Wayne County, Ohio: fatal crash statistics

Counties of Ohio by year (CSV)Cite this page

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

FARS records 156 deaths in 142 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 13.4 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, Wayne County was number 19 of 88 counties of Ohio.

Deaths in Wayne County rose by 10.6% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (141) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (156).

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

From 2015 to 2024, 76.1% of the fatal crashes in Wayne 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 Wayne 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.Wayne County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	10	10	1 or 2
2023	23	22	6
2022	17	16	5
2021	19	16	7
2020	18	16	5
2019	13	13	3
2018	9	8	3
2017	20	17	3
2016	13	11	1 or 2
2015	14	13	1 or 2
2015 to 2024	156	142	38

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 30 (1975)2024: 10

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

Table 2.Wayne County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	10	10
2023	23	22
2022	17	16
2021	19	16
2020	18	16
2019	13	13
2018	9	8
2017	20	17
2016	13	11
2015	14	13
2014	18	18
2013	11	10
2012	14	13
2011	13	12
2010	11	10
2009	10	10
2008	16	14
2007	15	14
2006	18	17
2005	15	14
2004	18	18
2003	7	7
2002	15	15
2001	13	13
2000	24	18
1999	22	18
1998	16	15
1997	26	23
1996	23	21
1995	21	18
1994	19	17
1993	25	18
1992	19	14
1991	17	13
1990	22	21
1989	24	21
1988	13	11
1987	24	22
1986	30	27
1985	27	24
1984	21	20
1983	12	10
1982	23	22
1981	25	22
1980	24	20
1979	12	11
1978	22	20
1977	17	17
1976	17	16
1975	30	25

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.Wayne County beside Ohio and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Wayne County	Ohio	United States
2024	8.6	9.8	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	13.4	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. Wayne County had 116,575 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.Wayne County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in Ohio
A driver recorded as drinkingof 142 fatal crashes	38	142 fatal crashes	26.8%	31.7%
A speeding-related driverof 142 fatal crashes	30	142 fatal crashes	21.1%	22.7%
No restraint usedof 114 occupant deaths with restraint use known	57	114 occupant deathswith restraint use known	50.0%	55.4%
Pedestriansof 156 deaths	11	156 deaths	7.1%	11.7%
Bicyclistsof 156 deaths	1 or 2	156 deaths	0.6%	1.8%
Motorcyclistsof 156 deaths	21	156 deaths	13.5%	16.3%
On a rural roadof 142 fatal crashes with the condition reported	108	142 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	76.1%	42.3%
In the darkof 142 fatal crashes with the condition reported	44	142 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	31.0%	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.Wayne 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	7	1 or 2	5	1 or 2	15
Monday	0	6	6	1 or 2	14
Tuesday	1 or 2	7	15	5	29
Wednesday	1 or 2	5	7	3	17
Thursday	1 or 2	1 or 2	8	3	14
Friday	3	7	10	12	32
Saturday	3	6	7	5	21
All days	18	34	58	32	142

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.Wayne County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in Ohio
Interstate	5	3.5%	11.6%
Other freeways and expressways	6	4.2%	3.4%
Other principal arterial	27	19.0%	19.5%
Minor arterial	29	20.4%	21.6%
Major collector	25	17.6%	24.5%
Minor collector	16	11.3%	4.2%
Local	34	23.9%	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.Wayne County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	91
Dark, not lighted	40
Dark, lighted	4
Dawn	4
Dusk	3
Dark, lighting unknown	0
Other or unknown	0

Table 8.Wayne County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	81
Cloudy	48
Rain	8
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	1 or 2
Fog, smog or smoke	1 or 2
Crosswinds or blowing sand/snow	1 or 2
Other or not reported	0

Routes in the county

Table 9.Signed routes in Wayne County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In Wayne	In all of Ohio
Interstate 71	Interstate	5	214
State Route 3	State highway	13	59
State Route 57	State highway	3	27
State Route 83	State highway	10	35
US Route 30	US highway	10	70
US Route 42	US highway	1 or 2	90
US Route 250	US highway	10	46

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.Wayne 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
Wayne County: 13.4

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 Wayne County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Ashland County	Ohio	7	75	14.2
Holmes County	Ohio	4	53	12.0
Medina County	Ohio	19	122	6.7
Stark County	Ohio	28	301	8.1
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 Wayne 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. Wayne County, Ohio: fatal crash statistics. https://fatalroads.com/county/oh/wayne/. 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 Wayne in the ten years before 2015?

FARS records 141 deaths in Wayne County from 2005 to 2014. It records 156 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of Wayne in 2024?

The rate of Wayne County in 2024 was 8.6 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 Wayne had a driver recorded as drinking?

FARS records a driver as drinking in 38 of 142 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 Wayne?

7 signed routes in the county have a page. FARS records 53 fatal crashes on them in the county from 2015 to 2024. The table of routes on this page gives the count for each route.