Dauphin County, Pennsylvania: fatal crash statistics

Counties of Pennsylvania by year (CSV)Cite this page

FARS records 26 deaths in 26 fatal crashes in Dauphin County in 2024.

FARS records 295 deaths in 272 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 10.4 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, Dauphin County was number 12 of 67 counties of Pennsylvania.

Deaths in Dauphin County fell by 0.7% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (297) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (295).

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

From 2015 to 2024, 31.6% of the fatal crashes in Dauphin 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 Dauphin 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.Dauphin County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	26	26	10
2023	35	29	10
2022	30	26	5
2021	41	37	11
2020	20	18	4
2019	16	16	3
2018	42	39	6
2017	36	36	8
2016	30	27	8
2015	19	18	5
2015 to 2024	295	272	70

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 51 (1987)2024: 26

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

Table 2.Dauphin County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	26	26
2023	35	29
2022	30	26
2021	41	37
2020	20	18
2019	16	16
2018	42	39
2017	36	36
2016	30	27
2015	19	18
2014	17	16
2013	25	23
2012	24	24
2011	32	30
2010	40	36
2009	27	25
2008	35	34
2007	37	33
2006	24	21
2005	36	35
2004	31	28
2003	19	19
2002	48	40
2001	32	30
2000	29	25
1999	36	29
1998	26	26
1997	27	26
1996	25	22
1995	32	28
1994	26	24
1993	29	27
1992	27	24
1991	24	22
1990	30	28
1989	42	39
1988	49	45
1987	51	43
1986	34	30
1985	36	32
1984	32	32
1983	28	26
1982	26	26
1981	50	43
1980	36	35
1979	40	36
1978	42	36
1977	32	30
1976	31	30
1975	30	26

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.Dauphin County beside Pennsylvania and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Dauphin County	Pennsylvania	United States
2024	8.9	8.6	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	10.4	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. Dauphin County had 292,917 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.Dauphin County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in Pennsylvania
A driver recorded as drinkingof 272 fatal crashes	70	272 fatal crashes	25.7%	25.4%
A speeding-related driverof 272 fatal crashes	126	272 fatal crashes	46.3%	40.2%
No restraint usedof 168 occupant deaths with restraint use known	90	168 occupant deathswith restraint use known	53.6%	57.8%
Pedestriansof 295 deaths	49	295 deaths	16.6%	14.3%
Bicyclistsof 295 deaths	6	295 deaths	2.0%	1.7%
Motorcyclistsof 295 deaths	44	295 deaths	14.9%	17.3%
On a rural roadof 272 fatal crashes with the condition reported	86	272 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	31.6%	45.3%
In the darkof 271 fatal crashes with the condition reported	134	271 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	49.4%	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.Dauphin 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	7	7	6	13	33
Monday	7	5	11	12	35
Tuesday	5	8	11	10	34
Wednesday	3	9	11	10	33
Thursday	10	8	12	11	41
Friday	5	8	15	28	56
Saturday	15	5	12	8	40
All days	52	50	78	92	272

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.Dauphin County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in Pennsylvania
Interstate	49	18.0%	9.9%
Other freeways and expressways	19	7.0%	3.2%
Other principal arterial	60	22.1%	28.1%
Minor arterial	71	26.1%	22.4%
Major collector	25	9.2%	13.1%
Minor collector	8	2.9%	4.2%
Local	40	14.7%	19.1%
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.Dauphin County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	128
Dark, not lighted	78
Dark, lighted	56
Dawn	5
Dusk	4
Dark, lighting unknown	0
Other or unknown	1 or 2

Table 8.Dauphin County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	166
Cloudy	4
Rain	21
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	4
Fog, smog or smoke	3
Crosswinds or blowing sand/snow	0
Other or not reported	74

Routes in the county

Table 9.Signed routes in Dauphin County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In Dauphin	In all of Pennsylvania
Interstate 76	Interstate	5	123
Interstate 81	Interstate	19	169
Interstate 83	Interstate	11	39
State Route 1002	State highway	1 or 2	26
State Route 3001	State highway	1 or 2	23
State Route 3009	State highway	8	32
State Route 3015	State highway	1 or 2	23
State Route 3017	State highway	1 or 2	26
State Route 4001	State highway	1 or 2	28
US Route 22	US highway	29	136
US Route 209	US highway	11	53
US Route 322	US highway	6	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.Dauphin 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
Dauphin County: 10.4

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 Dauphin County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Cumberland County	Pennsylvania	18	199	7.7
Lancaster County	Pennsylvania	52	503	9.2
Lebanon County	Pennsylvania	20	190	13.4
Northumberland County	Pennsylvania	8	103	11.3
Perry County	Pennsylvania	7	79	17.1
Schuylkill County	Pennsylvania	22	208	14.5
York County	Pennsylvania	41	377	8.3

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

FARS records 297 deaths in Dauphin County from 2005 to 2014. It records 295 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of Dauphin in 2024?

The rate of Dauphin County in 2024 was 8.9 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 Dauphin had a driver recorded as drinking?

FARS records a driver as drinking in 70 of 272 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 Dauphin?

13 signed routes in the county have a page. FARS records 97 fatal crashes on them in the county from 2015 to 2024. The table of routes on this page gives the count for each route.