Thurston County, Washington: fatal crash statistics

Counties of Washington by year (CSV)Cite this page

FARS records 26 deaths in 26 fatal crashes in Thurston County in 2024.

FARS records 219 deaths in 207 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 7.6 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, Thurston County was number 7 of 39 counties of Washington.

Deaths in Thurston County rose by 8.4% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (202) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (219).

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

From 2015 to 2024, 31.6% of the occupants killed in Thurston County with restraint use known had no restraint, against 40.8% 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 Thurston 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.Thurston County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	26	26	7
2023	34	32	8
2022	18	18	5
2021	24	21	6
2020	19	17	7
2019	22	20	9
2018	26	25	9
2017	19	19	5
2016	17	16	4
2015	14	13	5
2015 to 2024	219	207	65

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 34 (2023)2024: 26

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

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

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.Thurston County beside Washington and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Thurston County	Washington	United States
2024	8.6	9.2	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	7.6	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. Thurston County had 302,132 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.Thurston County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in Washington
A driver recorded as drinkingof 207 fatal crashes	65	207 fatal crashes	31.4%	31.1%
A speeding-related driverof 207 fatal crashes	70	207 fatal crashes	33.8%	31.1%
No restraint usedof 117 occupant deaths with restraint use known	37	117 occupant deathswith restraint use known	31.6%	40.8%
Pedestriansof 219 deaths	36	219 deaths	16.4%	18.4%
Bicyclistsof 219 deaths	5	219 deaths	2.3%	2.2%
Motorcyclistsof 219 deaths	47	219 deaths	21.5%	15.7%
On a rural roadof 206 fatal crashes with the condition reported	80	206 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	38.8%	41.9%
In the darkof 206 fatal crashes with the condition reported	99	206 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	48.1%	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.Thurston 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	7	4	9	5	25
Monday	4	9	11	8	32
Tuesday	1 or 2	8	7	8	25
Wednesday	6	8	11	13	38
Thursday	4	3	7	7	21
Friday	4	8	5	15	32
Saturday	8	1 or 2	11	13	34
All days	35	42	61	69	207

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.Thurston County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in Washington
Interstate	38	18.4%	12.4%
Other freeways and expressways	6	2.9%	6.1%
Other principal arterial	34	16.5%	30.8%
Minor arterial	46	22.3%	19.2%
Major collector	54	26.2%	18.2%
Minor collector	3	1.5%	3.8%
Local	25	12.1%	9.5%
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.Thurston County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	93
Dark, not lighted	47
Dark, lighted	49
Dawn	10
Dusk	4
Dark, lighting unknown	3
Other or unknown	1 or 2

Table 8.Thurston County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	138
Cloudy	28
Rain	30
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	1 or 2
Fog, smog or smoke	4
Crosswinds or blowing sand/snow	1 or 2
Other or not reported	5

Routes in the county

Table 9.Signed routes in Thurston County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In Thurston	In all of Washington
Interstate 5	Interstate	37	390
US Route 12	US highway	10	83
US Route 101	US highway	6	97

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.Thurston 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
Thurston County: 7.6

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 Thurston County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Grays Harbor County	Washington	10	92	12.3
Lewis County	Washington	8	113	13.8
Mason County	Washington	15	115	17.4
Pierce County	Washington	102	794	8.8

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 Thurston 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. Thurston County, Washington: fatal crash statistics. https://fatalroads.com/county/wa/thurston/. 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 Thurston in the ten years before 2015?

FARS records 202 deaths in Thurston County from 2005 to 2014. It records 219 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of Thurston in 2024?

The rate of Thurston County in 2024 was 8.6 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 Thurston had a driver recorded as drinking?

FARS records a driver as drinking in 65 of 207 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 Thurston?

FARS records 37 fatal crashes on Interstate 5 in the county from 2015 to 2024. FARS records 10 fatal crashes on US Route 12 in the county from 2015 to 2024. FARS records 6 fatal crashes on US Route 101 in the county from 2015 to 2024.