Jefferson County, Tennessee: fatal crash statistics

Counties of Tennessee by year (CSV)Cite this page

FARS records 13 deaths in 13 fatal crashes in Jefferson County in 2024.

FARS records 81 deaths in 79 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 14.7 deaths for each 100,000 residents in a year.

The rate of Tennessee in the same years is 16.8.

By deaths from 2015 to 2024, Jefferson County was number 42 of 95 counties of Tennessee.

Deaths in Jefferson County fell by 27.0% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (111) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (81).

In the counties of Tennessee the deaths rose by 7.8% between the same years.

From 2015 to 2024, 86.1% of the fatal crashes in Jefferson County with a known setting were rural, against 42.8% in Tennessee.

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 Jefferson 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.Jefferson County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	13	13	3
2023	4	4	1 or 2
2022	7	7	1 or 2
2021	11	11	1 or 2
2020	9	9	3
2019	6	6	3
2018	6	6	1 or 2
2017	7	6	1 or 2
2016	7	7	1 or 2
2015	11	10	1 or 2
2015 to 2024	81	79	19

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 20 (1982)2024: 13

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

Table 2.Jefferson County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	13	13
2023	4	4
2022	7	7
2021	11	11
2020	9	9
2019	6	6
2018	6	6
2017	7	6
2016	7	7
2015	11	10
2014	11	11
2013	16	8
2012	15	14
2011	11	11
2010	10	10
2009	5	5
2008	11	10
2007	9	8
2006	11	10
2005	12	10
2004	12	10
2003	12	11
2002	12	11
2001	12	12
2000	9	9
1999	16	14
1998	17	17
1997	10	10
1996	15	13
1995	20	18
1994	10	10
1993	9	8
1992	15	14
1991	17	17
1990	9	9
1989	14	13
1988	9	7
1987	11	9
1986	16	14
1985	16	14
1984	7	7
1983	14	10
1982	20	17
1981	18	16
1980	12	10
1979	9	9
1978	19	18
1977	11	11
1976	8	7
1975	17	15

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.Jefferson County beside Tennessee and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Jefferson County	Tennessee	United States
2024	22.0	16.5	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	14.7	16.8	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. Jefferson County had 59,217 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.Jefferson County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in Tennessee
A driver recorded as drinkingof 79 fatal crashes	19	79 fatal crashes	24.1%	24.5%
A speeding-related driverof 79 fatal crashes	10	79 fatal crashes	12.7%	16.5%
No restraint usedof 60 occupant deaths with restraint use known	28	60 occupant deathswith restraint use known	46.7%	48.7%
Pedestriansof 81 deaths	5	81 deaths	6.2%	13.0%
Bicyclistsof 81 deaths	1 or 2	81 deaths	1.2%	0.8%
Motorcyclistsof 81 deaths	11	81 deaths	13.6%	13.8%
On a rural roadof 79 fatal crashes with the condition reported	68	79 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	86.1%	42.8%
In the darkof 78 fatal crashes with the condition reported	28	78 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	35.9%	46.2%

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.Jefferson 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	4	3	1 or 2	4	12
Monday	0	1 or 2	6	1 or 2	9
Tuesday	1 or 2	1 or 2	8	3	14
Wednesday	1 or 2	1 or 2	4	3	11
Thursday	0	1 or 2	5	4	10
Friday	1 or 2	1 or 2	3	3	9
Saturday	1 or 2	3	1 or 2	5	12
All days	10	15	29	23	77

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.Jefferson County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in Tennessee
Interstate	19	24.1%	14.4%
Other freeways and expressways	0	0.0%	1.5%
Other principal arterial	6	7.6%	29.3%
Minor arterial	20	25.3%	23.5%
Major collector	16	20.3%	11.9%
Minor collector	9	11.4%	7.7%
Local	9	11.4%	11.7%
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.Jefferson County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	49
Dark, not lighted	26
Dark, lighted	1 or 2
Dawn	0
Dusk	1 or 2
Dark, lighting unknown	0
Other or unknown	1 or 2

Table 8.Jefferson County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	54
Cloudy	10
Rain	14
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	1 or 2
Fog, smog or smoke	0
Crosswinds or blowing sand/snow	0
Other or not reported	0

Routes in the county

Table 9.Signed routes in Jefferson County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In Jefferson	In all of Tennessee
Interstate 40	Interstate	17	588
Interstate 81	Interstate	1 or 2	61
US Route 11	US highway	1 or 2	112
US Route 11E	US highway	13	95
US Route 25E	US highway	4	34
US Route 25W	US highway	11	66
US Route 411	US highway	1 or 2	76

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 Tennessee

Adjacent counties

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

Figure 3.Jefferson County on the county map of Tennessee

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

Fewer than 102 counties
10 to 14.916 counties
15 to 19.927 counties
20 to 29.940 counties
30 or more10 counties
Jefferson County: 14.7

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 Tennessee

Table 10.Counties that share a boundary line with Jefferson County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Cocke County	Tennessee	11	98	27.1
Grainger County	Tennessee	3	52	21.9
Hamblen County	Tennessee	16	88	13.5
Knox County	Tennessee	82	659	13.8
Sevier County	Tennessee	14	170	17.2

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

Counties of similar population

These counties of Tennessee have a population nearest to that of Jefferson 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.
Tennessee Highway Safety OfficeThe highway safety office of Tennessee.

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

Cite this page

Fatal Roads. Jefferson County, Tennessee: fatal crash statistics. https://fatalroads.com/county/tn/jefferson/. 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.

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 Jefferson in the ten years before 2015?

FARS records 111 deaths in Jefferson County from 2005 to 2014. It records 81 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of Jefferson in 2024?

The rate of Jefferson County in 2024 was 22.0 deaths for each 100,000 residents. The rate of Tennessee was 16.5. The rate of the United States was 11.5.

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

FARS records a driver as drinking in 19 of 79 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 Jefferson?

7 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.