Counties in Iowa by traffic fatalities

Polk County had the highest traffic fatalities of 99 counties in 2017, at 26. Worth County had the lowest, at 0. The median was 2 and the figure for Iowa was 330. Source: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Highest26Polk County

Lowest0Worth County

Median299 counties

Iowa330History

Top 40 counties, 2017

count. Source: NHTSA, Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), national CSV files: people killed (sum of FATALS in accident.csv) by county of the crash. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

Rank	Counties	2017 count	Change on 2016
1	Polk County	26	-7.1%
2	Linn County	16	-20%
3	Cerro Gordo County	12	+100%
3	Marshall County	12	+200%
3	Pottawattamie County	12	-7.7%
6	Dubuque County	10	+150%
7	Iowa County	9	+12.5%
8	Black Hawk County	8	-27.3%
8	Johnson County	8	-50%
8	Scott County	8	-57.9%
8	Woodbury County	8	-20%
12	Decatur County	7	+600%
12	Monona County	7	+40%
14	Poweshiek County	6	+200%
14	Tama County	6	+200%
16	Benton County	5	-44.4%
16	Floyd County	5	-16.7%
16	Harrison County	5	+400%
16	Story County	5	+25%
16	Warren County	5	-37.5%
16	Webster County	5	-16.7%
22	Audubon County	4	+300%
22	Calhoun County	4	+300%
22	Jackson County	4	0%
22	Jasper County	4	0%
22	Lee County	4	-63.6%
22	Muscatine County	4	-20%
22	Osceola County	4	+300%
22	Palo Alto County	4	n/a
22	Plymouth County	4	+33.3%
22	Wapello County	4	-33.3%
22	Wayne County	4	n/a
33	Buchanan County	3	+50%
33	Carroll County	3	-25%
33	Clarke County	3	-50%
33	Des Moines County	3	-40%
33	Fayette County	3	+50%
33	Fremont County	3	0%
33	Jefferson County	3	+200%
33	Madison County	3	-40%
33	Mills County	3	-40%
33	Montgomery County	3	n/a
33	Sac County	3	-25%
33	Shelby County	3	+50%
33	Sioux County	3	-25%
33	Washington County	3	0%
47	Adair County	2	-60%
47	Allamakee County	2	-33.3%
47	Appanoose County	2	-60%
47	Butler County	2	-50%
47	Cedar County	2	0%
47	Dallas County	2	-66.7%
47	Delaware County	2	-50%
47	Guthrie County	2	n/a
47	Hancock County	2	n/a
47	Henry County	2	-60%
47	Kossuth County	2	0%
47	Louisa County	2	0%
47	Lucas County	2	+100%
47	Lyon County	2	0%
47	Pocahontas County	2	n/a
47	Ringgold County	2	-66.7%
47	Taylor County	2	0%
47	Winnebago County	2	n/a
47	Winneshiek County	2	-50%
66	Boone County	1	-50%
66	Buena Vista County	1	-50%
66	Cass County	1	-92.9%
66	Cherokee County	1	0%
66	Clay County	1	0%
66	Clayton County	1	-75%
66	Clinton County	1	-50%
66	Dickinson County	1	-50%
66	Franklin County	1	0%
66	Greene County	1	-66.7%
66	Grundy County	1	-50%
66	Hamilton County	1	-80%
66	Humboldt County	1	-66.7%
66	Ida County	1	0%
66	Jones County	1	-66.7%
66	Keokuk County	1	0%
66	Mahaska County	1	-80%
66	Marion County	1	-66.7%
66	Union County	1	-50%
66	Van Buren County	1	-50%
66	Wright County	1	n/a
87	Adams County	0	n/a
87	Bremer County	0	-100%
87	Chickasaw County	0	-100%
87	Crawford County	0	-100%
87	Davis County	0	-100%
87	Emmet County	0	n/a
87	Hardin County	0	-100%
87	Howard County	0	-100%
87	Mitchell County	0	-100%
87	Monroe County	0	-100%
87	O'Brien County	0	-100%
87	Page County	0	-100%
87	Worth County	0	-100%

Other periods

About this ranking

People killed in motor vehicle traffic crashes during the year. FARS counts people who die within 30 days of a crash involving a motor vehicle travelling on a public road, by the place of the crash, not of residence.

