Columbia County, Pennsylvania: fatal crash statistics

Counties of Pennsylvania by year (CSV)Cite this page

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

FARS records 79 deaths in 73 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 12.1 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, Columbia County was number 44 of 67 counties of Pennsylvania.

Deaths in Columbia County fell by 36.8% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (125) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (79).

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

From 2015 to 2024, 60.3% of the fatal crashes in Columbia 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 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	6	1 or 2
2023	10	10	1 or 2
2022	10	9	1 or 2
2021	5	5	1 or 2
2020	9	8	1 or 2
2019	3	3	0
2018	9	8	3
2017	6	6	0
2016	7	6	1 or 2
2015	14	12	5
2015 to 2024	79	73	17

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 21 (1981)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	6
2023	10	10
2022	10	9
2021	5	5
2020	9	8
2019	3	3
2018	9	8
2017	6	6
2016	7	6
2015	14	12
2014	11	10
2013	6	6
2012	9	9
2011	12	12
2010	17	15
2009	9	9
2008	15	13
2007	14	14
2006	18	17
2005	14	14
2004	9	8
2003	16	15
2002	16	14
2001	11	9
2000	6	6
1999	16	12
1998	6	4
1997	4	4
1996	18	17
1995	6	6
1994	8	7
1993	13	11
1992	14	12
1991	9	9
1990	17	15
1989	14	13
1988	13	12
1987	12	12
1986	12	8
1985	20	20
1984	6	6
1983	8	8
1982	11	11
1981	21	19
1980	9	9
1979	17	14
1978	15	15
1977	12	11
1976	10	10
1975	14	13

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 Pennsylvania and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Columbia County	Pennsylvania	United States
2024	9.1	8.6	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	12.1	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. Columbia County had 65,997 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 Pennsylvania
A driver recorded as drinkingof 73 fatal crashes	17	73 fatal crashes	23.3%	25.4%
A speeding-related driverof 73 fatal crashes	31	73 fatal crashes	42.5%	40.2%
No restraint usedof 62 occupant deaths with restraint use known	34	62 occupant deathswith restraint use known	54.8%	57.8%
Pedestriansof 79 deaths	3	79 deaths	3.8%	14.3%
Bicyclistsof 79 deaths	1 or 2	79 deaths	1.3%	1.7%
Motorcyclistsof 79 deaths	9	79 deaths	11.4%	17.3%
On a rural roadof 73 fatal crashes with the condition reported	44	73 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	60.3%	45.3%
In the darkof 73 fatal crashes with the condition reported	23	73 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	31.5%	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.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	1 or 2	1 or 2	1 or 2	8
Monday	3	6	1 or 2	1 or 2	12
Tuesday	0	7	1 or 2	1 or 2	10
Wednesday	1 or 2	7	4	1 or 2	14
Thursday	0	1 or 2	3	1 or 2	7
Friday	1 or 2	3	4	0	8
Saturday	1 or 2	1 or 2	10	1 or 2	14
All days	9	28	27	9	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.Columbia County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in Pennsylvania
Interstate	6	8.5%	9.9%
Other freeways and expressways	0	0.0%	3.2%
Other principal arterial	14	19.7%	28.1%
Minor arterial	19	26.8%	22.4%
Major collector	13	18.3%	13.1%
Minor collector	3	4.2%	4.2%
Local	16	22.5%	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.Columbia County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	46
Dark, not lighted	18
Dark, lighted	5
Dawn	3
Dusk	1 or 2
Dark, lighting unknown	0
Other or unknown	0

Table 8.Columbia County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	37
Cloudy	3
Rain	6
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	3
Fog, smog or smoke	3
Crosswinds or blowing sand/snow	0
Other or not reported	21

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 Pennsylvania
Interstate 80	Interstate	5	151
Interstate 81	Interstate	1 or 2	169
State Route 1004	State highway	1 or 2	27
State Route 2009	State highway	1 or 2	30
State Route 4002	State highway	1 or 2	25
US Route 11	US highway	13	144

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.Columbia 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
Columbia County: 12.1

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 Columbia County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Luzerne County	Pennsylvania	18	313	9.7
Lycoming County	Pennsylvania	15	139	12.2
Montour County	Pennsylvania	6	32	17.6
Northumberland County	Pennsylvania	8	103	11.3
Schuylkill County	Pennsylvania	22	208	14.5
Sullivan County	Pennsylvania	1 or 2	11	18.4

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 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.
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. Columbia County, Pennsylvania: fatal crash statistics. https://fatalroads.com/county/pa/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 125 deaths in Columbia County from 2005 to 2014. It records 79 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of Columbia in 2024?

The rate of Columbia County in 2024 was 9.1 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 Columbia had a driver recorded as drinking?

FARS records a driver as drinking in 17 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 Columbia?

6 signed routes in the county have a page. FARS records 22 fatal crashes on them in the county from 2015 to 2024. The table of routes on this page gives the count for each route.