Chester County, South Carolina: fatal crash statistics

Counties of South Carolina by year (CSV)Cite this page

FARS records 8 deaths in 8 fatal crashes in Chester County in 2024.

FARS records 135 deaths in 118 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 41.8 deaths for each 100,000 residents in a year.

The rate of South Carolina in the same years is 20.3.

By deaths from 2015 to 2024, Chester County was number 27 of 46 counties of South Carolina.

Deaths in Chester County rose by 26.2% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (107) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (135).

In the counties of South Carolina the deaths rose by 14.8% between the same years.

From 2015 to 2024, 92.4% of the fatal crashes in Chester County with a known setting were rural, against 58.5% in South Carolina.

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 Chester 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.Chester County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	8	8	3
2023	11	10	3
2022	20	16	8
2021	16	14	6
2020	11	11	3
2019	10	8	0
2018	9	9	3
2017	15	13	7
2016	18	14	7
2015	17	15	5
2015 to 2024	135	118	45

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 20 (2022)2024: 8

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

Table 2.Chester County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	8	8
2023	11	10
2022	20	16
2021	16	14
2020	11	11
2019	10	8
2018	9	9
2017	15	13
2016	18	14
2015	17	15
2014	9	8
2013	10	8
2012	6	6
2011	6	6
2010	12	11
2009	14	14
2008	14	13
2007	13	12
2006	7	7
2005	16	16
2004	13	12
2003	13	13
2002	10	10
2001	5	5
2000	10	9
1999	15	14
1998	7	7
1997	8	7
1996	13	10
1995	6	6
1994	13	12
1993	8	7
1992	10	10
1991	12	11
1990	9	9
1989	16	16
1988	14	14
1987	11	10
1986	11	10
1985	9	8
1984	15	12
1983	5	5
1982	9	8
1981	7	7
1980	13	11
1979	11	10
1978	9	9
1977	9	9
1976	17	10
1975	10	10

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.Chester County beside South Carolina and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Chester County	South Carolina	United States
2024	24.6	18.9	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	41.8	20.3	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. Chester County had 32,547 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.Chester County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in South Carolina
A driver recorded as drinkingof 118 fatal crashes	45	118 fatal crashes	38.1%	32.2%
A speeding-related driverof 118 fatal crashes	52	118 fatal crashes	44.1%	40.2%
No restraint usedof 100 occupant deaths with restraint use known	44	100 occupant deathswith restraint use known	44.0%	53.2%
Pedestriansof 135 deaths	13	135 deaths	9.6%	15.7%
Bicyclistsof 135 deaths	1 or 2	135 deaths	0.7%	2.2%
Motorcyclistsof 135 deaths	8	135 deaths	5.9%	15.4%
On a rural roadof 118 fatal crashes with the condition reported	109	118 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	92.4%	58.5%
In the darkof 118 fatal crashes with the condition reported	45	118 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	38.1%	51.8%

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.Chester 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	6	3	7	4	20
Monday	1 or 2	1 or 2	13	1 or 2	18
Tuesday	0	8	4	3	15
Wednesday	1 or 2	3	3	6	14
Thursday	1 or 2	5	8	4	18
Friday	5	1 or 2	5	5	17
Saturday	5	3	3	5	16
All days	20	26	43	29	118

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.Chester County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in South Carolina
Interstate	27	22.9%	10.8%
Other freeways and expressways	1 or 2	0.8%	1.6%
Other principal arterial	28	23.7%	31.5%
Minor arterial	39	33.1%	33.9%
Major collector	15	12.7%	11.5%
Minor collector	1 or 2	1.7%	1.4%
Local	6	5.1%	9.4%
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.Chester County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	69
Dark, not lighted	41
Dark, lighted	3
Dawn	4
Dusk	0
Dark, lighting unknown	1 or 2
Other or unknown	0

Table 8.Chester County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	101
Cloudy	4
Rain	9
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	0
Fog, smog or smoke	4
Crosswinds or blowing sand/snow	0
Other or not reported	0

Routes in the county

Table 9.Signed routes in Chester County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In Chester	In all of South Carolina
Interstate 77	Interstate	26	139
Interstate 95	Interstate	1 or 2	229
State Route 9	State highway	12	150
State Route 16	State highway	3	23
State Route 29	State highway	1 or 2	44
State Route 42	State highway	1 or 2	21
State Route 46	State highway	1 or 2	34
State Route 49	State highway	1 or 2	55
State Route 52	State highway	1 or 2	28
State Route 61	State highway	1 or 2	68
State Route 72	State highway	13	68
State Route 97	State highway	13	29
US Route 21	US highway	14	156
US Route 321	US highway	4	87

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 South Carolina

Adjacent counties

These lists are for navigation. They are in name order.

Figure 3.Chester County on the county map of South Carolina

Deaths for each 100,000 residents in a year, 2015 to 2024

Fewer than 100 counties
10 to 14.93 counties
15 to 19.913 counties
20 to 29.913 counties
30 or more17 counties
Chester County: 41.8

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 South Carolina

Table 10.Counties that share a boundary line with Chester County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Fairfield County	South Carolina	10	113	52.3
Lancaster County	South Carolina	20	167	17.0
Union County	South Carolina	10	71	26.1
York County	South Carolina	34	338	12.1

Source of the list: Census Bureau county adjacency file, 2026 edition.

Counties of similar population

These counties of South Carolina have a population nearest to that of Chester 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.
Governors Highway Safety Association: State Highway Safety OfficesThe list of the highway safety offices of the states.

These links go to the sites of the agencies. They were checked on 2 Oct 2026.

Cite this page

Fatal Roads. Chester County, South Carolina: fatal crash statistics. https://fatalroads.com/county/sc/chester/. 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 Chester in the ten years before 2015?

FARS records 107 deaths in Chester County from 2005 to 2014. It records 135 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of Chester in 2024?

The rate of Chester County in 2024 was 24.6 deaths for each 100,000 residents. The rate of South Carolina was 18.9. The rate of the United States was 11.5.

How many fatal crashes in Chester had a driver recorded as drinking?

FARS records a driver as drinking in 45 of 118 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 Chester?

14 signed routes in the county have a page. FARS records 92 fatal crashes on them in the county from 2015 to 2024. The table of routes on this page gives the count for each route.