Portage County, Ohio: fatal crash statistics

Counties of Ohio by year (CSV)Cite this page

FARS records 12 deaths in 11 fatal crashes in Portage County in 2024.

FARS records 149 deaths in 138 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 9.2 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, Portage County was number 20 of 88 counties of Ohio.

Deaths in Portage County fell by 5.7% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (158) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (149).

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

From 2015 to 2024, 51.8% of the fatal crashes in Portage 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 Portage 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.Portage County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	12	11	3
2023	20	20	7
2022	18	16	4
2021	17	16	5
2020	17	13	4
2019	14	14	3
2018	7	7	3
2017	9	9	3
2016	14	12	5
2015	21	20	4
2015 to 2024	149	138	41

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 44 (1979)2024: 12

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

Table 2.Portage County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	12	11
2023	20	20
2022	18	16
2021	17	16
2020	17	13
2019	14	14
2018	7	7
2017	9	9
2016	14	12
2015	21	20
2014	8	8
2013	12	12
2012	13	13
2011	17	15
2010	15	14
2009	12	11
2008	17	17
2007	24	23
2006	21	19
2005	19	18
2004	20	19
2003	17	16
2002	28	24
2001	32	28
2000	25	21
1999	22	21
1998	25	22
1997	25	21
1996	33	27
1995	34	28
1994	23	19
1993	28	22
1992	22	19
1991	23	20
1990	28	25
1989	33	30
1988	33	32
1987	29	26
1986	35	34
1985	32	29
1984	33	28
1983	29	25
1982	31	27
1981	30	26
1980	26	25
1979	44	36
1978	34	31
1977	25	21
1976	37	35
1975	26	23

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.Portage County beside Ohio and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Portage County	Ohio	United States
2024	7.4	9.8	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	9.2	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. Portage County had 163,207 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.Portage County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in Ohio
A driver recorded as drinkingof 138 fatal crashes	41	138 fatal crashes	29.7%	31.7%
A speeding-related driverof 138 fatal crashes	31	138 fatal crashes	22.5%	22.7%
No restraint usedof 96 occupant deaths with restraint use known	47	96 occupant deathswith restraint use known	49.0%	55.4%
Pedestriansof 149 deaths	18	149 deaths	12.1%	11.7%
Bicyclistsof 149 deaths	1 or 2	149 deaths	1.3%	1.8%
Motorcyclistsof 149 deaths	24	149 deaths	16.1%	16.3%
On a rural roadof 137 fatal crashes with the condition reported	71	137 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	51.8%	42.3%
In the darkof 138 fatal crashes with the condition reported	52	138 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	37.7%	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.Portage 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	1 or 2	9	5	18
Monday	1 or 2	4	8	11	25
Tuesday	1 or 2	6	4	1 or 2	12
Wednesday	3	6	5	6	20
Thursday	1 or 2	6	4	1 or 2	14
Friday	4	8	7	6	25
Saturday	5	3	7	9	24
All days	20	34	44	40	138

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.Portage County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in Ohio
Interstate	15	10.9%	11.6%
Other freeways and expressways	0	0.0%	3.4%
Other principal arterial	36	26.3%	19.5%
Minor arterial	31	22.6%	21.6%
Major collector	27	19.7%	24.5%
Minor collector	1 or 2	0.7%	4.2%
Local	27	19.7%	15.2%
Not reported	1 or 2	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.Portage County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	81
Dark, not lighted	39
Dark, lighted	13
Dawn	3
Dusk	1 or 2
Dark, lighting unknown	0
Other or unknown	0

Table 8.Portage County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	83
Cloudy	37
Rain	11
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	6
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 Portage County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In Portage	In all of Ohio
Interstate 76	Interstate	10	51
Interstate 80	Interstate	4	111
Interstate 480	Interstate	1 or 2	60
State Route 14	State highway	18	36
State Route 43	State highway	7	48
State Route 44	State highway	8	24
State Route 82	State highway	5	25
State Route 303	State highway	7	27
US Route 224	US highway	8	54

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.Portage 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
Portage County: 9.2

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 Portage County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Geauga County	Ohio	10	122	12.9
Mahoning County	Ohio	18	210	9.2
Stark County	Ohio	28	301	8.1
Summit County	Ohio	37	405	7.5
Trumbull County	Ohio	18	182	9.1

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

FARS records 158 deaths in Portage County from 2005 to 2014. It records 149 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of Portage in 2024?

The rate of Portage County in 2024 was 7.4 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 Portage had a driver recorded as drinking?

FARS records a driver as drinking in 41 of 138 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 Portage?

9 signed routes in the county have a page. FARS records 68 fatal crashes on them in the county from 2015 to 2024. The table of routes on this page gives the count for each route.