Centre County, Pennsylvania: fatal crash statistics

Counties of Pennsylvania by year (CSV)Cite this page

FARS records 7 deaths in 6 fatal crashes in Centre County in 2024.

FARS records 129 deaths in 122 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 8.1 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, Centre County was number 28 of 67 counties of Pennsylvania.

Deaths in Centre County fell by 19.4% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (160) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (129).

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

From 2015 to 2024, 68.0% of the fatal crashes in Centre County with a known setting were rural, against 45.3% 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 Centre County by year, 2015 to 2024

1 or 2

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.Centre County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	7	6	1 or 2
2023	15	13	1 or 2
2022	18	16	3
2021	10	10	4
2020	14	14	5
2019	1 or 2	1 or 2	0
2018	13	12	6
2017	16	15	1 or 2
2016	20	20	5
2015	15	15	5
2015 to 2024	129	122	32

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 27 (2003)2024: 7

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

Table 2.Centre County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	7	6
2023	15	13
2022	18	16
2021	10	10
2020	14	14
2019	1 or 2	1 or 2
2018	13	12
2017	16	15
2016	20	20
2015	15	15
2014	12	11
2013	12	11
2012	14	13
2011	18	18
2010	11	11
2009	13	12
2008	20	20
2007	19	18
2006	23	21
2005	18	17
2004	20	13
2003	27	23
2002	16	16
2001	22	18
2000	18	14
1999	12	12
1998	20	16
1997	25	23
1996	12	10
1995	16	13
1994	14	12
1993	13	12
1992	20	17
1991	21	19
1990	19	17
1989	22	22
1988	24	19
1987	17	16
1986	25	21
1985	22	18
1984	19	17
1983	12	12
1982	23	19
1981	19	18
1980	26	22
1979	18	17
1978	25	23
1977	24	21
1976	18	15
1975	25	19

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.Centre County beside Pennsylvania and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Centre County	Pennsylvania	United States
2024	4.4	8.6	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	8.1	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. Centre County had 158,505 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.Centre County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in Pennsylvania
A driver recorded as drinkingof 122 fatal crashes	32	122 fatal crashes	26.2%	25.4%
A speeding-related driverof 122 fatal crashes	43	122 fatal crashes	35.2%	40.2%
No restraint usedof 84 occupant deaths with restraint use known	42	84 occupant deathswith restraint use known	50.0%	57.8%
Pedestriansof 129 deaths	12	129 deaths	9.3%	14.3%
Bicyclistsof 129 deaths	4	129 deaths	3.1%	1.7%
Motorcyclistsof 129 deaths	16	129 deaths	12.4%	17.3%
On a rural roadof 122 fatal crashes with the condition reported	83	122 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	68.0%	45.3%
In the darkof 121 fatal crashes with the condition reported	47	121 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	38.8%	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.Centre 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	10	4	16
Monday	1 or 2	4	7	3	16
Tuesday	1 or 2	1 or 2	8	5	16
Wednesday	3	4	11	7	25
Thursday	0	4	6	3	13
Friday	1 or 2	3	8	6	18
Saturday	7	1 or 2	5	5	18
All days	16	18	55	33	122

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.Centre County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in Pennsylvania
Interstate	21	17.4%	9.9%
Other freeways and expressways	3	2.5%	3.2%
Other principal arterial	34	28.1%	28.1%
Minor arterial	30	24.8%	22.4%
Major collector	17	14.0%	13.1%
Minor collector	1 or 2	1.7%	4.2%
Local	14	11.6%	19.1%
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.Centre County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	71
Dark, not lighted	39
Dark, lighted	8
Dawn	1 or 2
Dusk	1 or 2
Dark, lighting unknown	0
Other or unknown	1 or 2

Table 8.Centre County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	72
Cloudy	4
Rain	13
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	3
Fog, smog or smoke	1 or 2
Crosswinds or blowing sand/snow	1 or 2
Other or not reported	28

Routes in the county

Table 9.Signed routes in Centre County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In Centre	In all of Pennsylvania
Interstate 80	Interstate	13	151
Interstate 99	Interstate	7	25
State Route 45	State highway	13	21
State Route 3017	State highway	1 or 2	26
State Route 4002	State highway	1 or 2	25
US Route 322	US highway	10	101

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.Centre 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
Centre County: 8.1

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 Centre County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Blair County	Pennsylvania	10	123	10.1
Clearfield County	Pennsylvania	12	138	17.4
Clinton County	Pennsylvania	5	69	18.0
Huntingdon County	Pennsylvania	3	62	13.9
Mifflin County	Pennsylvania	1 or 2	56	12.1
Union County	Pennsylvania	4	47	10.7

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 Centre 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. Centre County, Pennsylvania: fatal crash statistics. https://fatalroads.com/county/pa/centre/. 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 Centre in the ten years before 2015?

FARS records 160 deaths in Centre County from 2005 to 2014. It records 129 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of Centre in 2024?

The rate of Centre County in 2024 was 4.4 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 Centre had a driver recorded as drinking?

FARS records a driver as drinking in 32 of 122 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 Centre?

6 signed routes in the county have a page. FARS records 45 fatal crashes on them in the county from 2015 to 2024. The table of routes on this page gives the count for each route.