Chester County, Pennsylvania: fatal crash statistics

Counties of Pennsylvania by year (CSV)Cite this page

FARS records 24 deaths in 24 fatal crashes in Chester County in 2024.

FARS records 319 deaths in 303 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 6.0 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, Chester County was number 9 of 67 counties of Pennsylvania.

Deaths in Chester County fell by 20.4% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (401) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (319).

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

From 2015 to 2024, 32.9% of the fatal crashes in Chester 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 Chester 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.Chester County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	24	24	10
2023	33	30	10
2022	26	26	7
2021	34	34	10
2020	33	30	11
2019	29	27	3
2018	46	42	10
2017	35	33	15
2016	24	24	5
2015	35	33	13
2015 to 2024	319	303	94

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 90 (1978)2024: 24

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

Table 2.Chester County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	24	24
2023	33	30
2022	26	26
2021	34	34
2020	33	30
2019	29	27
2018	46	42
2017	35	33
2016	24	24
2015	35	33
2014	34	33
2013	33	33
2012	31	29
2011	40	35
2010	32	29
2009	31	27
2008	40	37
2007	55	51
2006	54	50
2005	51	49
2004	56	49
2003	52	45
2002	45	41
2001	47	44
2000	61	58
1999	58	51
1998	48	45
1997	51	47
1996	34	34
1995	54	47
1994	54	47
1993	48	45
1992	59	55
1991	60	54
1990	52	49
1989	54	49
1988	69	60
1987	77	68
1986	85	80
1985	69	63
1984	71	62
1983	71	60
1982	58	52
1981	78	72
1980	90	80
1979	89	77
1978	90	82
1977	64	58
1976	79	54
1975	70	67

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.Chester County beside Pennsylvania and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Chester County	Pennsylvania	United States
2024	4.3	8.6	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	6.0	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. Chester County had 554,530 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.Chester County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in Pennsylvania
A driver recorded as drinkingof 303 fatal crashes	94	303 fatal crashes	31.0%	25.4%
A speeding-related driverof 303 fatal crashes	145	303 fatal crashes	47.9%	40.2%
No restraint usedof 203 occupant deaths with restraint use known	100	203 occupant deathswith restraint use known	49.3%	57.8%
Pedestriansof 319 deaths	29	319 deaths	9.1%	14.3%
Bicyclistsof 319 deaths	4	319 deaths	1.3%	1.7%
Motorcyclistsof 319 deaths	55	319 deaths	17.2%	17.3%
On a rural roadof 301 fatal crashes with the condition reported	99	301 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	32.9%	45.3%
In the darkof 302 fatal crashes with the condition reported	132	302 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	43.7%	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.Chester 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	10	9	11	13	43
Monday	3	12	8	9	32
Tuesday	1 or 2	9	16	12	39
Wednesday	1 or 2	7	9	11	29
Thursday	7	10	17	18	52
Friday	9	8	20	18	55
Saturday	13	8	15	16	52
All days	46	63	96	97	302

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.Chester County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in Pennsylvania
Interstate	16	5.3%	9.9%
Other freeways and expressways	32	10.7%	3.2%
Other principal arterial	83	27.7%	28.1%
Minor arterial	75	25.0%	22.4%
Major collector	38	12.7%	13.1%
Minor collector	6	2.0%	4.2%
Local	50	16.7%	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.Chester County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	159
Dark, not lighted	108
Dark, lighted	22
Dawn	5
Dusk	6
Dark, lighting unknown	1 or 2
Other or unknown	1 or 2

Table 8.Chester County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	161
Cloudy	7
Rain	29
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	3
Fog, smog or smoke	5
Crosswinds or blowing sand/snow	0
Other or not reported	98

Routes in the county

Table 9.Signed routes in Chester County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In Chester	In all of Pennsylvania
Interstate 76	Interstate	16	123
State Route 3	State highway	9	29
State Route 10	State highway	14	22
State Route 23	State highway	7	32
State Route 29	State highway	1 or 2	34
State Route 100	State highway	10	23
State Route 272	State highway	4	28
State Route 2014	State highway	1 or 2	34
State Route 2016	State highway	1 or 2	27
State Route 3003	State highway	1 or 2	20
State Route 3009	State highway	1 or 2	32
State Route 4001	State highway	1 or 2	28
US Route 1	US highway	12	135
US Route 22	US highway	1 or 2	136
US Route 30	US highway	17	200
US Route 202	US highway	12	43
US Route 322	US highway	16	101
US Route 422	US highway	1 or 2	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.Chester 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
Chester County: 6.0

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 Chester County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
New Castle County	Delaware	61	623	11.0
Cecil County	Maryland	24	218	21.0
Berks County	Pennsylvania	47	440	10.3
Delaware County	Pennsylvania	32	264	4.6
Lancaster County	Pennsylvania	52	503	9.2
Montgomery County	Pennsylvania	50	420	5.0

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

FARS records 401 deaths in Chester County from 2005 to 2014. It records 319 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of Chester in 2024?

The rate of Chester County in 2024 was 4.3 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 Chester had a driver recorded as drinking?

FARS records a driver as drinking in 94 of 303 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 Chester?

18 signed routes in the county have a page. FARS records 127 fatal crashes on them in the county from 2015 to 2024. The table of routes on this page gives the count for each route.