Howard County, Texas: fatal crash statistics

Counties of Texas by year (CSV)Cite this page

FARS records 7 deaths in 6 fatal crashes in Howard County in 2024.

FARS records 103 deaths in 96 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 30.0 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, Howard County was number 84 of 254 counties of Texas.

Deaths in Howard County rose by 47.1% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (70) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (103).

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

From 2015 to 2024, 37.9% of the fatal crashes in Howard County with known light were in the dark, against 55.9% 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 Howard 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.Howard County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	7	6	1 or 2
2023	11	10	1 or 2
2022	6	6	3
2021	17	14	1 or 2
2020	14	13	1 or 2
2019	10	10	1 or 2
2018	9	9	3
2017	9	9	1 or 2
2016	8	8	1 or 2
2015	12	11	1 or 2
2015 to 2024	103	96	18

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 17 (1981)2024: 7

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

Table 2.Howard County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	7	6
2023	11	10
2022	6	6
2021	17	14
2020	14	13
2019	10	10
2018	9	9
2017	9	9
2016	8	8
2015	12	11
2014	6	6
2013	12	9
2012	8	6
2011	8	8
2010	8	7
2009	7	7
2008	3	3
2007	6	6
2006	7	7
2005	5	4
2004	7	7
2003	7	7
2002	3	3
2001	4	4
2000	8	7
1999	7	6
1998	3	3
1997	3	3
1996	10	10
1995	8	8
1994	11	10
1993	4	4
1992	3	3
1991	5	5
1990	6	6
1989	6	5
1988	13	12
1987	8	6
1986	11	11
1985	9	8
1984	16	16
1983	14	14
1982	12	11
1981	17	16
1980	14	13
1979	7	7
1978	8	7
1977	9	8
1976	6	6
1975	12	12

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.Howard County beside Texas and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Howard County	Texas	United States
2024	22.9	13.3	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	30.0	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. Howard County had 30,568 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.Howard County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in Texas
A driver recorded as drinkingof 96 fatal crashes	18	96 fatal crashes	18.8%	25.5%
A speeding-related driverof 96 fatal crashes	29	96 fatal crashes	30.2%	32.1%
No restraint usedof 69 occupant deaths with restraint use known	34	69 occupant deathswith restraint use known	49.3%	45.1%
Pedestriansof 103 deaths	11	103 deaths	10.7%	17.6%
Bicyclistsof 103 deaths	1 or 2	103 deaths	1.0%	1.9%
Motorcyclistsof 103 deaths	15	103 deaths	14.6%	12.7%
On a rural roadof 96 fatal crashes with the condition reported	47	96 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	49.0%	38.1%
In the darkof 95 fatal crashes with the condition reported	36	95 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	37.9%	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.Howard 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	3	3	1 or 2	4	11
Monday	0	5	8	1 or 2	14
Tuesday	0	5	6	6	17
Wednesday	1 or 2	1 or 2	3	4	11
Thursday	0	3	1 or 2	6	11
Friday	0	4	6	5	15
Saturday	5	1 or 2	3	7	17
All days	10	24	29	33	96

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.Howard County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in Texas
Interstate	32	33.3%	15.8%
Other freeways and expressways	0	0.0%	6.3%
Other principal arterial	36	37.5%	29.8%
Minor arterial	10	10.4%	20.3%
Major collector	14	14.6%	18.9%
Minor collector	0	0.0%	1.7%
Local	4	4.2%	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.Howard County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	53
Dark, not lighted	21
Dark, lighted	14
Dawn	3
Dusk	3
Dark, lighting unknown	1 or 2
Other or unknown	1 or 2

Table 8.Howard County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	83
Cloudy	1 or 2
Rain	8
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	1 or 2
Fog, smog or smoke	1 or 2
Crosswinds or blowing sand/snow	1 or 2
Other or not reported	0

Routes in the county

Table 9.Signed routes in Howard County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In Howard	In all of Texas
Interstate 20	Interstate	31	852
State Route 176	State highway	1 or 2	32
US Route 67	US highway	1 or 2	249
US Route 87	US highway	23	241

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.Howard 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
Howard County: 30.0

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 Howard County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Borden County	Texas	0	12	191.6
Glasscock County	Texas	3	38	300.8
Martin County	Texas	16	106	194.5
Mitchell County	Texas	0	37	42.5
Sterling County	Texas	0	16	118.8

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

FARS records 70 deaths in Howard County from 2005 to 2014. It records 103 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of Howard in 2024?

The rate of Howard County in 2024 was 22.9 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 Howard had a driver recorded as drinking?

FARS records a driver as drinking in 18 of 96 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 Howard?

4 signed routes in the county have a page. FARS records 57 fatal crashes on them in the county from 2015 to 2024. The table of routes on this page gives the count for each route.