Jefferson County, Wisconsin: fatal crash statistics

Counties of Wisconsin by year (CSV)Cite this page

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

FARS records 96 deaths in 85 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 11.2 deaths for each 100,000 residents in a year.

The rate of Wisconsin in the same years is 10.2.

By deaths from 2015 to 2024, Jefferson County was number 20 of 72 counties of Wisconsin.

Deaths in Jefferson County fell by 10.3% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (107) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (96).

In the counties of Wisconsin the deaths fell by 5.1% between the same years.

From 2015 to 2024, 87.1% of the fatal crashes in Jefferson County with a known setting were rural, against 62.5% in Wisconsin.

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 Jefferson 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.Jefferson County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	12	12	1 or 2
2023	10	9	3
2022	8	8	3
2021	11	8	0
2020	9	8	1 or 2
2019	6	6	0
2018	13	12	8
2017	13	10	4
2016	7	7	3
2015	7	5	1 or 2
2015 to 2024	96	85	26

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 25 (1979)2024: 12

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

Table 2.Jefferson County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	12	12
2023	10	9
2022	8	8
2021	11	8
2020	9	8
2019	6	6
2018	13	12
2017	13	10
2016	7	7
2015	7	5
2014	12	10
2013	8	8
2012	6	5
2011	5	5
2010	12	10
2009	8	7
2008	10	9
2007	22	19
2006	14	14
2005	10	10
2004	21	20
2003	11	11
2002	16	11
2001	20	16
2000	20	18
1999	15	14
1998	17	15
1997	9	8
1996	10	8
1995	9	9
1994	14	14
1993	17	14
1992	7	7
1991	7	7
1990	10	9
1989	11	11
1988	9	8
1987	4	4
1986	11	9
1985	18	14
1984	17	14
1983	10	8
1982	17	13
1981	20	14
1980	18	15
1979	25	23
1978	9	8
1977	13	12
1976	6	6
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.Jefferson County beside Wisconsin and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Jefferson County	Wisconsin	United States
2024	13.9	10.0	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	11.2	10.2	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. Jefferson County had 86,540 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.Jefferson County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in Wisconsin
A driver recorded as drinkingof 85 fatal crashes	26	85 fatal crashes	30.6%	33.4%
A speeding-related driverof 85 fatal crashes	19	85 fatal crashes	22.4%	31.0%
No restraint usedof 66 occupant deaths with restraint use known	34	66 occupant deathswith restraint use known	51.5%	49.1%
Pedestriansof 96 deaths	9	96 deaths	9.4%	9.5%
Bicyclistsof 96 deaths	0	96 deaths	0.0%	1.7%
Motorcyclistsof 96 deaths	15	96 deaths	15.6%	15.8%
On a rural roadof 85 fatal crashes with the condition reported	74	85 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	87.1%	62.5%
In the darkof 85 fatal crashes with the condition reported	37	85 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	43.5%	41.7%

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.Jefferson 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	1 or 2	3	1 or 2	7
Monday	0	1 or 2	4	4	10
Tuesday	1 or 2	1 or 2	5	0	8
Wednesday	3	5	1 or 2	6	15
Thursday	1 or 2	1 or 2	5	1 or 2	10
Friday	1 or 2	6	6	8	22
Saturday	4	1 or 2	1 or 2	5	11
All days	15	17	25	26	83

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.Jefferson County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in Wisconsin
Interstate	11	12.9%	7.6%
Other freeways and expressways	1 or 2	1.2%	2.3%
Other principal arterial	21	24.7%	29.4%
Minor arterial	14	16.5%	22.7%
Major collector	20	23.5%	17.2%
Minor collector	7	8.2%	6.2%
Local	11	12.9%	14.6%
Not reported	0	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.Jefferson County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	44
Dark, not lighted	33
Dark, lighted	3
Dawn	3
Dusk	1 or 2
Dark, lighting unknown	1 or 2
Other or unknown	0

Table 8.Jefferson County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	47
Cloudy	26
Rain	3
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	6
Fog, smog or smoke	1 or 2
Crosswinds or blowing sand/snow	0
Other or not reported	1 or 2

Routes in the county

Table 9.Signed routes in Jefferson County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In Jefferson	In all of Wisconsin
Interstate 94	Interstate	11	111
State Route 16	State highway	7	35
State Route 26	State highway	5	23
State Route 59	State highway	1 or 2	30
US Route 12	US highway	9	108
US Route 18	US highway	1 or 2	43

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 Wisconsin

Adjacent counties

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

Figure 3.Jefferson County on the county map of Wisconsin

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

Fewer than 1018 counties
10 to 14.922 counties
15 to 19.916 counties
20 to 29.914 counties
30 or more2 counties
Jefferson County: 11.2

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 Wisconsin

Table 10.Counties that share a boundary line with Jefferson County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Dane County	Wisconsin	38	352	6.3
Dodge County	Wisconsin	18	127	14.4
Rock County	Wisconsin	16	210	12.9
Walworth County	Wisconsin	12	140	13.4
Waukesha County	Wisconsin	20	207	5.1

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

Counties of similar population

These counties of Wisconsin have a population nearest to that of Jefferson 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.
Governors Highway Safety Association: State Highway Safety OfficesThe list of the highway safety offices of the states.

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

Cite this page

Fatal Roads. Jefferson County, Wisconsin: fatal crash statistics. https://fatalroads.com/county/wi/jefferson/. 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 Jefferson in the ten years before 2015?

FARS records 107 deaths in Jefferson County from 2005 to 2014. It records 96 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of Jefferson in 2024?

The rate of Jefferson County in 2024 was 13.9 deaths for each 100,000 residents. The rate of Wisconsin was 10.0. The rate of the United States was 11.5.

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

FARS records a driver as drinking in 26 of 85 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 Jefferson?

6 signed routes in the county have a page. FARS records 36 fatal crashes on them in the county from 2015 to 2024. The table of routes on this page gives the count for each route.