Shelby County, Tennessee: fatal crash statistics

Counties of Tennessee by year (CSV)Cite this page

FARS records 218 deaths in 195 fatal crashes in Shelby County in 2024.

FARS records 1,909 deaths in 1,755 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 20.6 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, Shelby County was number 1 of 95 counties of Tennessee.

Deaths in Shelby County rose by 79.6% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (1,063) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (1,909).

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

From 2015 to 2024, 2.7% of the fatal crashes in Shelby 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 Shelby County by year, 2015 to 2024

120

132

120

158

155

246

255

246

259

218

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.Shelby County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	218	195	42
2023	259	234	56
2022	246	225	51
2021	255	230	61
2020	246	229	48
2019	155	144	21
2018	158	144	12
2017	120	115	20
2016	132	128	25
2015	120	111	28
2015 to 2024	1,909	1,755	364

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 259 (2023)2024: 218

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

Table 2.Shelby County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	218	195
2023	259	234
2022	246	225
2021	255	230
2020	246	229
2019	155	144
2018	158	144
2017	120	115
2016	132	128
2015	120	111
2014	107	102
2013	99	94
2012	89	81
2011	92	85
2010	91	88
2009	112	102
2008	108	99
2007	123	116
2006	120	110
2005	122	113
2004	119	104
2003	106	95
2002	109	93
2001	107	95
2000	104	96
1999	117	104
1998	128	122
1997	154	137
1996	159	145
1995	149	137
1994	163	146
1993	119	109
1992	138	123
1991	126	119
1990	132	119
1989	104	94
1988	113	101
1987	129	116
1986	133	127
1985	124	118
1984	103	101
1983	122	113
1982	101	91
1981	101	94
1980	137	123
1979	141	128
1978	133	118
1977	157	139
1976	128	121
1975	115	99

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.Shelby County beside Tennessee and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Shelby County	Tennessee	United States
2024	23.8	16.5	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	20.6	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. Shelby County had 915,438 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.Shelby County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in Tennessee
A driver recorded as drinkingof 1,755 fatal crashes	364	1,755 fatal crashes	20.7%	24.5%
A speeding-related driverof 1,755 fatal crashes	339	1,755 fatal crashes	19.3%	16.5%
No restraint usedof 932 occupant deaths with restraint use known	485	932 occupant deathswith restraint use known	52.0%	48.7%
Pedestriansof 1,909 deaths	487	1,909 deaths	25.5%	13.0%
Bicyclistsof 1,909 deaths	21	1,909 deaths	1.1%	0.8%
Motorcyclistsof 1,909 deaths	180	1,909 deaths	9.4%	13.8%
On a rural roadof 1,755 fatal crashes with the condition reported	48	1,755 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	2.7%	42.8%
In the darkof 1,742 fatal crashes with the condition reported	1,026	1,742 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	58.9%	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.Shelby 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	113	27	59	91	290
Monday	52	35	47	80	214
Tuesday	20	39	54	85	198
Wednesday	32	27	64	93	216
Thursday	38	46	72	94	250
Friday	51	40	65	104	260
Saturday	77	28	71	116	292
All days	383	242	432	663	1,720

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.Shelby County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in Tennessee
Interstate	215	12.3%	14.4%
Other freeways and expressways	46	2.6%	1.5%
Other principal arterial	692	39.4%	29.3%
Minor arterial	590	33.6%	23.5%
Major collector	86	4.9%	11.9%
Minor collector	12	0.7%	7.7%
Local	114	6.5%	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.Shelby County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	654
Dark, not lighted	172
Dark, lighted	844
Dawn	25
Dusk	37
Dark, lighting unknown	10
Other or unknown	13

Table 8.Shelby County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	1,504
Cloudy	49
Rain	183
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	6
Fog, smog or smoke	8
Crosswinds or blowing sand/snow	0
Other or not reported	5

Routes in the county

Table 9.Signed routes in Shelby County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In Shelby	In all of Tennessee
Interstate 40	Interstate	91	588
Interstate 55	Interstate	27	27
Interstate 240	Interstate	95	95
State Route 14	State highway	81	82
State Route 175	State highway	90	90
State Route 385	State highway	23	24
US Route 31	US highway	3	62
US Route 51	US highway	87	137
US Route 61	US highway	73	73
US Route 64	US highway	76	168
US Route 70	US highway	4	214
US Route 72	US highway	20	25
US Route 78	US highway	62	62

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.Shelby 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
Shelby County: 20.6

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 Shelby County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Crittenden County	Arkansas	16	145	30.2
Mississippi County	Arkansas	10	81	19.9
DeSoto County	Mississippi	21	223	12.0
Marshall County	Mississippi	20	176	50.6
Fayette County	Tennessee	11	86	20.6
Tipton County	Tennessee	5	72	11.7

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 Shelby 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. Shelby County, Tennessee: fatal crash statistics. https://fatalroads.com/county/tn/shelby/. 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 Shelby in the ten years before 2015?

FARS records 1,063 deaths in Shelby County from 2005 to 2014. It records 1,909 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of Shelby in 2024?

The rate of Shelby County in 2024 was 23.8 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 Shelby had a driver recorded as drinking?

FARS records a driver as drinking in 364 of 1,755 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 Shelby?

13 signed routes in the county have a page. FARS records 732 fatal crashes on them in the county from 2015 to 2024. The table of routes on this page gives the count for each route.