Ellis County, Texas: fatal crash statistics

Counties of Texas by year (CSV)Cite this page

FARS records 41 deaths in 40 fatal crashes in Ellis County in 2024.

FARS records 326 deaths in 293 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 16.8 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, Ellis County was number 24 of 254 counties of Texas.

Deaths in Ellis County rose by 59.8% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (204) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (326).

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

From 2015 to 2024, pedestrians were 10.7% of the deaths in Ellis County and 17.6% 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 Ellis 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.Ellis County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	41	40	8
2023	37	31	10
2022	33	28	10
2021	35	33	9
2020	50	43	13
2019	28	23	4
2018	16	16	5
2017	33	31	11
2016	28	25	6
2015	25	23	8
2015 to 2024	326	293	84

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 50 (2020)2024: 41

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

Table 2.Ellis County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	41	40
2023	37	31
2022	33	28
2021	35	33
2020	50	43
2019	28	23
2018	16	16
2017	33	31
2016	28	25
2015	25	23
2014	24	24
2013	19	19
2012	14	12
2011	18	17
2010	14	14
2009	17	16
2008	22	21
2007	24	23
2006	30	25
2005	22	17
2004	30	29
2003	16	14
2002	26	23
2001	28	25
2000	17	15
1999	42	33
1998	44	36
1997	22	18
1996	25	22
1995	35	27
1994	13	12
1993	23	20
1992	27	24
1991	26	22
1990	18	16
1989	29	25
1988	34	29
1987	18	18
1986	22	18
1985	22	19
1984	27	25
1983	32	26
1982	23	19
1981	25	21
1980	27	22
1979	25	22
1978	26	24
1977	22	19
1976	25	21
1975	21	19

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.Ellis County beside Texas and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Ellis County	Texas	United States
2024	17.6	13.3	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	16.8	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. Ellis County had 232,454 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.Ellis County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in Texas
A driver recorded as drinkingof 293 fatal crashes	84	293 fatal crashes	28.7%	25.5%
A speeding-related driverof 293 fatal crashes	109	293 fatal crashes	37.2%	32.1%
No restraint usedof 202 occupant deaths with restraint use known	91	202 occupant deathswith restraint use known	45.0%	45.1%
Pedestriansof 326 deaths	35	326 deaths	10.7%	17.6%
Bicyclistsof 326 deaths	6	326 deaths	1.8%	1.9%
Motorcyclistsof 326 deaths	53	326 deaths	16.3%	12.7%
On a rural roadof 293 fatal crashes with the condition reported	119	293 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	40.6%	38.1%
In the darkof 292 fatal crashes with the condition reported	158	292 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	54.1%	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.Ellis 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	21	9	8	23	61
Monday	7	17	13	16	53
Tuesday	6	6	10	6	28
Wednesday	4	6	9	11	30
Thursday	4	7	10	11	32
Friday	9	10	7	13	39
Saturday	17	10	10	13	50
All days	68	65	67	93	293

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.Ellis County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in Texas
Interstate	88	30.0%	15.8%
Other freeways and expressways	27	9.2%	6.3%
Other principal arterial	39	13.3%	29.8%
Minor arterial	38	13.0%	20.3%
Major collector	74	25.3%	18.9%
Minor collector	4	1.4%	1.7%
Local	23	7.8%	7.1%
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.Ellis County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	119
Dark, not lighted	134
Dark, lighted	22
Dawn	6
Dusk	9
Dark, lighting unknown	1 or 2
Other or unknown	1 or 2

Table 8.Ellis County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	218
Cloudy	46
Rain	21
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	1 or 2
Fog, smog or smoke	5
Crosswinds or blowing sand/snow	1 or 2
Other or not reported	0

Routes in the county

Table 9.Signed routes in Ellis County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In Ellis	In all of Texas
Interstate 35	Interstate	13	915
Interstate 35E	Interstate	21	117
Interstate 45	Interstate	41	668
State Route 34	State highway	12	69
US Route 67	US highway	10	249
US Route 77	US highway	12	201
US Route 287	US highway	43	314

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.Ellis 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
Ellis County: 16.8

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 Texas

Table 10.Counties that share a boundary line with Ellis County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Dallas County	Texas	330	3,126	12.0
Henderson County	Texas	26	185	22.3
Hill County	Texas	16	139	38.1
Johnson County	Texas	21	274	15.1
Kaufman County	Texas	24	273	18.4
Navarro County	Texas	14	110	21.2
Tarrant County	Texas	205	1,901	9.0

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 Ellis 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. Ellis County, Texas: fatal crash statistics. https://fatalroads.com/county/tx/ellis/. 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 Ellis in the ten years before 2015?

FARS records 204 deaths in Ellis County from 2005 to 2014. It records 326 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of Ellis in 2024?

The rate of Ellis County in 2024 was 17.6 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 Ellis had a driver recorded as drinking?

FARS records a driver as drinking in 84 of 293 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 Ellis?

7 signed routes in the county have a page. FARS records 152 fatal crashes on them in the county from 2015 to 2024. The table of routes on this page gives the count for each route.