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Edition: FARS 2024, annual fileNHTSA released it on Release dates

California fatal crash statistics by county

This record uses FARS 2024. Read counts, rates and file versions before comparing periods.

Counties by year (CSV)Cite this page

FARS records 3,876 deaths in 3,583 fatal crashes in California in 2024.

In 2024 the rate is 9.8 deaths for each 100,000 residents in California and 11.5 in the United States.

In 2024 the rate is 1.19 deaths for each 100 million vehicle-miles in California and 1.19 in the United States.

By deaths for each 100,000 residents in 2024, California was number 34 of 51, the 50 states and the District of Columbia.

Deaths in California fell by 7.0% from 2023 to 2024. In the United States they fell by 4.3%.

From 2015 to 2024, 29.9% of the fatal crashes in California with a known setting were rural, against 42.7% in the United States.

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 .

This page rests on the FARS 2024 annual file. NHTSA released it on . NHTSA can revise the counts in the final file. Release dates

Figure 1.Deaths in California by year, 2015 to 2024

Table 2 has the numbers. Go to the table

Since the last update: no figure of this state has a change on record.

County map

Figure 2.Counties of California by deaths for each 100,000 residents in a year, 2015 to 2024
Alameda County: 5.8 deaths for each 100,000 residents in a yearAlpine County: 170.3 deaths for each 100,000 residents in a yearAmador County: 29.3 deaths for each 100,000 residents in a yearButte County: 17.6 deaths for each 100,000 residents in a yearCalaveras County: 28.5 deaths for each 100,000 residents in a yearColusa County: 37.3 deaths for each 100,000 residents in a yearContra Costa County: 7.0 deaths for each 100,000 residents in a yearDel Norte County: 27.8 deaths for each 100,000 residents in a yearEl Dorado County: 12.6 deaths for each 100,000 residents in a yearFresno County: 15.7 deaths for each 100,000 residents in a yearGlenn County: 29.1 deaths for each 100,000 residents in a yearHumboldt County: 18.4 deaths for each 100,000 residents in a yearImperial County: 17.9 deaths for each 100,000 residents in a yearInyo County: 46.5 deaths for each 100,000 residents in a yearKern County: 20.1 deaths for each 100,000 residents in a yearKings County: 19.0 deaths for each 100,000 residents in a yearLake County: 26.4 deaths for each 100,000 residents in a yearLassen County: 29.4 deaths for each 100,000 residents in a yearLos Angeles County: 7.8 deaths for each 100,000 residents in a yearMadera County: 22.0 deaths for each 100,000 residents in a yearMarin County: 4.7 deaths for each 100,000 residents in a yearMariposa County: 18.0 deaths for each 100,000 residents in a yearMendocino County: 25.2 deaths for each 100,000 residents in a yearMerced County: 21.1 deaths for each 100,000 residents in a yearModoc County: 34.3 deaths for each 100,000 residents in a yearMono County: 35.1 deaths for each 100,000 residents in a yearMonterey County: 11.1 deaths for each 100,000 residents in a yearNapa County: 11.1 deaths for each 100,000 residents in a yearNevada County: 14.7 deaths for each 100,000 residents in a yearOrange County: 6.6 deaths for each 100,000 residents in a yearPlacer County: 8.3 deaths for each 100,000 residents in a yearPlumas County: 25.2 deaths for each 100,000 residents in a yearRiverside County: 12.5 deaths for each 100,000 residents in a yearSacramento County: 11.3 deaths for each 100,000 residents in a yearSan Benito County: 17.7 deaths for each 100,000 residents in a yearSan Bernardino County: 16.1 deaths for each 100,000 residents in a yearSan Diego County: 8.3 deaths for each 100,000 residents in a yearSan Francisco County: 4.2 deaths for each 100,000 residents in a yearSan Joaquin County: 16.1 deaths for each 100,000 residents in a yearSan Luis Obispo County: 10.9 deaths for each 100,000 residents in a yearSan Mateo County: 4.9 deaths for each 100,000 residents in a yearSanta Barbara County: 8.6 deaths for each 100,000 residents in a yearSanta Clara County: 6.2 deaths for each 100,000 residents in a yearSanta Cruz County: 7.9 deaths for each 100,000 residents in a yearShasta County: 18.2 deaths for each 100,000 residents in a yearSierra County: 45.3 deaths for each 100,000 residents in a yearSiskiyou County: 31.8 deaths for each 100,000 residents in a yearSolano County: 10.4 deaths for each 100,000 residents in a yearSonoma County: 7.9 deaths for each 100,000 residents in a yearStanislaus County: 15.1 deaths for each 100,000 residents in a yearSutter County: 19.5 deaths for each 100,000 residents in a yearTehama County: 26.5 deaths for each 100,000 residents in a yearTrinity County: 52.5 deaths for each 100,000 residents in a yearTulare County: 16.9 deaths for each 100,000 residents in a yearTuolumne County: 24.0 deaths for each 100,000 residents in a yearVentura County: 6.8 deaths for each 100,000 residents in a yearYolo County: 12.7 deaths for each 100,000 residents in a yearYuba County: 19.8 deaths for each 100,000 residents in a year

Deaths for each 100,000 residents in a year

  • Fewer than 1014 counties
  • 10 to 14.99 counties
  • 15 to 19.914 counties
  • 20 to 29.913 counties
  • 30 or more8 counties

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.

