Wasco County, Oregon: fatal crash statistics

Counties of Oregon by year (CSV)Cite this page

FARS records 9 deaths in 8 fatal crashes in Wasco County in 2024.

FARS records 86 deaths in 73 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 32.7 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, Wasco County was number 19 of 36 counties of Oregon.

Deaths in Wasco County rose by 65.4% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (52) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (86).

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

From 2015 to 2024, 95.9% of the fatal crashes in Wasco County with a known setting were rural, against 55.2% 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 Wasco 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.Wasco County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	9	8	1 or 2
2023	8	7	1 or 2
2022	13	11	4
2021	13	9	1 or 2
2020	9	8	4
2019	4	4	1 or 2
2018	7	7	1 or 2
2017	10	9	1 or 2
2016	10	7	1 or 2
2015	3	3	0
2015 to 2024	86	73	19

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 23 (1979)2024: 9

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

Table 2.Wasco County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	9	8
2023	8	7
2022	13	11
2021	13	9
2020	9	8
2019	4	4
2018	7	7
2017	10	9
2016	10	7
2015	3	3
2014	5	5
2013	3	1 or 2
2012	1 or 2	1 or 2
2011	4	4
2010	6	6
2009	9	8
2008	1 or 2	1 or 2
2007	7	6
2006	9	5
2005	5	5
2004	3	3
2003	9	7
2002	6	6
2001	8	8
2000	3	1 or 2
1999	9	8
1998	7	7
1997	5	5
1996	3	3
1995	1 or 2	1 or 2
1994	12	11
1993	5	5
1992	9	9
1991	8	6
1990	13	9
1989	6	6
1988	9	7
1987	7	6
1986	7	6
1985	8	7
1984	13	10
1983	8	7
1982	5	5
1981	9	9
1980	3	3
1979	23	18
1978	12	11
1977	15	12
1976	9	8
1975	19	14

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.Wasco County beside Oregon and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Wasco County	Oregon	United States
2024	34.0	12.6	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	32.7	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. Wasco County had 26,461 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.Wasco County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in Oregon
A driver recorded as drinkingof 73 fatal crashes	19	73 fatal crashes	26.0%	31.0%
A speeding-related driverof 73 fatal crashes	25	73 fatal crashes	34.2%	30.1%
No restraint usedof 55 occupant deaths with restraint use known	11	55 occupant deathswith restraint use known	20.0%	35.0%
Pedestriansof 86 deaths	3	86 deaths	3.5%	16.2%
Bicyclistsof 86 deaths	0	86 deaths	0.0%	2.3%
Motorcyclistsof 86 deaths	15	86 deaths	17.4%	13.9%
On a rural roadof 73 fatal crashes with the condition reported	70	73 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	95.9%	55.2%
In the darkof 70 fatal crashes with the condition reported	19	70 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	27.1%	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.Wasco 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	4	1 or 2	10
Monday	1 or 2	5	5	3	14
Tuesday	0	5	5	3	13
Wednesday	1 or 2	5	4	3	13
Thursday	1 or 2	0	3	1 or 2	6
Friday	1 or 2	0	1 or 2	4	8
Saturday	0	0	7	1 or 2	9
All days	8	16	30	19	73

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.Wasco County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in Oregon
Interstate	11	15.1%	8.4%
Other freeways and expressways	0	0.0%	0.8%
Other principal arterial	34	46.6%	39.6%
Minor arterial	9	12.3%	22.1%
Major collector	15	20.5%	18.9%
Minor collector	1 or 2	2.7%	3.9%
Local	1 or 2	2.7%	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.Wasco County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	49
Dark, not lighted	15
Dark, lighted	1 or 2
Dawn	1 or 2
Dusk	1 or 2
Dark, lighting unknown	1 or 2
Other or unknown	3

Table 8.Wasco County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	47
Cloudy	7
Rain	1 or 2
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	8
Fog, smog or smoke	1 or 2
Crosswinds or blowing sand/snow	1 or 2
Other or not reported	8

Routes in the county

Table 9.Signed routes in Wasco County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In Wasco	In all of Oregon
Interstate 84	Interstate	13	160
US Route 26	US highway	23	165
US Route 30	US highway	1 or 2	84
US Route 97	US highway	10	156

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.Wasco 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
Wasco County: 32.7

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 Wasco County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Clackamas County	Oregon	38	358	8.6
Gilliam County	Oregon	1 or 2	15	77.2
Hood River County	Oregon	4	24	10.2
Jefferson County	Oregon	7	75	30.7
Marion County	Oregon	39	428	12.4
Sherman County	Oregon	1 or 2	18	98.0
Wheeler County	Oregon	1 or 2	15	107.5
Klickitat County	Washington	1 or 2	34	15.1

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 Wasco 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. Wasco County, Oregon: fatal crash statistics. https://fatalroads.com/county/or/wasco/. 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 Wasco in the ten years before 2015?

FARS records 52 deaths in Wasco County from 2005 to 2014. It records 86 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of Wasco in 2024?

The rate of Wasco County in 2024 was 34.0 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 Wasco had a driver recorded as drinking?

FARS records a driver as drinking in 19 of 73 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 Wasco?

4 signed routes in the county have a page. FARS records 47 fatal crashes on them in the county from 2015 to 2024. The table of routes on this page gives the count for each route.