Counties in Iowa by traffic fatalities

Polk County had the highest traffic fatalities of 99 counties in 2019, at 34. Winnebago County had the lowest, at 0. The median was 2 and the figure for Iowa was 336. Source: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Highest34Polk County

Lowest0Winnebago County

Median299 counties

Iowa336History

Top 40 counties, 2019

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	2019 count	Change on 2018
1	Polk County	34	+25.9%
2	Linn County	15	+15.4%
3	Pottawattamie County	13	+18.2%
3	Woodbury County	13	+160%
5	Black Hawk County	11	+10%
6	Webster County	10	+11.1%
7	Johnson County	9	+28.6%
7	Scott County	9	-30.8%
7	Story County	9	+350%
10	Clinton County	8	+33.3%
10	Dubuque County	8	+33.3%
10	Henry County	8	+100%
13	Cerro Gordo County	7	+40%
14	Adair County	6	+50%
14	Jasper County	6	+50%
16	Crawford County	5	+66.7%
16	Fayette County	5	+66.7%
16	Hardin County	5	+25%
16	Lee County	5	+25%
16	Marshall County	5	+25%
16	Shelby County	5	n/a
16	Wapello County	5	+25%
16	Winneshiek County	5	+150%
24	Benton County	4	-42.9%
24	Bremer County	4	+33.3%
24	Clay County	4	n/a
24	Iowa County	4	+100%
24	Lyon County	4	+300%
24	Muscatine County	4	0%
24	Van Buren County	4	n/a
31	Buchanan County	3	+200%
31	Buena Vista County	3	+200%
31	Dallas County	3	-40%
31	Des Moines County	3	+50%
31	Fremont County	3	+50%
31	Grundy County	3	+200%
31	Hamilton County	3	-25%
31	Ida County	3	+50%
31	O'Brien County	3	+50%
31	Poweshiek County	3	0%
31	Washington County	3	+200%
42	Allamakee County	2	+100%
42	Boone County	2	-50%
42	Calhoun County	2	0%
42	Cass County	2	-60%
42	Clarke County	2	-50%
42	Clayton County	2	-60%
42	Franklin County	2	n/a
42	Harrison County	2	-60%
42	Humboldt County	2	-50%
42	Jackson County	2	0%
42	Kossuth County	2	n/a
42	Mahaska County	2	n/a
42	Marion County	2	-60%
42	Mills County	2	-66.7%
42	Monona County	2	-50%
42	Monroe County	2	0%
42	Osceola County	2	n/a
42	Page County	2	-33.3%
42	Plymouth County	2	-33.3%
42	Sioux County	2	0%
42	Worth County	2	0%
63	Adams County	1	n/a
63	Appanoose County	1	-50%
63	Audubon County	1	n/a
63	Carroll County	1	0%
63	Cedar County	1	-75%
63	Cherokee County	1	-50%
63	Davis County	1	-66.7%
63	Decatur County	1	-75%
63	Dickinson County	1	-66.7%
63	Emmet County	1	n/a
63	Floyd County	1	-80%
63	Greene County	1	-50%
63	Howard County	1	n/a
63	Jones County	1	0%
63	Keokuk County	1	0%
63	Lucas County	1	n/a
63	Madison County	1	n/a
63	Mitchell County	1	-50%
63	Palo Alto County	1	-50%
63	Pocahontas County	1	-83.3%
63	Sac County	1	-66.7%
63	Tama County	1	-75%
63	Taylor County	1	n/a
63	Union County	1	0%
63	Warren County	1	-83.3%
63	Wayne County	1	n/a
63	Wright County	1	0%
90	Butler County	0	n/a
90	Chickasaw County	0	-100%
90	Delaware County	0	-100%
90	Guthrie County	0	n/a
90	Hancock County	0	-100%
90	Jefferson County	0	-100%
90	Louisa County	0	-100%
90	Montgomery County	0	n/a
90	Ringgold County	0	-100%
90	Winnebago 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/2019/National/FARS2019NationalCSV.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, 2019) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://static.nhtsa.gov/nhtsa/downloads/FARS/2019/National/FARS2019NationalCSV.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, 2019. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 24 June 2026, https://static.nhtsa.gov/nhtsa/downloads/FARS/2019/National/FARS2019NationalCSV.zip. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/traffic-fatalities/iowa-counties?period=2019. 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, 2019. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://static.nhtsa.gov/nhtsa/downloads/FARS/2019/National/FARS2019NationalCSV.zip. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/traffic-fatalities/iowa-counties?period=2019.

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, 2019 [Dataset]. Available at: https://static.nhtsa.gov/nhtsa/downloads/FARS/2019/National/FARS2019NationalCSV.zip, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/traffic-fatalities/iowa-counties?period=2019 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{national_counties_in_iowa_by_2019,
  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, 2019}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://static.nhtsa.gov/nhtsa/downloads/FARS/2019/National/FARS2019NationalCSV.zip},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/traffic-fatalities/iowa-counties?period=2019. 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/2019/National/FARS2019NationalCSV.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, 2019
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/06/24
PB  - National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://static.nhtsa.gov/nhtsa/downloads/FARS/2019/National/FARS2019NationalCSV.zip
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/traffic-fatalities/iowa-counties?period=2019
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/traffic-fatalities/iowa-counties?period=2019.
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/2019/National/FARS2019NationalCSV.zip. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -

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Questions

Which county has the highest traffic fatalities?

Polk County, with 34 in 2019, according to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Which county has the lowest traffic fatalities?

Winnebago County, with 0 in 2019.

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.