Franklin County, Pennsylvania: fatal crash statistics

Counties of Pennsylvania by year (CSV)Cite this page

FARS records 21 deaths in 20 fatal crashes in Franklin County in 2024.

FARS records 207 deaths in 183 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 13.3 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, Franklin County was number 20 of 67 counties of Pennsylvania.

Deaths in Franklin County fell by 8.4% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (226) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (207).

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

From 2015 to 2024, 56.8% of the fatal crashes in Franklin 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 Franklin 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.Franklin County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	21	20	5
2023	31	25	8
2022	16	14	1 or 2
2021	15	13	0
2020	15	15	5
2019	21	20	1 or 2
2018	23	20	5
2017	20	18	5
2016	20	18	1 or 2
2015	25	20	1 or 2
2015 to 2024	207	183	36

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 39 (1994)2024: 21

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

Table 2.Franklin County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	21	20
2023	31	25
2022	16	14
2021	15	13
2020	15	15
2019	21	20
2018	23	20
2017	20	18
2016	20	18
2015	25	20
2014	26	24
2013	20	16
2012	19	16
2011	24	20
2010	22	16
2009	19	16
2008	20	20
2007	35	33
2006	23	22
2005	18	18
2004	24	23
2003	33	31
2002	20	19
2001	24	24
2000	23	20
1999	26	23
1998	28	22
1997	22	21
1996	20	18
1995	24	21
1994	39	34
1993	19	19
1992	20	19
1991	36	31
1990	30	28
1989	36	34
1988	30	28
1987	22	22
1986	33	30
1985	18	17
1984	23	21
1983	22	21
1982	25	24
1981	30	30
1980	25	24
1979	28	26
1978	29	26
1977	28	25
1976	26	24
1975	20	18

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.Franklin County beside Pennsylvania and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Franklin County	Pennsylvania	United States
2024	13.2	8.6	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	13.3	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. Franklin County had 159,476 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.Franklin County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in Pennsylvania
A driver recorded as drinkingof 183 fatal crashes	36	183 fatal crashes	19.7%	25.4%
A speeding-related driverof 183 fatal crashes	64	183 fatal crashes	35.0%	40.2%
No restraint usedof 133 occupant deaths with restraint use known	63	133 occupant deathswith restraint use known	47.4%	57.8%
Pedestriansof 207 deaths	17	207 deaths	8.2%	14.3%
Bicyclistsof 207 deaths	3	207 deaths	1.4%	1.7%
Motorcyclistsof 207 deaths	36	207 deaths	17.4%	17.3%
On a rural roadof 183 fatal crashes with the condition reported	104	183 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	56.8%	45.3%
In the darkof 180 fatal crashes with the condition reported	70	180 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	38.9%	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.Franklin 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	3	5	7	8	23
Monday	3	3	11	8	25
Tuesday	1 or 2	4	6	11	23
Wednesday	1 or 2	8	17	10	37
Thursday	5	5	3	9	22
Friday	1 or 2	6	15	10	32
Saturday	3	1 or 2	10	7	21
All days	19	32	69	63	183

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.Franklin County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in Pennsylvania
Interstate	31	17.0%	9.9%
Other freeways and expressways	0	0.0%	3.2%
Other principal arterial	32	17.6%	28.1%
Minor arterial	42	23.1%	22.4%
Major collector	33	18.1%	13.1%
Minor collector	19	10.4%	4.2%
Local	25	13.7%	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.Franklin County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	103
Dark, not lighted	52
Dark, lighted	17
Dawn	1 or 2
Dusk	6
Dark, lighting unknown	1 or 2
Other or unknown	3

Table 8.Franklin County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	118
Cloudy	6
Rain	11
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	4
Fog, smog or smoke	0
Crosswinds or blowing sand/snow	1 or 2
Other or not reported	43

Routes in the county

Table 9.Signed routes in Franklin County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In Franklin	In all of Pennsylvania
Interstate 76	Interstate	4	123
Interstate 81	Interstate	25	169
State Route 2002	State highway	1 or 2	25
State Route 2004	State highway	1 or 2	24
State Route 2007	State highway	1 or 2	22
State Route 3001	State highway	1 or 2	23
State Route 4003	State highway	1 or 2	26
State Route 4004	State highway	3	22
US Route 11	US highway	13	144
US Route 30	US highway	21	200

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.Franklin 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
Franklin County: 13.3

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 Franklin County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Frederick County	Maryland	23	236	8.8
Washington County	Maryland	14	166	10.9
Adams County	Pennsylvania	13	125	12.0
Cumberland County	Pennsylvania	18	199	7.7
Fulton County	Pennsylvania	1 or 2	44	30.3
Huntingdon County	Pennsylvania	3	62	13.9
Juniata County	Pennsylvania	1 or 2	42	17.5
Perry County	Pennsylvania	7	79	17.1

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

FARS records 226 deaths in Franklin County from 2005 to 2014. It records 207 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of Franklin in 2024?

The rate of Franklin County in 2024 was 13.2 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 Franklin had a driver recorded as drinking?

FARS records a driver as drinking in 36 of 183 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 Franklin?

10 signed routes in the county have a page. FARS records 73 fatal crashes on them in the county from 2015 to 2024. The table of routes on this page gives the count for each route.