Luzerne County, Pennsylvania: fatal crash statistics

Counties of Pennsylvania by year (CSV)Cite this page

FARS records 18 deaths in 18 fatal crashes in Luzerne County in 2024.

FARS records 313 deaths in 295 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 9.7 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, Luzerne County was number 10 of 67 counties of Pennsylvania.

Deaths in Luzerne County fell by 19.7% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (390) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (313).

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

From 2015 to 2024, a speeding-related driver was recorded in 34.2% of fatal crashes in Luzerne County and 40.2% 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 Luzerne 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.Luzerne County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	18	18	3
2023	36	36	8
2022	33	30	8
2021	41	40	11
2020	35	34	9
2019	32	30	10
2018	20	18	1 or 2
2017	27	25	6
2016	32	31	7
2015	39	33	15
2015 to 2024	313	295	79

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 63 (1981)2024: 18

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

Table 2.Luzerne County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	18	18
2023	36	36
2022	33	30
2021	41	40
2020	35	34
2019	32	30
2018	20	18
2017	27	25
2016	32	31
2015	39	33
2014	38	34
2013	39	36
2012	35	34
2011	41	38
2010	30	30
2009	40	37
2008	32	30
2007	53	48
2006	51	48
2005	31	28
2004	39	37
2003	46	39
2002	50	46
2001	52	49
2000	47	43
1999	37	33
1998	30	29
1997	45	43
1996	42	42
1995	35	31
1994	38	34
1993	48	44
1992	38	35
1991	40	36
1990	45	40
1989	50	44
1988	52	50
1987	55	52
1986	54	51
1985	47	46
1984	48	45
1983	54	47
1982	43	39
1981	63	59
1980	57	48
1979	38	34
1978	45	43
1977	53	47
1976	58	50
1975	52	47

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.Luzerne County beside Pennsylvania and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Luzerne County	Pennsylvania	United States
2024	5.4	8.6	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	9.7	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. Luzerne County had 330,898 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.Luzerne County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in Pennsylvania
A driver recorded as drinkingof 295 fatal crashes	79	295 fatal crashes	26.8%	25.4%
A speeding-related driverof 295 fatal crashes	101	295 fatal crashes	34.2%	40.2%
No restraint usedof 184 occupant deaths with restraint use known	116	184 occupant deathswith restraint use known	63.0%	57.8%
Pedestriansof 313 deaths	48	313 deaths	15.3%	14.3%
Bicyclistsof 313 deaths	9	313 deaths	2.9%	1.7%
Motorcyclistsof 313 deaths	50	313 deaths	16.0%	17.3%
On a rural roadof 294 fatal crashes with the condition reported	124	294 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	42.2%	45.3%
In the darkof 295 fatal crashes with the condition reported	118	295 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	40.0%	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.Luzerne 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	8	3	12	9	32
Monday	7	8	11	7	33
Tuesday	1 or 2	13	10	9	34
Wednesday	5	7	16	10	38
Thursday	8	7	19	10	44
Friday	3	10	26	16	55
Saturday	15	8	11	23	57
All days	48	56	105	84	293

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.Luzerne County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in Pennsylvania
Interstate	48	16.3%	9.9%
Other freeways and expressways	5	1.7%	3.2%
Other principal arterial	60	20.4%	28.1%
Minor arterial	73	24.8%	22.4%
Major collector	39	13.3%	13.1%
Minor collector	14	4.8%	4.2%
Local	55	18.7%	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.Luzerne County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	168
Dark, not lighted	76
Dark, lighted	42
Dawn	3
Dusk	6
Dark, lighting unknown	0
Other or unknown	0

Table 8.Luzerne County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	175
Cloudy	6
Rain	20
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	7
Fog, smog or smoke	5
Crosswinds or blowing sand/snow	0
Other or not reported	82

Routes in the county

Table 9.Signed routes in Luzerne County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In Luzerne	In all of Pennsylvania
Interstate 80	Interstate	19	151
Interstate 81	Interstate	20	169
Interstate 476	Interstate	3	51
State Route 29	State highway	1 or 2	34
State Route 309	State highway	19	81
State Route 940	State highway	5	20
State Route 1002	State highway	1 or 2	26
State Route 1009	State highway	1 or 2	30
State Route 2002	State highway	3	25
State Route 2004	State highway	3	24
State Route 2007	State highway	3	22
State Route 3001	State highway	1 or 2	23
State Route 3007	State highway	1 or 2	43
State Route 3017	State highway	1 or 2	26
US Route 11	US highway	30	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.Luzerne 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
Luzerne County: 9.7

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 Luzerne County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Carbon County	Pennsylvania	13	106	16.4
Columbia County	Pennsylvania	6	79	12.1
Lackawanna County	Pennsylvania	20	200	9.4
Monroe County	Pennsylvania	18	221	13.2
Schuylkill County	Pennsylvania	22	208	14.5
Sullivan County	Pennsylvania	1 or 2	11	18.4
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 Luzerne 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. Luzerne County, Pennsylvania: fatal crash statistics. https://fatalroads.com/county/pa/luzerne/. 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 Luzerne in the ten years before 2015?

FARS records 390 deaths in Luzerne County from 2005 to 2014. It records 313 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of Luzerne in 2024?

The rate of Luzerne County in 2024 was 5.4 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 Luzerne had a driver recorded as drinking?

FARS records a driver as drinking in 79 of 295 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 Luzerne?

15 signed routes in the county have a page. FARS records 113 fatal crashes on them in the county from 2015 to 2024. The table of routes on this page gives the count for each route.