A police-based count of deaths. It differs from death certificate counts (CDC) and from the WHO road traffic death rate (road_traffic_death_rate), which is modelled for international comparison.

Every value in the ranking comes from the same publisher and the same period, so the counties are compared on one definition. Equal values share a rank.

How to cite

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), Fatality Analysis Reporting System. Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), national CSV files: people killed (sum of FATALS in accident.csv) by county of the crash. https://static.nhtsa.gov/nhtsa/downloads/FARS/2017/National/FARS2017NationalCSV.zip. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Citation styles

The publisher is the author. Invokely is named only as the place the figures were read, where a style asks for it.

APA 7

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. (2026). Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), national CSV files: people killed (sum of FATALS in accident.csv) by county of the crash (Counties in Iowa by traffic fatalities, 2017) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://static.nhtsa.gov/nhtsa/downloads/FARS/2017/National/FARS2017NationalCSV.zip

MLA 9

Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), national CSV files: people killed (sum of FATALS in accident.csv) by county of the crash, Counties in Iowa by traffic fatalities, 2017. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 24 June 2026, https://static.nhtsa.gov/nhtsa/downloads/FARS/2017/National/FARS2017NationalCSV.zip. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/traffic-fatalities/iowa-counties?period=2017. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. 2026. Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), national CSV files: people killed (sum of FATALS in accident.csv) by county of the crash. Counties in Iowa by traffic fatalities, 2017. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://static.nhtsa.gov/nhtsa/downloads/FARS/2017/National/FARS2017NationalCSV.zip. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/traffic-fatalities/iowa-counties?period=2017.

Harvard

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (2026) Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), national CSV files: people killed (sum of FATALS in accident.csv) by county of the crash, Counties in Iowa by traffic fatalities, 2017 [Dataset]. Available at: https://static.nhtsa.gov/nhtsa/downloads/FARS/2017/National/FARS2017NationalCSV.zip, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/traffic-fatalities/iowa-counties?period=2017 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{national_counties_in_iowa_by_2017,
  author = {{National Highway Traffic Safety Administration}},
  title = {{Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), national CSV files: people killed (sum of FATALS in accident.csv) by county of the crash: Counties in Iowa by traffic fatalities, 2017}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://static.nhtsa.gov/nhtsa/downloads/FARS/2017/National/FARS2017NationalCSV.zip},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/traffic-fatalities/iowa-counties?period=2017. Publisher attribution: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), Fatality Analysis Reporting System. Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), national CSV files: people killed (sum of FATALS in accident.csv) by county of the crash. https://static.nhtsa.gov/nhtsa/downloads/FARS/2017/National/FARS2017NationalCSV.zip. Retrieved 2026-10-12.},
}

RIS

TY  - DATA
AU  - National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
TI  - Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), national CSV files: people killed (sum of FATALS in accident.csv) by county of the crash: Counties in Iowa by traffic fatalities, 2017
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/06/24
PB  - National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://static.nhtsa.gov/nhtsa/downloads/FARS/2017/National/FARS2017NationalCSV.zip
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/traffic-fatalities/iowa-counties?period=2017
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/traffic-fatalities/iowa-counties?period=2017.
N1  - Publisher attribution: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), Fatality Analysis Reporting System. Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), national CSV files: people killed (sum of FATALS in accident.csv) by county of the crash. https://static.nhtsa.gov/nhtsa/downloads/FARS/2017/National/FARS2017NationalCSV.zip. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -

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Questions

Which county has the highest traffic fatalities?

Polk County, with 26 in 2017, according to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Which county has the lowest traffic fatalities?

Worth County, with 0 in 2017.

Where does this ranking come from?

Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), national CSV files: people killed (sum of FATALS in accident.csv) by county of the crash. Retrieved 2026-10-12.