Somerset County, Pennsylvania: fatal crash statistics

Counties of Pennsylvania by year (CSV)Cite this page

FARS records 9 deaths in 9 fatal crashes in Somerset County in 2024.

FARS records 112 deaths in 104 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 15.2 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, Somerset County was number 35 of 67 counties of Pennsylvania.

Deaths in Somerset County fell by 26.8% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (153) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (112).

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

From 2015 to 2024, 88.5% of the fatal crashes in Somerset 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 Somerset 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.Somerset County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	9	9	3
2023	10	9	3
2022	10	9	3
2021	12	12	1 or 2
2020	9	9	3
2019	17	16	8
2018	14	12	5
2017	11	11	4
2016	8	6	0
2015	12	11	3
2015 to 2024	112	104	33

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 27 (1975)2024: 9

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

Table 2.Somerset County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	9	9
2023	10	9
2022	10	9
2021	12	12
2020	9	9
2019	17	16
2018	14	12
2017	11	11
2016	8	6
2015	12	11
2014	16	14
2013	11	11
2012	12	12
2011	8	7
2010	20	17
2009	12	10
2008	12	12
2007	23	21
2006	13	13
2005	26	22
2004	13	11
2003	24	21
2002	9	8
2001	14	12
2000	17	16
1999	20	19
1998	27	24
1997	12	11
1996	12	12
1995	14	12
1994	18	15
1993	19	16
1992	17	17
1991	16	14
1990	16	15
1989	25	23
1988	26	24
1987	22	18
1986	14	13
1985	17	16
1984	23	20
1983	14	14
1982	25	18
1981	22	19
1980	24	22
1979	24	21
1978	22	21
1977	21	16
1976	24	23
1975	27	24

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.Somerset County beside Pennsylvania and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Somerset County	Pennsylvania	United States
2024	12.5	8.6	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	15.2	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. Somerset County had 72,209 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.Somerset County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in Pennsylvania
A driver recorded as drinkingof 104 fatal crashes	33	104 fatal crashes	31.7%	25.4%
A speeding-related driverof 104 fatal crashes	54	104 fatal crashes	51.9%	40.2%
No restraint usedof 83 occupant deaths with restraint use known	51	83 occupant deathswith restraint use known	61.4%	57.8%
Pedestriansof 112 deaths	6	112 deaths	5.4%	14.3%
Bicyclistsof 112 deaths	1 or 2	112 deaths	0.9%	1.7%
Motorcyclistsof 112 deaths	14	112 deaths	12.5%	17.3%
On a rural roadof 104 fatal crashes with the condition reported	92	104 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	88.5%	45.3%
In the darkof 104 fatal crashes with the condition reported	47	104 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	45.2%	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.Somerset 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	5	1 or 2	4	3	13
Monday	1 or 2	3	4	6	14
Tuesday	3	3	5	5	16
Wednesday	1 or 2	4	9	4	18
Thursday	4	1 or 2	1 or 2	1 or 2	8
Friday	3	3	4	4	14
Saturday	4	6	6	5	21
All days	21	22	33	28	104

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.Somerset County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in Pennsylvania
Interstate	14	13.5%	9.9%
Other freeways and expressways	1 or 2	1.9%	3.2%
Other principal arterial	13	12.5%	28.1%
Minor arterial	23	22.1%	22.4%
Major collector	26	25.0%	13.1%
Minor collector	9	8.7%	4.2%
Local	17	16.3%	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.Somerset County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	52
Dark, not lighted	42
Dark, lighted	5
Dawn	3
Dusk	1 or 2
Dark, lighting unknown	0
Other or unknown	0

Table 8.Somerset County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	54
Cloudy	1 or 2
Rain	10
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	4
Fog, smog or smoke	1 or 2
Crosswinds or blowing sand/snow	0
Other or not reported	33

Routes in the county

Table 9.Signed routes in Somerset County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In Somerset	In all of Pennsylvania
Interstate 70	Interstate	1 or 2	40
Interstate 76	Interstate	12	123
State Route 31	State highway	6	20
State Route 56	State highway	4	31
State Route 1001	State highway	1 or 2	31
State Route 1003	State highway	1 or 2	29
State Route 2006	State highway	1 or 2	26
State Route 3003	State highway	1 or 2	20
State Route 3015	State highway	4	23
State Route 3017	State highway	1 or 2	26
State Route 4001	State highway	1 or 2	28
US Route 30	US highway	4	200
US Route 219	US highway	4	38

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.Somerset 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
Somerset County: 15.2

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 Somerset County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Allegany County	Maryland	10	79	11.4
Garrett County	Maryland	3	64	22.1
Bedford County	Pennsylvania	9	90	18.8
Cambria County	Pennsylvania	12	108	8.2
Fayette County	Pennsylvania	19	212	16.5
Westmoreland County	Pennsylvania	28	349	9.9

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

FARS records 153 deaths in Somerset County from 2005 to 2014. It records 112 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of Somerset in 2024?

The rate of Somerset County in 2024 was 12.5 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 Somerset had a driver recorded as drinking?

FARS records a driver as drinking in 33 of 104 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 Somerset?

13 signed routes in the county have a page. FARS records 42 fatal crashes on them in the county from 2015 to 2024. The table of routes on this page gives the count for each route.