Nicholas 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 Nicholas County in 2024.

FARS records 63 deaths in 59 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 25.5 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, Nicholas County was number 13 of 55 counties of West Virginia.

Deaths in Nicholas County fell by 10.0% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (70) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (63).

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

From 2015 to 2024, 100.0% of the fatal crashes in Nicholas 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 Nicholas County by year, 2015 to 2024

1 or 2

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.Nicholas 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	7	6	0
2022	7	7	1 or 2
2021	5	4	1 or 2
2020	6	5	1 or 2
2019	8	7	1 or 2
2018	6	6	1 or 2
2017	8	8	1 or 2
2016	9	9	1 or 2
2015	1 or 2	1 or 2	0
2015 to 2024	63	59	13

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 20 (1985)2024: 6

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

Table 2.Nicholas County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	6	6
2023	7	6
2022	7	7
2021	5	4
2020	6	5
2019	8	7
2018	6	6
2017	8	8
2016	9	9
2015	1 or 2	1 or 2
2014	3	1 or 2
2013	8	6
2012	4	4
2011	7	7
2010	8	8
2009	8	6
2008	8	6
2007	10	8
2006	10	10
2005	4	3
2004	9	9
2003	6	5
2002	8	7
2001	11	9
2000	10	8
1999	10	9
1998	12	12
1997	9	8
1996	5	5
1995	14	9
1994	3	3
1993	20	14
1992	8	7
1991	6	6
1990	13	11
1989	15	14
1988	11	10
1987	16	12
1986	15	13
1985	20	15
1984	17	15
1983	9	9
1982	13	12
1981	13	12
1980	10	10
1979	11	11
1978	15	14
1977	11	8
1976	11	10
1975	15	13

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.Nicholas County beside West Virginia and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Nicholas County	West Virginia	United States
2024	25.0	14.5	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	25.5	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. Nicholas County had 23,955 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.Nicholas County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in West Virginia
A driver recorded as drinkingof 59 fatal crashes	13	59 fatal crashes	22.0%	27.2%
A speeding-related driverof 59 fatal crashes	14	59 fatal crashes	23.7%	26.7%
No restraint usedof 44 occupant deaths with restraint use known	23	44 occupant deathswith restraint use known	52.3%	53.2%
Pedestriansof 63 deaths	5	63 deaths	7.9%	8.7%
Bicyclistsof 63 deaths	1 or 2	63 deaths	1.6%	1.0%
Motorcyclistsof 63 deaths	8	63 deaths	12.7%	12.4%
On a rural roadof 59 fatal crashes with the condition reported	59	59 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	100.0%	64.4%
In the darkof 59 fatal crashes with the condition reported	18	59 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	30.5%	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.Nicholas 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	0	0	1 or 2	5	6
Monday	1 or 2	0	1 or 2	5	8
Tuesday	0	1 or 2	3	0	4
Wednesday	1 or 2	4	4	1 or 2	11
Thursday	1 or 2	0	8	1 or 2	10
Friday	1 or 2	3	4	1 or 2	11
Saturday	3	1 or 2	1 or 2	4	9
All days	8	9	23	19	59

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.Nicholas County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in West Virginia
Interstate	0	0.0%	11.9%
Other freeways and expressways	0	0.0%	0.4%
Other principal arterial	15	25.4%	25.0%
Minor arterial	10	16.9%	22.3%
Major collector	25	42.4%	22.8%
Minor collector	1 or 2	3.4%	6.1%
Local	7	11.9%	11.5%
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.Nicholas County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	35
Dark, not lighted	18
Dark, lighted	0
Dawn	0
Dusk	6
Dark, lighting unknown	0
Other or unknown	0

Table 8.Nicholas County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	43
Cloudy	7
Rain	6
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	1 or 2
Fog, smog or smoke	1 or 2
Crosswinds or blowing sand/snow	1 or 2
Other or not reported	0

Routes in the county

Table 9.Signed routes in Nicholas County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In Nicholas	In all of West Virginia
State Route 16	State highway	1 or 2	57
State Route 20	State highway	6	45
US Route 19	US highway	15	75

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.Nicholas 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
Nicholas County: 25.5

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 Nicholas County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Braxton County	West Virginia	1 or 2	39	29.6
Clay County	West Virginia	0	18	21.8
Fayette County	West Virginia	1 or 2	62	14.9
Greenbrier County	West Virginia	6	63	18.7
Kanawha County	West Virginia	28	268	14.9
Webster County	West Virginia	0	13	15.7

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 Nicholas 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. Nicholas County, West Virginia: fatal crash statistics. https://fatalroads.com/county/wv/nicholas/. 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 Nicholas in the ten years before 2015?

FARS records 70 deaths in Nicholas County from 2005 to 2014. It records 63 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of Nicholas in 2024?

The rate of Nicholas County in 2024 was 25.0 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 Nicholas had a driver recorded as drinking?

FARS records a driver as drinking in 13 of 59 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 Nicholas?

FARS records 1 or 2 fatal crashes on State Route 16 in the county from 2015 to 2024. FARS records 6 fatal crashes on State Route 20 in the county from 2015 to 2024. FARS records 15 fatal crashes on US Route 19 in the county from 2015 to 2024.