Denton County, Texas: fatal crash statistics

Counties of Texas by year (CSV)Cite this page

FARS records 50 deaths in 47 fatal crashes in Denton County in 2024.

FARS records 521 deaths in 479 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 5.7 deaths for each 100,000 residents in a year.

The rate of Texas in the same years is 13.6.

By deaths from 2015 to 2024, Denton County was number 11 of 254 counties of Texas.

Deaths in Denton County rose by 32.9% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (392) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (521).

In the counties of Texas the deaths rose by 18.2% between the same years.

From 2015 to 2024, 20.2% of the fatal crashes in Denton County with a known setting were rural, against 38.1% in Texas.

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 Denton 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.Denton County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	50	47	7
2023	53	52	7
2022	48	46	11
2021	71	62	13
2020	59	55	9
2019	52	47	8
2018	52	46	14
2017	49	44	10
2016	49	42	8
2015	38	38	7
2015 to 2024	521	479	94

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 71 (2021)2024: 50

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

Table 2.Denton County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	50	47
2023	53	52
2022	48	46
2021	71	62
2020	59	55
2019	52	47
2018	52	46
2017	49	44
2016	49	42
2015	38	38
2014	37	34
2013	40	38
2012	40	36
2011	30	27
2010	42	37
2009	34	32
2008	33	29
2007	50	47
2006	36	33
2005	50	48
2004	40	38
2003	65	53
2002	51	48
2001	59	52
2000	38	36
1999	40	37
1998	37	34
1997	43	39
1996	51	44
1995	33	31
1994	39	32
1993	39	31
1992	27	26
1991	36	35
1990	31	30
1989	28	26
1988	48	41
1987	37	35
1986	49	37
1985	39	37
1984	43	40
1983	49	46
1982	28	28
1981	51	42
1980	34	31
1979	43	38
1978	38	28
1977	27	24
1976	23	16
1975	33	22

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.Denton County beside Texas and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Denton County	Texas	United States
2024	4.8	13.3	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	5.7	13.6	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. Denton County had 1,046,226 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.Denton County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in Texas
A driver recorded as drinkingof 479 fatal crashes	94	479 fatal crashes	19.6%	25.5%
A speeding-related driverof 479 fatal crashes	184	479 fatal crashes	38.4%	32.1%
No restraint usedof 276 occupant deaths with restraint use known	114	276 occupant deathswith restraint use known	41.3%	45.1%
Pedestriansof 521 deaths	85	521 deaths	16.3%	17.6%
Bicyclistsof 521 deaths	11	521 deaths	2.1%	1.9%
Motorcyclistsof 521 deaths	116	521 deaths	22.3%	12.7%
On a rural roadof 476 fatal crashes with the condition reported	96	476 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	20.2%	38.1%
In the darkof 479 fatal crashes with the condition reported	248	479 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	51.8%	55.9%

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.Denton 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	27	12	25	24	88
Monday	9	14	11	25	59
Tuesday	11	15	12	20	58
Wednesday	9	13	15	25	62
Thursday	10	19	18	20	67
Friday	10	17	11	27	65
Saturday	23	7	21	29	80
All days	99	97	113	170	479

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.Denton County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in Texas
Interstate	93	19.5%	15.8%
Other freeways and expressways	19	4.0%	6.3%
Other principal arterial	141	29.6%	29.8%
Minor arterial	106	22.3%	20.3%
Major collector	79	16.6%	18.9%
Minor collector	1 or 2	0.4%	1.7%
Local	36	7.6%	7.1%
Not reported	3	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.Denton County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	210
Dark, not lighted	124
Dark, lighted	121
Dawn	6
Dusk	15
Dark, lighting unknown	3
Other or unknown	0

Table 8.Denton County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	367
Cloudy	78
Rain	25
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	3
Fog, smog or smoke	1 or 2
Crosswinds or blowing sand/snow	0
Other or not reported	4

Routes in the county

Table 9.Signed routes in Denton County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In Denton	In all of Texas
Interstate 10	Interstate	1 or 2	994
Interstate 35	Interstate	55	915
Interstate 35E	Interstate	25	117
Interstate 35W	Interstate	8	68
Interstate 37	Interstate	1 or 2	142
State Route 114	State highway	14	89
State Route 121	State highway	14	109
State Route 190	State highway	1 or 2	33
State Route 288	State highway	10	92
US Route 77	US highway	8	201
US Route 377	US highway	39	143
US Route 380	US highway	35	127

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 Texas

Adjacent counties

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

Figure 3.Denton County on the county map of Texas

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

Fewer than 1014 counties
10 to 14.926 counties
15 to 19.924 counties
20 to 29.963 counties
30 or more125 counties
Count of 1 or 2, no rate shown2 counties
Denton County: 5.7

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 Texas

Table 10.Counties that share a boundary line with Denton County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Collin County	Texas	72	576	5.4
Cooke County	Texas	23	112	27.0
Dallas County	Texas	330	3,126	12.0
Grayson County	Texas	32	245	17.9
Tarrant County	Texas	205	1,901	9.0
Wise County	Texas	35	200	28.3

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

Counties of similar population

These counties of Texas have a population nearest to that of Denton 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.
Texas Traffic Safety SectionThe highway safety office of Texas.

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

Cite this page

Fatal Roads. Denton County, Texas: fatal crash statistics. https://fatalroads.com/county/tx/denton/. 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 Denton in the ten years before 2015?

FARS records 392 deaths in Denton County from 2005 to 2014. It records 521 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of Denton in 2024?

The rate of Denton County in 2024 was 4.8 deaths for each 100,000 residents. The rate of Texas was 13.3. The rate of the United States was 11.5.

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

FARS records a driver as drinking in 94 of 479 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 Denton?

12 signed routes in the county have a page. FARS records 212 fatal crashes on them in the county from 2015 to 2024. The table of routes on this page gives the count for each route.