 2
Dawn	1 or 2
Dusk	1 or 2
Dark, lighting unknown	0
Other or unknown	1 or 2

Table 8.Mercer County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	54
Cloudy	7
Rain	3
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	0
Fog, smog or smoke	0
Crosswinds or blowing sand/snow	0
Other or not reported	1 or 2

Routes in the county

Table 9.Signed routes in Mercer County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In Mercer	In all of Ohio
State Route 29	State highway	5	20
State Route 49	State highway	6	34
US Route 33	US highway	3	98
US Route 127	US highway	14	69

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.Mercer 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
Mercer County: 16.3

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 Mercer County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Adams County	Indiana	4	52	14.5
Jay County	Indiana	4	46	22.4
Auglaize County	Ohio	6	53	11.5
Darke County	Ohio	4	87	16.9
Shelby County	Ohio	9	78	16.1
Van Wert County	Ohio	4	43	15.1

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 Mercer 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. Mercer County, Ohio: fatal crash statistics. https://fatalroads.com/county/oh/mercer/. 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 Mercer in the ten years before 2015?

FARS records 75 deaths in Mercer County from 2005 to 2014. It records 68 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of Mercer in 2024?

The rate of Mercer County in 2024 was 23.5 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 Mercer had a driver recorded as drinking?

FARS records a driver as drinking in 11 of 66 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 Mercer?

4 signed routes in the county have a page. FARS records 28 fatal crashes on them in the county from 2015 to 2024. The table of routes on this page gives the count for each route.