Potter County, Texas: fatal crash statistics

Counties of Texas by year (CSV)Cite this page

FARS records 25 deaths in 23 fatal crashes in Potter County in 2024.

FARS records 250 deaths in 223 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 21.2 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, Potter County was number 33 of 254 counties of Texas.

Deaths in Potter County fell by 2.0% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (255) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (250).

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

From 2015 to 2024, 17.5% of the fatal crashes in Potter 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 Potter 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.Potter County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	25	23	1 or 2
2023	24	24	3
2022	19	17	3
2021	29	23	4
2020	21	20	5
2019	29	26	8
2018	22	18	3
2017	32	27	7
2016	29	26	7
2015	20	19	3
2015 to 2024	250	223	45

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 39 (1983)2024: 25

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

Table 2.Potter County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	25	23
2023	24	24
2022	19	17
2021	29	23
2020	21	20
2019	29	26
2018	22	18
2017	32	27
2016	29	26
2015	20	19
2014	26	24
2013	30	26
2012	32	27
2011	22	21
2010	21	20
2009	19	18
2008	22	20
2007	22	19
2006	30	29
2005	31	27
2004	23	22
2003	19	19
2002	18	15
2001	18	16
2000	28	26
1999	20	18
1998	28	26
1997	24	20
1996	17	16
1995	19	17
1994	21	18
1993	13	12
1992	20	20
1991	14	13
1990	25	19
1989	24	20
1988	26	25
1987	20	18
1986	27	17
1985	32	30
1984	29	28
1983	39	28
1982	31	29
1981	30	25
1980	26	23
1979	21	20
1978	27	25
1977	34	27
1976	29	27
1975	30	26

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.Potter County beside Texas and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Potter County	Texas	United States
2024	21.8	13.3	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	21.2	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. Potter County had 114,551 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.Potter County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in Texas
A driver recorded as drinkingof 223 fatal crashes	45	223 fatal crashes	20.2%	25.5%
A speeding-related driverof 223 fatal crashes	82	223 fatal crashes	36.8%	32.1%
No restraint usedof 146 occupant deaths with restraint use known	62	146 occupant deathswith restraint use known	42.5%	45.1%
Pedestriansof 250 deaths	50	250 deaths	20.0%	17.6%
Bicyclistsof 250 deaths	4	250 deaths	1.6%	1.9%
Motorcyclistsof 250 deaths	32	250 deaths	12.8%	12.7%
On a rural roadof 223 fatal crashes with the condition reported	39	223 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	17.5%	38.1%
In the darkof 223 fatal crashes with the condition reported	135	223 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	60.5%	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.Potter 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	19	6	5	17	47
Monday	5	9	10	6	30
Tuesday	1 or 2	10	0	9	21
Wednesday	9	6	7	10	32
Thursday	6	4	4	12	26
Friday	6	6	6	9	27
Saturday	13	9	1 or 2	16	40
All days	60	50	34	79	223

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.Potter County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in Texas
Interstate	29	13.1%	15.8%
Other freeways and expressways	8	3.6%	6.3%
Other principal arterial	66	29.7%	29.8%
Minor arterial	58	26.1%	20.3%
Major collector	37	16.7%	18.9%
Minor collector	0	0.0%	1.7%
Local	24	10.8%	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.Potter County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	83
Dark, not lighted	59
Dark, lighted	74
Dawn	1 or 2
Dusk	4
Dark, lighting unknown	1 or 2
Other or unknown	0

Table 8.Potter County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	173
Cloudy	30
Rain	13
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	5
Fog, smog or smoke	0
Crosswinds or blowing sand/snow	1 or 2
Other or not reported	1 or 2

Routes in the county

Table 9.Signed routes in Potter County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In Potter	In all of Texas
Interstate 27	Interstate	1 or 2	62
Interstate 40	Interstate	24	97
State Route 136	State highway	14	33
State Route 335	State highway	10	23
State Route 336	State highway	1 or 2	24
US Route 60	US highway	20	67
US Route 87	US highway	11	241
US Route 287	US highway	10	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.Potter 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
Potter County: 21.2

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 Potter County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Carson County	Texas	9	55	93.2
Moore County	Texas	4	50	23.4
Oldham County	Texas	10	51	264.1
Randall County	Texas	16	136	9.7

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

FARS records 255 deaths in Potter County from 2005 to 2014. It records 250 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of Potter in 2024?

The rate of Potter County in 2024 was 21.8 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 Potter had a driver recorded as drinking?

FARS records a driver as drinking in 45 of 223 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 Potter?

8 signed routes in the county have a page. FARS records 92 fatal crashes on them in the county from 2015 to 2024. The table of routes on this page gives the count for each route.