Columbia County, Oregon: fatal crash statistics

Counties of Oregon by year (CSV)Cite this page

FARS records 6 deaths in 5 fatal crashes in Columbia County in 2024.

FARS records 67 deaths in 66 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 12.8 deaths for each 100,000 residents in a year.

The rate of Oregon in the same years is 12.4.

By deaths from 2015 to 2024, Columbia County was number 23 of 36 counties of Oregon.

Deaths in Columbia County fell by 1.5% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (68) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (67).

In the counties of Oregon the deaths rose by 34.7% between the same years.

From 2015 to 2024, 44.7% of the occupants killed in Columbia County with restraint use known had no restraint, against 35.0% in Oregon.

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 Columbia 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.Columbia County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	6	5	1 or 2
2023	19	19	6
2022	3	3	1 or 2
2021	5	5	1 or 2
2020	3	3	0
2019	8	8	1 or 2
2018	6	6	1 or 2
2017	5	5	0
2016	4	4	1 or 2
2015	8	8	3
2015 to 2024	67	66	18

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 19 (2023)2024: 6

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

Table 2.Columbia County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	6	5
2023	19	19
2022	3	3
2021	5	5
2020	3	3
2019	8	8
2018	6	6
2017	5	5
2016	4	4
2015	8	8
2014	3	3
2013	3	3
2012	1 or 2	1 or 2
2011	5	5
2010	10	8
2009	7	4
2008	8	7
2007	13	13
2006	8	7
2005	9	8
2004	4	4
2003	3	3
2002	5	5
2001	15	11
2000	1 or 2	1 or 2
1999	5	3
1998	8	8
1997	7	6
1996	6	5
1995	6	6
1994	6	6
1993	4	4
1992	10	8
1991	16	13
1990	15	12
1989	10	10
1988	4	4
1987	11	10
1986	14	13
1985	10	10
1984	8	8
1983	15	10
1982	6	5
1981	7	7
1980	8	5
1979	11	9
1978	13	12
1977	9	7
1976	13	12
1975	8	7

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.Columbia County beside Oregon and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Columbia County	Oregon	United States
2024	11.1	12.6	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	12.8	12.4	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. Columbia County had 53,965 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.Columbia County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in Oregon
A driver recorded as drinkingof 66 fatal crashes	18	66 fatal crashes	27.3%	31.0%
A speeding-related driverof 66 fatal crashes	25	66 fatal crashes	37.9%	30.1%
No restraint usedof 38 occupant deaths with restraint use known	17	38 occupant deathswith restraint use known	44.7%	35.0%
Pedestriansof 67 deaths	10	67 deaths	14.9%	16.2%
Bicyclistsof 67 deaths	1 or 2	67 deaths	3.0%	2.3%
Motorcyclistsof 67 deaths	7	67 deaths	10.4%	13.9%
On a rural roadof 66 fatal crashes with the condition reported	42	66 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	63.6%	55.2%
In the darkof 64 fatal crashes with the condition reported	23	64 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	35.9%	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.Columbia 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	1 or 2	0	1 or 2	3	6
Monday	1 or 2	1 or 2	1 or 2	3	8
Tuesday	1 or 2	1 or 2	3	4	10
Wednesday	1 or 2	4	5	4	15
Thursday	1 or 2	1 or 2	5	0	9
Friday	0	1 or 2	5	1 or 2	8
Saturday	1 or 2	1 or 2	1 or 2	3	8
All days	10	13	23	18	64

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.Columbia County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in Oregon
Interstate	0	0.0%	8.4%
Other freeways and expressways	0	0.0%	0.8%
Other principal arterial	36	54.5%	39.6%
Minor arterial	11	16.7%	22.1%
Major collector	13	19.7%	18.9%
Minor collector	5	7.6%	3.9%
Local	1 or 2	1.5%	6.3%
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.Columbia County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	38
Dark, not lighted	20
Dark, lighted	1 or 2
Dawn	1 or 2
Dusk	1 or 2
Dark, lighting unknown	1 or 2
Other or unknown	1 or 2

Table 8.Columbia County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	29
Cloudy	16
Rain	11
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	0
Fog, smog or smoke	3
Crosswinds or blowing sand/snow	0
Other or not reported	7

Routes in the county

Table 9.Signed routes in Columbia County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In Columbia	In all of Oregon
State Route 47	State highway	5	23
US Route 30	US highway	34	84

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 Oregon

Adjacent counties

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

Figure 3.Columbia County on the county map of Oregon

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

Fewer than 104 counties
10 to 14.910 counties
15 to 19.95 counties
20 to 29.97 counties
30 or more10 counties
Columbia County: 12.8

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 Oregon

Table 10.Counties that share a boundary line with Columbia County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Clatsop County	Oregon	7	110	27.3
Multnomah County	Oregon	78	689	8.6
Washington County	Oregon	35	287	4.8
Clark County	Washington	41	324	6.5
Cowlitz County	Washington	23	125	11.4
Wahkiakum County	Washington	1 or 2	6	13.5

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

Counties of similar population

These counties of Oregon have a population nearest to that of Columbia 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.
Oregon Transportation Safety OfficeThe highway safety office of Oregon.

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

Cite this page

Fatal Roads. Columbia County, Oregon: fatal crash statistics. https://fatalroads.com/county/or/columbia/. 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 Columbia in the ten years before 2015?

FARS records 68 deaths in Columbia County from 2005 to 2014. It records 67 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of Columbia in 2024?

The rate of Columbia County in 2024 was 11.1 deaths for each 100,000 residents. The rate of Oregon was 12.6. The rate of the United States was 11.5.

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

FARS records a driver as drinking in 18 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 Columbia?

FARS records 5 fatal crashes on State Route 47 in the county from 2015 to 2024. FARS records 34 fatal crashes on US Route 30 in the county from 2015 to 2024.