Upshur County, West Virginia: fatal crash statistics

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

FARS records 1 or 2 deaths in 1 or 2 fatal crashes in Upshur County in 2024.

FARS records 40 deaths in 36 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 16.6 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, Upshur County was number 27 of 55 counties of West Virginia.

Deaths in Upshur County rose by 21.2% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (33) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (40).

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

From 2015 to 2024, a speeding-related driver was recorded in 11.1% of fatal crashes in Upshur County and 26.7% 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 Upshur 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.Upshur County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	1 or 2	1 or 2	1 or 2
2023	3	3	1 or 2
2022	5	4	0
2021	6	6	3
2020	7	7	3
2019	5	4	0
2018	3	1 or 2	1 or 2
2017	0	0	0
2016	1 or 2	1 or 2	0
2015	7	6	0
2015 to 2024	40	36	10

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 10 (2000)2024: 1 or 2

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

Table 2.Upshur County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	1 or 2	1 or 2
2023	3	3
2022	5	4
2021	6	6
2020	7	7
2019	5	4
2018	3	1 or 2
2017	0	0
2016	1 or 2	1 or 2
2015	7	6
2014	1 or 2	1 or 2
2013	1 or 2	1 or 2
2012	3	3
2011	3	3
2010	1 or 2	1 or 2
2009	7	7
2008	9	5
2007	1 or 2	1 or 2
2006	4	4
2005	1 or 2	1 or 2
2004	5	4
2003	1 or 2	1 or 2
2002	5	4
2001	3	1 or 2
2000	10	8
1999	1 or 2	1 or 2
1998	3	3
1997	1 or 2	1 or 2
1996	6	6
1995	4	4
1994	5	5
1993	4	3
1992	3	1 or 2
1991	3	3
1990	1 or 2	1 or 2
1989	4	4
1988	6	5
1987	3	3
1986	4	4
1985	7	7
1984	5	5
1983	6	6
1982	4	3
1981	4	4
1980	1 or 2	1 or 2
1979	3	1 or 2
1978	6	6
1977	3	3
1976	1 or 2	1 or 2
1975	9	5

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.Upshur County beside West Virginia and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Upshur County	West Virginia	United States
2024	n/a	14.5	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	16.6	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. No rate is given for a count of 1 or 2.

Population: Census Bureau estimates, vintage 2025. Upshur County had 23,658 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.Upshur County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in West Virginia
A driver recorded as drinkingof 36 fatal crashes	10	36 fatal crashes	27.8%	27.2%
A speeding-related driverof 36 fatal crashes	4	36 fatal crashes	11.1%	26.7%
No restraint usedof 28 occupant deaths with restraint use known	15	28 occupant deathswith restraint use known	53.6%	53.2%
Pedestriansof 40 deaths	1 or 2	40 deaths	5.0%	8.7%
Bicyclistsof 40 deaths	0	40 deaths	0.0%	1.0%
Motorcyclistsof 40 deaths	4	40 deaths	10.0%	12.4%
On a rural roadof 36 fatal crashes with the condition reported	27	36 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	75.0%	64.4%
In the darkof 36 fatal crashes with the condition reported	12	36 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	33.3%	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.Upshur 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	3	1 or 2	4
Monday	1 or 2	1 or 2	1 or 2	1 or 2	5
Tuesday	0	1 or 2	5	1 or 2	7
Wednesday	1 or 2	0	1 or 2	0	3
Thursday	0	1 or 2	1 or 2	4	6
Friday	1 or 2	0	1 or 2	1 or 2	5
Saturday	1 or 2	0	1 or 2	3	6
All days	6	3	14	13	36

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.Upshur 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	1 or 2	2.8%	0.4%
Other principal arterial	11	30.6%	25.0%
Minor arterial	3	8.3%	22.3%
Major collector	8	22.2%	22.8%
Minor collector	1 or 2	5.6%	6.1%
Local	11	30.6%	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.Upshur County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	23
Dark, not lighted	11
Dark, lighted	1 or 2
Dawn	0
Dusk	1 or 2
Dark, lighting unknown	0
Other or unknown	0

Table 8.Upshur County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	28
Cloudy	4
Rain	3
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	1 or 2
Fog, smog or smoke	0
Crosswinds or blowing sand/snow	0
Other or not reported	0

Routes in the county

Table 9.Signed routes in Upshur County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In Upshur	In all of West Virginia
State Route 20	State highway	6	45
US Route 33	US highway	11	57

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.Upshur 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
Upshur County: 16.6

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 West Virginia

Table 10.Counties that share a boundary line with Upshur County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Barbour County	West Virginia	1 or 2	30	18.7
Harrison County	West Virginia	7	72	10.8
Lewis County	West Virginia	0	48	29.2
Randolph County	West Virginia	4	50	17.7
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 Upshur 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. Upshur County, West Virginia: fatal crash statistics. https://fatalroads.com/county/wv/upshur/. 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 Upshur in the ten years before 2015?

FARS records 33 deaths in Upshur County from 2005 to 2014. It records 40 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

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

FARS records a driver as drinking in 10 of 36 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 Upshur?

FARS records 6 fatal crashes on State Route 20 in the county from 2015 to 2024. FARS records 11 fatal crashes on US Route 33 in the county from 2015 to 2024.