Waupaca County, Wisconsin: fatal crash statistics

Counties of Wisconsin by year (CSV)Cite this page

FARS records 3 deaths in 3 fatal crashes in Waupaca County in 2024.

FARS records 75 deaths in 68 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 14.6 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, Waupaca County was number 24 of 72 counties of Wisconsin.

Deaths in Waupaca County fell by 21.9% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (96) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (75).

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

From 2015 to 2024, 86.8% of the fatal crashes in Waupaca 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 Waupaca 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.Waupaca County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	3	3	1 or 2
2023	6	3	3
2022	5	5	1 or 2
2021	8	7	3
2020	8	8	3
2019	11	11	3
2018	6	6	1 or 2
2017	8	7	1 or 2
2016	6	5	3
2015	14	13	7
2015 to 2024	75	68	29

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 25 (1996)2024: 3

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

Table 2.Waupaca County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	3	3
2023	6	3
2022	5	5
2021	8	7
2020	8	8
2019	11	11
2018	6	6
2017	8	7
2016	6	5
2015	14	13
2014	1 or 2	1 or 2
2013	13	11
2012	9	7
2011	13	13
2010	6	5
2009	9	8
2008	7	7
2007	13	12
2006	11	11
2005	13	11
2004	13	12
2003	13	13
2002	15	14
2001	21	16
2000	16	13
1999	11	9
1998	11	9
1997	12	12
1996	25	20
1995	13	11
1994	21	16
1993	11	11
1992	8	8
1991	17	13
1990	13	12
1989	12	10
1988	10	10
1987	18	13
1986	15	14
1985	15	13
1984	14	13
1983	14	13
1982	12	9
1981	16	13
1980	21	16
1979	16	13
1978	11	10
1977	11	11
1976	9	8
1975	18	12

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.Waupaca County beside Wisconsin and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Waupaca County	Wisconsin	United States
2024	5.8	10.0	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	14.6	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. Waupaca County had 51,429 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.Waupaca County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in Wisconsin
A driver recorded as drinkingof 68 fatal crashes	29	68 fatal crashes	42.6%	33.4%
A speeding-related driverof 68 fatal crashes	22	68 fatal crashes	32.4%	31.0%
No restraint usedof 57 occupant deaths with restraint use known	28	57 occupant deathswith restraint use known	49.1%	49.1%
Pedestriansof 75 deaths	5	75 deaths	6.7%	9.5%
Bicyclistsof 75 deaths	1 or 2	75 deaths	2.7%	1.7%
Motorcyclistsof 75 deaths	5	75 deaths	6.7%	15.8%
On a rural roadof 68 fatal crashes with the condition reported	59	68 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	86.8%	62.5%
In the darkof 68 fatal crashes with the condition reported	31	68 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	45.6%	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.Waupaca 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	5	1 or 2	6	1 or 2	13
Monday	1 or 2	1 or 2	1 or 2	0	5
Tuesday	3	1 or 2	1 or 2	1 or 2	7
Wednesday	1 or 2	0	3	1 or 2	6
Thursday	1 or 2	3	4	5	13
Friday	1 or 2	1 or 2	1 or 2	1 or 2	7
Saturday	6	3	5	3	17
All days	19	12	24	13	68

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.Waupaca County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in Wisconsin
Interstate	0	0.0%	7.6%
Other freeways and expressways	5	7.4%	2.3%
Other principal arterial	21	30.9%	29.4%
Minor arterial	5	7.4%	22.7%
Major collector	9	13.2%	17.2%
Minor collector	10	14.7%	6.2%
Local	18	26.5%	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.Waupaca County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	36
Dark, not lighted	28
Dark, lighted	1 or 2
Dawn	1 or 2
Dusk	0
Dark, lighting unknown	1 or 2
Other or unknown	0

Table 8.Waupaca County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	36
Cloudy	23
Rain	3
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	3
Fog, smog or smoke	0
Crosswinds or blowing sand/snow	1 or 2
Other or not reported	1 or 2

Routes in the county

Table 9.Signed routes in Waupaca County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In Waupaca	In all of Wisconsin
State Route 54	State highway	1 or 2	34
US Route 10	US highway	12	58
US Route 45	US highway	8	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.Waupaca 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
Waupaca County: 14.6

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 Wisconsin

Table 10.Counties that share a boundary line with Waupaca County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Outagamie County	Wisconsin	12	131	6.9
Portage County	Wisconsin	6	56	7.9
Shawano County	Wisconsin	9	74	18.1
Waushara County	Wisconsin	4	53	21.6
Winnebago County	Wisconsin	14	108	6.3

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

FARS records 96 deaths in Waupaca County from 2005 to 2014. It records 75 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of Waupaca in 2024?

The rate of Waupaca County in 2024 was 5.8 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 Waupaca had a driver recorded as drinking?

FARS records a driver as drinking in 29 of 68 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 Waupaca?

FARS records 1 or 2 fatal crashes on State Route 54 in the county from 2015 to 2024. FARS records 12 fatal crashes on US Route 10 in the county from 2015 to 2024. FARS records 8 fatal crashes on US Route 45 in the county from 2015 to 2024.