In words: 14 counties have a rate of fewer than 10; 9 counties have a rate of 10 to 14.9; 14 counties have a rate of 15 to 19.9; 13 counties have a rate of 20 to 29.9; 8 counties have a rate of 30 or more. Table 1 has the rate of each county.

Counties

Table 1.California: deaths and rate of each county, in name order
CountyResidentsDeaths, 2024Deaths, 2015 to 2024For each 100,000 residents in a year
Alameda County1,636,6241009655.8
Alpine County1,0861 or 219170.3
Amador County41,974711729.3
Butte County208,5863438217.6
Calaveras County46,4961313128.5
Colusa County22,01688137.3
Contra Costa County1,169,534668117.0
Del Norte County26,95967627.8
El Dorado County192,3711724012.6
Fresno County1,033,6981691,57515.7
Glenn County28,32088229.1
Humboldt County132,3242624918.4
Imperial County182,7712632317.9
Inyo County18,302158546.5
Kern County924,6481941,80820.1
Kings County154,1193028819.0
Lake County67,8802517526.4
Lassen County28,59339029.4
Los Angeles County9,748,8687787,7837.8
Madera County166,1323334822.0
Marin County255,704111224.7
Mariposa County16,9481 or 23118.0
Mendocino County88,9391422425.2
Merced County296,8074659421.1
Modoc County8,53543034.3
Mono County12,69264835.1
Monterey County433,4474548111.1
Napa County133,1151115211.1
Nevada County102,146814814.7
Orange County3,158,0271992,0886.6
Placer County434,279403348.3
Plumas County18,7731 or 24825.2
Riverside County2,529,1122893,06512.5
Sacramento County1,609,8971561,75711.3
San Benito County69,0851111317.7
San Bernardino County2,218,7643503,50916.1
San Diego County3,287,5423032,7358.3
San Francisco County820,945483564.2
San Joaquin County817,1491391,23716.1
San Luis Obispo County282,1533030810.9
San Mateo County740,627303694.9
Santa Barbara County443,081383808.6
Santa Clara County1,907,9101001,1956.2
Santa Cruz County261,417162147.9
Shasta County181,3923332818.2
Sierra County3,1211 or 21445.3
Siskiyou County42,4901213831.8
Solano County455,0764146510.4
Sonoma County485,363293897.9
Stanislaus County557,3728883015.1
Sutter County98,9332019019.5
Tehama County64,7671317126.5
Trinity County15,69767552.5
Tulare County483,8517279316.9
Tuolumne County54,1851113024.0
Ventura County833,431585766.8
Yolo County223,2602127812.7
Yuba County87,4411415919.8

Note: the rate is for the ten years 2015 to 2024. Residents: Census Bureau estimates, vintage 2025. A count of 1 or 2 is written "1 or 2", and no rate is given for it.

Download: the deaths and fatal crashes of each county by year, 1975 to 2024 (CSV)

Each year

Figure 3.Deaths in California by year, 1975 to 2024

Tallest column: 5,542 (1979)2024: 3,876

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

Table 2.California: deaths, fatal crashes and rates by year, 1975 to 2024
YearDeathsFatal crashesFor each 100,000 residentsFor each 100 million vehicle-miles
20243,8763,5839.81.19
20234,1693,82610.61.32
20224,5394,21811.61.44
20214,5134,19611.51.45
20203,9803,67310.11.33
20193,7193,4279.41.09
20183,7983,4859.61.09
20173,8843,5699.91.13
20163,8373,5409.81.13
20153,3873,1238.71.01
20143,1022,8598.0n/a
20133,1072,8608.1n/a
20122,9662,7337.8n/a
20112,8162,6177.5n/a
20102,7202,5047.3n/a
20093,0902,8258.4n/a
20083,4343,1459.4n/a
20073,9953,59111.0n/a
20064,2403,83911.8n/a
20054,3333,84912.1n/a
20044,1203,72711.6n/a
20034,2243,73112.0n/a
20024,0883,65411.7n/a
20013,9563,54311.5n/a
20003,7533,34811.0n/a
19993,5593,148n/an/a
19983,4943,112n/an/a
19973,6883,279n/an/a
19963,9893,576n/an/a
19954,1923,669n/an/a
19944,2323,787n/an/a
19934,1643,687n/an/a
19924,1923,722n/an/a
19914,6884,194n/an/a
19905,1924,685n/an/a
19895,4124,877n/an/a
19885,3924,875n/an/a
19875,5044,935n/an/a
19865,2534,683n/an/a
19854,9604,447n/an/a
19845,0204,517n/an/a
19834,5734,089n/an/a
19824,6154,119n/an/a
19815,1704,670n/an/a
19805,4964,930n/an/a
19795,5424,975n/an/a
19785,3104,724n/an/a
19774,8394,351n/an/a
19764,3953,895n/an/a
19754,0923,667n/an/a

