Benton County, Washington: fatal crash statistics

Counties of Washington by year (CSV)Cite this page

FARS records 17 deaths in 13 fatal crashes in Benton County in 2024.

FARS records 177 deaths in 160 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 8.6 deaths for each 100,000 residents in a year.

The rate of Washington in the same years is 8.2.

By deaths from 2015 to 2024, Benton County was number 9 of 39 counties of Washington.

Deaths in Benton County rose by 62.4% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (109) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (177).

In the counties of Washington the deaths rose by 22.3% between the same years.

From 2015 to 2024, pedestrians were 9.6% of the deaths in Benton County and 18.4% in Washington.

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 Benton 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.Benton County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	17	13	5
2023	30	28	12
2022	23	19	5
2021	20	18	10
2020	13	12	4
2019	11	11	1 or 2
2018	15	14	7
2017	15	14	5
2016	22	22	9
2015	11	9	1 or 2
2015 to 2024	177	160	61

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 40 (1978)2024: 17

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

Table 2.Benton County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	17	13
2023	30	28
2022	23	19
2021	20	18
2020	13	12
2019	11	11
2018	15	14
2017	15	14
2016	22	22
2015	11	9
2014	10	9
2013	9	8
2012	12	11
2011	16	16
2010	12	8
2009	11	11
2008	3	3
2007	8	7
2006	13	12
2005	15	10
2004	19	18
2003	9	9
2002	15	13
2001	20	16
2000	18	16
1999	15	13
1998	19	15
1997	12	10
1996	15	14
1995	16	15
1994	12	12
1993	12	9
1992	17	15
1991	17	15
1990	22	21
1989	11	11
1988	8	8
1987	20	17
1986	24	20
1985	17	13
1984	14	12
1983	19	18
1982	20	16
1981	24	22
1980	30	28
1979	30	24
1978	40	34
1977	28	25
1976	32	30
1975	25	20

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.Benton County beside Washington and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Benton County	Washington	United States
2024	7.8	9.2	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	8.6	8.2	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. Benton County had 218,931 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.Benton County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in Washington
A driver recorded as drinkingof 160 fatal crashes	61	160 fatal crashes	38.1%	31.1%
A speeding-related driverof 160 fatal crashes	44	160 fatal crashes	27.5%	31.1%
No restraint usedof 112 occupant deaths with restraint use known	43	112 occupant deathswith restraint use known	38.4%	40.8%
Pedestriansof 177 deaths	17	177 deaths	9.6%	18.4%
Bicyclistsof 177 deaths	1 or 2	177 deaths	1.1%	2.2%
Motorcyclistsof 177 deaths	30	177 deaths	16.9%	15.7%
On a rural roadof 157 fatal crashes with the condition reported	64	157 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	40.8%	41.9%
In the darkof 158 fatal crashes with the condition reported	81	158 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	51.3%	47.7%

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.Benton 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	11	4	6	17	38
Monday	3	1 or 2	3	6	14
Tuesday	4	1 or 2	9	9	23
Wednesday	1 or 2	4	6	3	15
Thursday	6	6	7	8	27
Friday	5	3	5	7	20
Saturday	9	4	4	6	23
All days	40	24	40	56	160

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.Benton County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in Washington
Interstate	36	22.9%	12.4%
Other freeways and expressways	9	5.7%	6.1%
Other principal arterial	21	13.4%	30.8%
Minor arterial	41	26.1%	19.2%
Major collector	28	17.8%	18.2%
Minor collector	3	1.9%	3.8%
Local	19	12.1%	9.5%
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.Benton County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	61
Dark, not lighted	44
Dark, lighted	34
Dawn	9
Dusk	7
Dark, lighting unknown	3
Other or unknown	1 or 2

Table 8.Benton County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	122
Cloudy	16
Rain	10
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	1 or 2
Fog, smog or smoke	6
Crosswinds or blowing sand/snow	1 or 2
Other or not reported	1 or 2

Routes in the county

Table 9.Signed routes in Benton County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In Benton	In all of Washington
Interstate 82	Interstate	27	79
Interstate 182	Interstate	9	26
State Route 14	State highway	8	52
US Route 395	US highway	1 or 2	77

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 Washington

Adjacent counties

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

Figure 3.Benton County on the county map of Washington

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

Fewer than 1018 counties
10 to 14.98 counties
15 to 19.94 counties
20 to 29.94 counties
30 or more5 counties
Benton County: 8.6

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 Washington

Table 10.Counties that share a boundary line with Benton County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Morrow County	Oregon	5	30	25.4
Umatilla County	Oregon	11	125	15.9
Franklin County	Washington	11	81	8.5
Grant County	Washington	26	208	21.1
Klickitat County	Washington	1 or 2	34	15.1
Walla Walla County	Washington	6	51	8.3
Yakima County	Washington	35	405	16.0

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

Counties of similar population

These counties of Washington have a population nearest to that of Benton 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.
Washington Traffic Safety CommissionThe highway safety office of Washington.

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

Cite this page

Fatal Roads. Benton County, Washington: fatal crash statistics. https://fatalroads.com/county/wa/benton/. 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 Benton in the ten years before 2015?

FARS records 109 deaths in Benton County from 2005 to 2014. It records 177 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of Benton in 2024?

The rate of Benton County in 2024 was 7.8 deaths for each 100,000 residents. The rate of Washington was 9.2. The rate of the United States was 11.5.

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

FARS records a driver as drinking in 61 of 160 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 Benton?

4 signed routes in the county have a page. FARS records 46 fatal crashes on them in the county from 2015 to 2024. The table of routes on this page gives the count for each route.