Whatcom County, Washington: fatal crash statistics

Counties of Washington by year (CSV)Cite this page

FARS records 12 deaths in 12 fatal crashes in Whatcom County in 2024.

FARS records 150 deaths in 141 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 6.6 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, Whatcom County was number 11 of 39 counties of Washington.

Deaths in Whatcom County fell by 5.1% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (158) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (150).

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

From 2015 to 2024, 54.3% of the fatal crashes in Whatcom County with a known setting were rural, against 41.9% 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 Whatcom 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.Whatcom County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	12	12	4
2023	20	19	9
2022	16	16	4
2021	19	16	4
2020	8	8	1 or 2
2019	15	14	5
2018	13	13	3
2017	24	21	5
2016	12	12	1 or 2
2015	11	10	0
2015 to 2024	150	141	37

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 39 (1979)2024: 12

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

Table 2.Whatcom County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	12	12
2023	20	19
2022	16	16
2021	19	16
2020	8	8
2019	15	14
2018	13	13
2017	24	21
2016	12	12
2015	11	10
2014	15	14
2013	18	16
2012	12	10
2011	9	8
2010	13	13
2009	17	16
2008	21	21
2007	16	16
2006	16	15
2005	21	16
2004	12	12
2003	14	13
2002	16	16
2001	19	17
2000	13	13
1999	19	15
1998	28	27
1997	15	12
1996	14	14
1995	19	16
1994	21	20
1993	30	25
1992	15	14
1991	16	15
1990	21	17
1989	32	29
1988	18	17
1987	21	18
1986	11	11
1985	14	14
1984	20	16
1983	17	13
1982	19	18
1981	22	20
1980	24	19
1979	39	34
1978	31	26
1977	29	24
1976	19	18
1975	17	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.Whatcom County beside Washington and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Whatcom County	Washington	United States
2024	5.1	9.2	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	6.6	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. Whatcom County had 234,601 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.Whatcom County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in Washington
A driver recorded as drinkingof 141 fatal crashes	37	141 fatal crashes	26.2%	31.1%
A speeding-related driverof 141 fatal crashes	53	141 fatal crashes	37.6%	31.1%
No restraint usedof 67 occupant deaths with restraint use known	25	67 occupant deathswith restraint use known	37.3%	40.8%
Pedestriansof 150 deaths	33	150 deaths	22.0%	18.4%
Bicyclistsof 150 deaths	9	150 deaths	6.0%	2.2%
Motorcyclistsof 150 deaths	25	150 deaths	16.7%	15.7%
On a rural roadof 140 fatal crashes with the condition reported	76	140 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	54.3%	41.9%
In the darkof 140 fatal crashes with the condition reported	64	140 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	45.7%	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.Whatcom 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	4	5	7	8	24
Monday	1 or 2	0	8	7	16
Tuesday	1 or 2	1 or 2	10	9	22
Wednesday	4	7	7	3	21
Thursday	4	5	9	5	23
Friday	6	3	7	4	20
Saturday	1 or 2	1 or 2	6	6	15
All days	22	23	54	42	141

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.Whatcom County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in Washington
Interstate	27	19.3%	12.4%
Other freeways and expressways	1 or 2	0.7%	6.1%
Other principal arterial	22	15.7%	30.8%
Minor arterial	18	12.9%	19.2%
Major collector	50	35.7%	18.2%
Minor collector	6	4.3%	3.8%
Local	16	11.4%	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.Whatcom County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	71
Dark, not lighted	41
Dark, lighted	21
Dawn	1 or 2
Dusk	4
Dark, lighting unknown	1 or 2
Other or unknown	1 or 2

Table 8.Whatcom County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	92
Cloudy	23
Rain	18
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	1 or 2
Fog, smog or smoke	3
Crosswinds or blowing sand/snow	0
Other or not reported	3

Routes in the county

Table 9.Signed routes in Whatcom County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In Whatcom	In all of Washington
Interstate 5	Interstate	27	390
State Route 9	State highway	7	37
State Route 20	State highway	3	84

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.Whatcom 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
Whatcom County: 6.6

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 Whatcom County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Okanogan County	Washington	11	86	20.2
San Juan County	Washington	1 or 2	11	6.3
Skagit County	Washington	17	150	11.7

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

FARS records 158 deaths in Whatcom County from 2005 to 2014. It records 150 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of Whatcom in 2024?

The rate of Whatcom County in 2024 was 5.1 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 Whatcom had a driver recorded as drinking?

FARS records a driver as drinking in 37 of 141 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 Whatcom?

FARS records 27 fatal crashes on Interstate 5 in the county from 2015 to 2024. FARS records 7 fatal crashes on State Route 9 in the county from 2015 to 2024. FARS records 3 fatal crashes on State Route 20 in the county from 2015 to 2024.