Berks County, Pennsylvania: fatal crash statistics

Counties of Pennsylvania by year (CSV)Cite this page

FARS records 47 deaths in 47 fatal crashes in Berks County in 2024.

FARS records 440 deaths in 416 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 10.3 deaths for each 100,000 residents in a year.

The rate of Pennsylvania in the same years is 9.0.

By deaths from 2015 to 2024, Berks County was number 5 of 67 counties of Pennsylvania.

Deaths in Berks County fell by 11.1% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (495) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (440).

In the counties of Pennsylvania the deaths fell by 14.8% between the same years.

From 2015 to 2024, motorcyclists were 21.4% of the deaths in Berks County and 17.3% in Pennsylvania.

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 Berks 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.Berks County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	47	47	12
2023	51	47	15
2022	47	46	12
2021	46	40	7
2020	37	36	13
2019	49	42	13
2018	41	38	6
2017	48	47	9
2016	35	35	13
2015	39	38	14
2015 to 2024	440	416	114

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 80 (1978)2024: 47

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

Table 2.Berks County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	47	47
2023	51	47
2022	47	46
2021	46	40
2020	37	36
2019	49	42
2018	41	38
2017	48	47
2016	35	35
2015	39	38
2014	33	30
2013	41	39
2012	51	50
2011	46	41
2010	39	38
2009	50	42
2008	63	55
2007	49	47
2006	50	43
2005	73	67
2004	59	54
2003	41	37
2002	56	55
2001	46	43
2000	55	50
1999	59	52
1998	54	51
1997	61	54
1996	49	44
1995	45	44
1994	47	43
1993	56	50
1992	48	40
1991	53	47
1990	52	48
1989	72	64
1988	52	48
1987	59	55
1986	65	61
1985	69	62
1984	65	60
1983	64	58
1982	65	56
1981	46	44
1980	60	55
1979	62	57
1978	80	68
1977	59	57
1976	66	58
1975	70	61

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.Berks County beside Pennsylvania and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Berks County	Pennsylvania	United States
2024	10.7	8.6	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	10.3	9.0	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. Berks County had 438,379 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.Berks County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in Pennsylvania
A driver recorded as drinkingof 416 fatal crashes	114	416 fatal crashes	27.4%	25.4%
A speeding-related driverof 416 fatal crashes	177	416 fatal crashes	42.5%	40.2%
No restraint usedof 251 occupant deaths with restraint use known	139	251 occupant deathswith restraint use known	55.4%	57.8%
Pedestriansof 440 deaths	49	440 deaths	11.1%	14.3%
Bicyclistsof 440 deaths	7	440 deaths	1.6%	1.7%
Motorcyclistsof 440 deaths	94	440 deaths	21.4%	17.3%
On a rural roadof 414 fatal crashes with the condition reported	191	414 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	46.1%	45.3%
In the darkof 415 fatal crashes with the condition reported	176	415 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	42.4%	43.6%

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.Berks 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	11	8	28	16	63
Monday	10	12	17	11	50
Tuesday	3	12	8	23	46
Wednesday	4	7	20	15	46
Thursday	11	17	17	18	63
Friday	11	15	25	24	75
Saturday	22	8	21	21	72
All days	72	79	136	128	415

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.Berks County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in Pennsylvania
Interstate	32	7.7%	9.9%
Other freeways and expressways	28	6.8%	3.2%
Other principal arterial	104	25.2%	28.1%
Minor arterial	102	24.7%	22.4%
Major collector	34	8.2%	13.1%
Minor collector	19	4.6%	4.2%
Local	94	22.8%	19.1%
Not reported	3	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.Berks County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	222
Dark, not lighted	121
Dark, lighted	51
Dawn	10
Dusk	7
Dark, lighting unknown	4
Other or unknown	1 or 2

Table 8.Berks County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	224
Cloudy	16
Rain	39
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	6
Fog, smog or smoke	5
Crosswinds or blowing sand/snow	1 or 2
Other or not reported	125

Routes in the county

Table 9.Signed routes in Berks County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In Berks	In all of Pennsylvania
Interstate 76	Interstate	1 or 2	123
Interstate 78	Interstate	20	50
State Route 10	State highway	7	22
State Route 61	State highway	27	56
State Route 73	State highway	11	32
State Route 100	State highway	4	23
State Route 183	State highway	21	28
State Route 501	State highway	8	25
State Route 1004	State highway	1 or 2	27
State Route 1005	State highway	1 or 2	34
State Route 1010	State highway	10	20
State Route 2009	State highway	1 or 2	30
State Route 4002	State highway	1 or 2	25
US Route 22	US highway	1 or 2	136
US Route 222	US highway	24	73
US Route 422	US highway	32	111

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 Pennsylvania

Adjacent counties

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

Figure 3.Berks County on the county map of Pennsylvania

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

Fewer than 1019 counties
10 to 14.928 counties
15 to 19.917 counties
20 to 29.92 counties
30 or more1 county
Berks County: 10.3

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 Pennsylvania

Table 10.Counties that share a boundary line with Berks County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Chester County	Pennsylvania	24	319	6.0
Lancaster County	Pennsylvania	52	503	9.2
Lebanon County	Pennsylvania	20	190	13.4
Lehigh County	Pennsylvania	32	296	8.0
Montgomery County	Pennsylvania	50	420	5.0
Schuylkill County	Pennsylvania	22	208	14.5

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

Counties of similar population

These counties of Pennsylvania have a population nearest to that of Berks 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.
Pennsylvania Department of TransportationThe highway safety office of Pennsylvania.

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

Cite this page

Fatal Roads. Berks County, Pennsylvania: fatal crash statistics. https://fatalroads.com/county/pa/berks/. 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 Berks in the ten years before 2015?

FARS records 495 deaths in Berks County from 2005 to 2014. It records 440 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of Berks in 2024?

The rate of Berks County in 2024 was 10.7 deaths for each 100,000 residents. The rate of Pennsylvania was 8.6. The rate of the United States was 11.5.

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

FARS records a driver as drinking in 114 of 416 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 Berks?

16 signed routes in the county have a page. FARS records 172 fatal crashes on them in the county from 2015 to 2024. The table of routes on this page gives the count for each route.