Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania: fatal crash statistics

Counties of Pennsylvania by year (CSV)Cite this page

FARS records 20 deaths in 16 fatal crashes in Lackawanna County in 2024.

FARS records 200 deaths in 185 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 9.4 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, Lackawanna County was number 21 of 67 counties of Pennsylvania.

Deaths in Lackawanna County fell by 2.9% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (206) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (200).

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

From 2015 to 2024, 31.4% of the fatal crashes in Lackawanna 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 Lackawanna 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.Lackawanna County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	20	16	1 or 2
2023	18	18	1 or 2
2022	22	21	3
2021	19	18	3
2020	22	20	5
2019	10	10	0
2018	30	28	6
2017	20	20	3
2016	20	15	5
2015	19	19	7
2015 to 2024	200	185	35

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 41 (1982)2024: 20

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

Table 2.Lackawanna County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	20	16
2023	18	18
2022	22	21
2021	19	18
2020	22	20
2019	10	10
2018	30	28
2017	20	20
2016	20	15
2015	19	19
2014	17	15
2013	23	22
2012	16	15
2011	19	17
2010	19	19
2009	19	19
2008	22	19
2007	24	22
2006	23	23
2005	24	23
2004	22	21
2003	19	18
2002	32	28
2001	28	26
2000	18	16
1999	19	18
1998	32	30
1997	18	17
1996	13	13
1995	24	24
1994	17	17
1993	19	19
1992	21	20
1991	30	28
1990	30	28
1989	23	22
1988	35	31
1987	27	27
1986	28	26
1985	29	27
1984	30	28
1983	30	24
1982	41	34
1981	38	31
1980	36	33
1979	32	31
1978	36	33
1977	35	33
1976	24	24
1975	31	30

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.Lackawanna County beside Pennsylvania and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Lackawanna County	Pennsylvania	United States
2024	9.2	8.6	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	9.4	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. Lackawanna County had 216,418 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.Lackawanna County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in Pennsylvania
A driver recorded as drinkingof 185 fatal crashes	35	185 fatal crashes	18.9%	25.4%
A speeding-related driverof 185 fatal crashes	64	185 fatal crashes	34.6%	40.2%
No restraint usedof 115 occupant deaths with restraint use known	73	115 occupant deathswith restraint use known	63.5%	57.8%
Pedestriansof 200 deaths	43	200 deaths	21.5%	14.3%
Bicyclistsof 200 deaths	0	200 deaths	0.0%	1.7%
Motorcyclistsof 200 deaths	20	200 deaths	10.0%	17.3%
On a rural roadof 185 fatal crashes with the condition reported	58	185 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	31.4%	45.3%
In the darkof 183 fatal crashes with the condition reported	85	183 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	46.4%	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.Lackawanna 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	1 or 2	8	7	26
Monday	1 or 2	4	8	1 or 2	16
Tuesday	1 or 2	3	8	6	19
Wednesday	1 or 2	9	12	8	31
Thursday	4	9	6	8	27
Friday	10	7	15	7	39
Saturday	8	1 or 2	6	12	27
All days	38	34	63	50	185

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.Lackawanna County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in Pennsylvania
Interstate	36	19.7%	9.9%
Other freeways and expressways	8	4.4%	3.2%
Other principal arterial	42	23.0%	28.1%
Minor arterial	39	21.3%	22.4%
Major collector	25	13.7%	13.1%
Minor collector	4	2.2%	4.2%
Local	29	15.8%	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.Lackawanna County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	93
Dark, not lighted	42
Dark, lighted	42
Dawn	1 or 2
Dusk	3
Dark, lighting unknown	1 or 2
Other or unknown	1 or 2

Table 8.Lackawanna County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	91
Cloudy	3
Rain	20
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	4
Fog, smog or smoke	3
Crosswinds or blowing sand/snow	1 or 2
Other or not reported	62

Routes in the county

Table 9.Signed routes in Lackawanna County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In Lackawanna	In all of Pennsylvania
Interstate 81	Interstate	20	169
State Route 2001	State highway	1 or 2	34
State Route 3001	State highway	1 or 2	23
State Route 3015	State highway	1 or 2	23
US Route 6	US highway	11	98
US Route 11	US highway	15	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.Lackawanna 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
Lackawanna County: 9.4

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 Lackawanna County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Luzerne County	Pennsylvania	18	313	9.7
Monroe County	Pennsylvania	18	221	13.2
Susquehanna County	Pennsylvania	11	95	24.0
Wayne County	Pennsylvania	9	86	16.8
Wyoming County	Pennsylvania	4	38	14.3

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

FARS records 206 deaths in Lackawanna County from 2005 to 2014. It records 200 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of Lackawanna in 2024?

The rate of Lackawanna County in 2024 was 9.2 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 Lackawanna had a driver recorded as drinking?

FARS records a driver as drinking in 35 of 185 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 Lackawanna?

6 signed routes in the county have a page. FARS records 50 fatal crashes on them in the county from 2015 to 2024. The table of routes on this page gives the count for each route.