Note: each year is a link to the page of that year. The rate for residents starts in 2000. The rate for vehicle-miles starts in 2015.

Two rates

One rate divides the deaths by the residents. The other rate divides the deaths by the miles that vehicles travel in the state.

Table 3.California beside the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents and for each 100 million vehicle-miles
RatePeriodCaliforniaUnited States
For each 100,000 residents20249.811.5
For each 100,000 residents2015 to 2024, in a year10.111.8
For each 100 million vehicle-miles20241.191.19
For each 100 million vehicle-miles2015 to 20241.211.23

Residents: Census Bureau estimates, vintage 2025. California had 39,364,774 residents in 2024.

Vehicle-miles: Federal Highway Administration, Highway Statistics, table VM-2. California had 325,959 million vehicle-miles in 2024. Table VM-2 of 2024

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.California: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
FactorCountCounted amongShareShare in the United States
A driver recorded as drinkingof 36,640 fatal crashes10,21436,640 fatal crashes26.3%
A speeding-related driverof 36,640 fatal crashes11,07336,640 fatal crashes27.2%
No restraint usedof 19,615 occupant deaths with restraint use known7,45219,615 occupant deathswith restraint use known49.0%
Pedestriansof 39,702 deaths10,32639,702 deaths17.1%
Bicyclistsof 39,702 deaths1,51139,702 deaths2.4%
Motorcyclistsof 39,702 deaths5,59939,702 deaths14.5%
On a rural roadof 36,592 fatal crashes with the condition reported10,93936,592 fatal crasheswith the condition reported42.7%
In the darkof 36,573 fatal crashes with the condition reported21,01336,573 fatal crasheswith the condition reported49.2%

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 .

Weekday, time and road class

Table 5.California: fatal crashes by weekday and time of day, 2015 to 2024
WeekdayMidnight to 6 a.m.6 a.m. to noonNoon to 6 p.m.6 p.m. to midnightAll
Sunday1,9847751,2981,9385,995
Monday1,1228151,0851,5764,598
Tuesday8518471,1511,5474,396
Wednesday9078141,1491,5904,460
Thursday1,0128401,1341,7834,769
Friday1,1138651,2992,2875,564
Saturday1,7078881,3712,2006,166
All days8,6965,8448,48712,92135,948

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.California: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function classFatal crashesShareShare in the United States
Interstate5,02513.7%12.6%
Other freeways and expressways4,61412.6%4.4%
Other principal arterial11,01030.1%29.8%
Minor arterial7,94021.7%22.1%
Major collector4,48712.3%15.5%
Minor collector8452.3%3.4%
Local2,6717.3%12.2%
Not reported48n/an/a

Note: the classes are those of the Federal Highway Administration. The shares are of the crashes with a reported class. Road function classes

Routes

119 signed routes in California have a page. A route page needs 20 or more fatal crashes from 2015 to 2024.

All routes in California

Interstate routes

Official channels

These links go to the sites of the agencies. They were checked on .

Cite this page

Fatal Roads. California fatal crash statistics by county. https://fatalroads.com/state/california/. Source: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Fatality Analysis Reporting System, FARS 2024 annual file. Data to .

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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. Vehicle-miles: Federal Highway Administration, table VM-2. Map: Census Bureau cartographic boundary file, 2021 edition. Data to .

How the figures are made. Data sources and licences. Corrections. All states by year (CSV).

Questions

How many deaths did FARS record in California in ten years?

FARS records 39,702 deaths in 36,640 fatal crashes in California from 2015 to 2024. It records 33,803 deaths from 2005 to 2014.

What part of the deaths in the United States was in California?

California had 3,876 of the 39,254 deaths in the United States in 2024. That is 9.9 percent.

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

FARS records a driver as drinking in 10,214 of 36,640 fatal crashes from 2015 to 2024. It records a speeding-related driver in 11,073 of them.

How many pages does California have?

California has 58 county pages, 119 route pages and one page for each year from 1975 to 2024.