Matagorda County, Texas: fatal crash statistics

Counties of Texas by year (CSV)Cite this page

FARS records 12 deaths in 11 fatal crashes in Matagorda County in 2024.

FARS records 96 deaths in 89 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 26.3 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, Matagorda County was number 92 of 254 counties of Texas.

Deaths in Matagorda County rose by 28.0% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (75) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (96).

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

From 2015 to 2024, 80.7% of the fatal crashes in Matagorda 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 Matagorda 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.Matagorda County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	12	11	1 or 2
2023	6	5	1 or 2
2022	6	6	1 or 2
2021	12	11	1 or 2
2020	10	9	1 or 2
2019	11	10	1 or 2
2018	6	6	1 or 2
2017	10	8	1 or 2
2016	10	10	1 or 2
2015	13	13	6
2015 to 2024	96	89	18

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 34 (1980)2024: 12

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

Table 2.Matagorda County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	12	11
2023	6	5
2022	6	6
2021	12	11
2020	10	9
2019	11	10
2018	6	6
2017	10	8
2016	10	10
2015	13	13
2014	4	4
2013	8	8
2012	6	6
2011	6	6
2010	10	9
2009	8	6
2008	8	7
2007	7	6
2006	11	10
2005	7	7
2004	4	4
2003	10	9
2002	7	7
2001	11	11
2000	11	10
1999	13	10
1998	23	20
1997	8	6
1996	4	4
1995	6	6
1994	9	7
1993	7	6
1992	5	5
1991	10	7
1990	16	13
1989	12	11
1988	11	10
1987	11	9
1986	18	16
1985	17	16
1984	17	13
1983	15	12
1982	14	12
1981	17	16
1980	34	26
1979	29	23
1978	19	16
1977	24	22
1976	20	16
1975	11	11

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.Matagorda County beside Texas and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Matagorda County	Texas	United States
2024	33.2	13.3	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	26.3	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. Matagorda County had 36,190 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.Matagorda County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in Texas
A driver recorded as drinkingof 89 fatal crashes	18	89 fatal crashes	20.2%	25.5%
A speeding-related driverof 89 fatal crashes	29	89 fatal crashes	32.6%	32.1%
No restraint usedof 68 occupant deaths with restraint use known	33	68 occupant deathswith restraint use known	48.5%	45.1%
Pedestriansof 96 deaths	11	96 deaths	11.5%	17.6%
Bicyclistsof 96 deaths	1 or 2	96 deaths	2.1%	1.9%
Motorcyclistsof 96 deaths	7	96 deaths	7.3%	12.7%
On a rural roadof 88 fatal crashes with the condition reported	71	88 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	80.7%	38.1%
In the darkof 89 fatal crashes with the condition reported	44	89 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	49.4%	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.Matagorda 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	1 or 2	5	1 or 2	8	17
Monday	1 or 2	1 or 2	3	1 or 2	8
Tuesday	1 or 2	3	5	0	10
Wednesday	1 or 2	5	1 or 2	1 or 2	10
Thursday	1 or 2	4	5	1 or 2	12
Friday	3	4	4	7	18
Saturday	4	3	0	7	14
All days	17	25	20	27	89

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.Matagorda County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in Texas
Interstate	0	0.0%	15.8%
Other freeways and expressways	0	0.0%	6.3%
Other principal arterial	9	10.2%	29.8%
Minor arterial	21	23.9%	20.3%
Major collector	43	48.9%	18.9%
Minor collector	3	3.4%	1.7%
Local	12	13.6%	7.1%
Not reported	1 or 2	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.Matagorda County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	44
Dark, not lighted	39
Dark, lighted	5
Dawn	1 or 2
Dusk	0
Dark, lighting unknown	0
Other or unknown	0

Table 8.Matagorda County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	41
Cloudy	38
Rain	7
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	0
Fog, smog or smoke	3
Crosswinds or blowing sand/snow	0
Other or not reported	0

Routes in the county

Table 9.Signed routes in Matagorda County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In Matagorda	In all of Texas
State Route 35	State highway	23	126
State Route 60	State highway	13	31
State Route 71	State highway	1 or 2	199

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.Matagorda 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
Matagorda County: 26.3

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 Matagorda County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Brazoria County	Texas	28	411	10.9
Calhoun County	Texas	6	28	13.5
Jackson County	Texas	5	66	44.0
Wharton County	Texas	14	138	33.1

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

FARS records 75 deaths in Matagorda County from 2005 to 2014. It records 96 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of Matagorda in 2024?

The rate of Matagorda County in 2024 was 33.2 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 Matagorda had a driver recorded as drinking?

FARS records a driver as drinking in 18 of 89 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 Matagorda?

FARS records 23 fatal crashes on State Route 35 in the county from 2015 to 2024. FARS records 13 fatal crashes on State Route 60 in the county from 2015 to 2024. FARS records 1 or 2 fatal crashes on State Route 71 in the county from 2015 to 2024.