Waukesha County, Wisconsin: fatal crash statistics

Counties of Wisconsin by year (CSV)Cite this page

FARS records 20 deaths in 17 fatal crashes in Waukesha County in 2024.

FARS records 207 deaths in 198 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 5.1 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, Waukesha County was number 4 of 72 counties of Wisconsin.

Deaths in Waukesha County fell by 18.2% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (253) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (207).

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

From 2015 to 2024, 27.3% of the fatal crashes in Waukesha 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 Waukesha 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.Waukesha County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	20	17	1 or 2
2023	27	26	5
2022	20	20	5
2021	18	17	6
2020	16	16	6
2019	18	18	3
2018	25	24	5
2017	26	26	12
2016	27	25	8
2015	10	9	4
2015 to 2024	207	198	56

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 53 (1975)2024: 20

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

Table 2.Waukesha County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	20	17
2023	27	26
2022	20	20
2021	18	17
2020	16	16
2019	18	18
2018	25	24
2017	26	26
2016	27	25
2015	10	9
2014	24	22
2013	28	27
2012	30	24
2011	17	16
2010	15	15
2009	24	22
2008	27	25
2007	32	30
2006	22	21
2005	34	29
2004	24	24
2003	33	31
2002	25	23
2001	25	24
2000	28	24
1999	24	24
1998	30	27
1997	27	26
1996	25	23
1995	21	17
1994	35	29
1993	28	22
1992	25	24
1991	35	30
1990	33	28
1989	35	31
1988	34	30
1987	31	28
1986	35	33
1985	26	23
1984	33	28
1983	33	30
1982	46	38
1981	49	45
1980	43	40
1979	36	32
1978	51	41
1977	48	41
1976	48	41
1975	53	44

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.Waukesha County beside Wisconsin and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Waukesha County	Wisconsin	United States
2024	4.8	10.0	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	5.1	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. Waukesha County had 415,766 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.Waukesha County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in Wisconsin
A driver recorded as drinkingof 198 fatal crashes	56	198 fatal crashes	28.3%	33.4%
A speeding-related driverof 198 fatal crashes	50	198 fatal crashes	25.3%	31.0%
No restraint usedof 125 occupant deaths with restraint use known	51	125 occupant deathswith restraint use known	40.8%	49.1%
Pedestriansof 207 deaths	22	207 deaths	10.6%	9.5%
Bicyclistsof 207 deaths	8	207 deaths	3.9%	1.7%
Motorcyclistsof 207 deaths	38	207 deaths	18.4%	15.8%
On a rural roadof 198 fatal crashes with the condition reported	54	198 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	27.3%	62.5%
In the darkof 198 fatal crashes with the condition reported	72	198 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	36.4%	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.Waukesha 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	3	5	10	11	29
Monday	4	8	10	5	27
Tuesday	1 or 2	6	8	8	24
Wednesday	4	10	12	6	32
Thursday	4	4	11	7	26
Friday	1 or 2	4	8	6	20
Saturday	4	6	11	13	34
All days	23	43	70	56	192

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.Waukesha County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in Wisconsin
Interstate	30	15.2%	7.6%
Other freeways and expressways	6	3.0%	2.3%
Other principal arterial	89	44.9%	29.4%
Minor arterial	41	20.7%	22.7%
Major collector	13	6.6%	17.2%
Minor collector	8	4.0%	6.2%
Local	11	5.6%	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.Waukesha County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	116
Dark, not lighted	54
Dark, lighted	16
Dawn	1 or 2
Dusk	8
Dark, lighting unknown	1 or 2
Other or unknown	0

Table 8.Waukesha County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	108
Cloudy	67
Rain	12
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	6
Fog, smog or smoke	3
Crosswinds or blowing sand/snow	0
Other or not reported	1 or 2

Routes in the county

Table 9.Signed routes in Waukesha County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In Waukesha	In all of Wisconsin
Interstate 41	Interstate	6	95
Interstate 43	Interstate	3	83
Interstate 94	Interstate	21	111
State Route 16	State highway	6	35
State Route 59	State highway	9	30
State Route 67	State highway	7	21
State Route 175	State highway	1 or 2	29
State Route 190	State highway	8	38
US Route 18	US highway	7	43
US Route 45	US highway	1 or 2	65

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.Waukesha 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
Waukesha County: 5.1

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 Waukesha County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Dodge County	Wisconsin	18	127	14.4
Jefferson County	Wisconsin	12	96	11.2
Milwaukee County	Wisconsin	93	861	9.2
Racine County	Wisconsin	14	171	8.7
Walworth County	Wisconsin	12	140	13.4
Washington County	Wisconsin	10	99	7.3

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 Waukesha 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. Waukesha County, Wisconsin: fatal crash statistics. https://fatalroads.com/county/wi/waukesha/. 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 Waukesha in the ten years before 2015?

FARS records 253 deaths in Waukesha County from 2005 to 2014. It records 207 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of Waukesha in 2024?

The rate of Waukesha County in 2024 was 4.8 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 Waukesha had a driver recorded as drinking?

FARS records a driver as drinking in 56 of 198 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 Waukesha?

10 signed routes in the county have a page. FARS records 69 fatal crashes on them in the county from 2015 to 2024. The table of routes on this page gives the count for each route.