Mercer County, West Virginia: fatal crash statistics

Counties of West Virginia by year (CSV)Cite this page

FARS records 6 deaths in 6 fatal crashes in Mercer County in 2024.

FARS records 101 deaths in 90 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 17.0 deaths for each 100,000 residents in a year.

The rate of West Virginia in the same years is 15.2.

By deaths from 2015 to 2024, Mercer County was number 6 of 55 counties of West Virginia.

Deaths in Mercer County fell by 34.0% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (153) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (101).

In the counties of West Virginia the deaths fell by 23.1% between the same years.

From 2015 to 2024, 55.7% of the fatal crashes in Mercer County with a known setting were rural, against 64.4% in West Virginia.

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 Mercer 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.Mercer County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	6	6	1 or 2
2023	9	7	1 or 2
2022	13	11	1 or 2
2021	9	9	1 or 2
2020	10	10	1 or 2
2019	12	12	1 or 2
2018	15	11	3
2017	12	9	1 or 2
2016	8	8	3
2015	7	7	1 or 2
2015 to 2024	101	90	18

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 28 (1990)2024: 6

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

Table 2.Mercer County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	6	6
2023	9	7
2022	13	11
2021	9	9
2020	10	10
2019	12	12
2018	15	11
2017	12	9
2016	8	8
2015	7	7
2014	11	10
2013	10	10
2012	17	15
2011	16	16
2010	12	11
2009	13	12
2008	13	12
2007	20	19
2006	19	17
2005	22	21
2004	21	15
2003	12	12
2002	13	12
2001	11	10
2000	15	13
1999	13	13
1998	13	13
1997	19	16
1996	19	15
1995	18	16
1994	20	20
1993	16	12
1992	26	22
1991	26	23
1990	28	21
1989	26	21
1988	12	11
1987	27	24
1986	22	19
1985	20	16
1984	21	17
1983	19	14
1982	14	10
1981	15	11
1980	23	19
1979	12	12
1978	18	17
1977	24	21
1976	21	14
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.Mercer County beside West Virginia and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Mercer County	West Virginia	United States
2024	10.4	14.5	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	17.0	15.2	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. Mercer County had 57,552 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.Mercer County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in West Virginia
A driver recorded as drinkingof 90 fatal crashes	18	90 fatal crashes	20.0%	27.2%
A speeding-related driverof 90 fatal crashes	23	90 fatal crashes	25.6%	26.7%
No restraint usedof 66 occupant deaths with restraint use known	32	66 occupant deathswith restraint use known	48.5%	53.2%
Pedestriansof 101 deaths	14	101 deaths	13.9%	8.7%
Bicyclistsof 101 deaths	1 or 2	101 deaths	1.0%	1.0%
Motorcyclistsof 101 deaths	17	101 deaths	16.8%	12.4%
On a rural roadof 88 fatal crashes with the condition reported	49	88 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	55.7%	64.4%
In the darkof 90 fatal crashes with the condition reported	31	90 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	34.4%	38.3%

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.Mercer 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	0	7	1 or 2	12
Monday	0	1 or 2	5	4	10
Tuesday	1 or 2	7	4	5	17
Wednesday	1 or 2	4	1 or 2	4	12
Thursday	1 or 2	3	6	4	15
Friday	0	1 or 2	7	1 or 2	10
Saturday	3	1 or 2	6	3	14
All days	11	18	37	24	90

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.Mercer County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in West Virginia
Interstate	16	18.2%	11.9%
Other freeways and expressways	0	0.0%	0.4%
Other principal arterial	22	25.0%	25.0%
Minor arterial	17	19.3%	22.3%
Major collector	15	17.0%	22.8%
Minor collector	10	11.4%	6.1%
Local	8	9.1%	11.5%
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.Mercer County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	56
Dark, not lighted	26
Dark, lighted	5
Dawn	1 or 2
Dusk	1 or 2
Dark, lighting unknown	0
Other or unknown	0

Table 8.Mercer County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	66
Cloudy	10
Rain	11
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	1 or 2
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 Mercer County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In Mercer	In all of West Virginia
Interstate 77	Interstate	20	94
State Route 10	State highway	5	49
State Route 20	State highway	8	45
US Route 19	US highway	5	75
US Route 52	US highway	5	46

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 West Virginia

Adjacent counties

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

Figure 3.Mercer County on the county map of West Virginia

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

Fewer than 105 counties
10 to 14.918 counties
15 to 19.915 counties
20 to 29.916 counties
30 or more1 county
Mercer County: 17.0

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 West Virginia

Table 10.Counties that share a boundary line with Mercer County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Bland County	Virginia	1 or 2	13	20.6
Giles County	Virginia	1 or 2	33	19.8
Tazewell County	Virginia	4	59	14.5
McDowell County	West Virginia	3	44	24.0
Raleigh County	West Virginia	23	137	18.5
Summers County	West Virginia	6	24	19.5
Wyoming County	West Virginia	3	29	13.8

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

Counties of similar population

These counties of West Virginia have a population nearest to that of Mercer 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. Mercer County, West Virginia: fatal crash statistics. https://fatalroads.com/county/wv/mercer/. 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 Mercer in the ten years before 2015?

FARS records 153 deaths in Mercer County from 2005 to 2014. It records 101 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of Mercer in 2024?

The rate of Mercer County in 2024 was 10.4 deaths for each 100,000 residents. The rate of West Virginia was 14.5. The rate of the United States was 11.5.

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

FARS records a driver as drinking in 18 of 90 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 Mercer?

5 signed routes in the county have a page. FARS records 43 fatal crashes on them in the county from 2015 to 2024. The table of routes on this page gives the count for each route.