US states by traffic fatality rate

Name: US states by traffic fatality rate, 2016
License: https://invokely.ai/docs/methodology

Mississippi had the highest traffic fatality rate of 51 states in 2016, at 23 per 100,000 people. District of Columbia had the lowest, at 4 per 100,000 people. The median was 12.2 per 100,000 people and the figure for the United States was 11.7 per 100,000 people. Source: NHTSA and BEA.

Highest23Mississippi

Lowest4District of Columbia

Median12.251 states

United States11.7History

All states, 2016

per 100,000 people. Source: Invokely calculation with data from NHTSA, BEA. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

Rank	States	2016 per 100,000 people	Change on 2015
1	Mississippi	23	+0.3 pts
2	Alabama	22	+4.6 pts
3	South Carolina	20.8	+0.6 pts
4	New Mexico	19.3	+5.1 pts
5	Wyoming	19.2	-5.6 pts
6	Arkansas	18.8	+0.3 pts
7	Kentucky	18.7	+1.6 pts
8	Montana	18.2	-3.5 pts
9	Oklahoma	17.5	+1 pts
10	Louisiana	16.2	+0.1 pts
11	Missouri	15.5	+1.2 pts
12	Tennessee	15.5	+1 pts
13	Florida	15.5	+0.9 pts
14	Georgia	15.1	+1 pts
15	Idaho	14.9	+1.9 pts
16	North Dakota	14.8	-2.4 pts
17	Kansas	14.7	+2.5 pts
18	West Virginia	14.7	+0.1 pts
19	North Carolina	14.4	+0.6 pts
20	Arizona	14	+0.6 pts
21	Texas	13.6	+0.6 pts
22	South Dakota	13.5	-2.2 pts
23	Iowa	12.8	+2.6 pts
24	Delaware	12.5	-1.4 pts
25	Indiana	12.5	+0.1 pts
26	Oregon	12.2	+1.1 pts
27	Maine	11.9	+0.3 pts
28	Nebraska	11.3	-1.6 pts
29	Nevada	11.3	-0.1 pts
30	Alaska	11.3	+2.5 pts
31	Colorado	11	+0.9 pts
32	Michigan	10.6	+0.9 pts
33	Wisconsin	10.4	+0.7 pts
34	New Hampshire	10.1	+1.6 pts
35	California	9.8	+1.1 pts
36	Vermont	9.7	+0.8 pts
37	Ohio	9.7	+0.2 pts
38	Pennsylvania	9.2	-0.1 pts
39	Utah	9.2	-0.1 pts
40	Virginia	9	0 pts
41	Maryland	8.6	-0 pts
42	Connecticut	8.4	+1 pts
43	Illinois	8.3	+0.6 pts
44	Hawaii	8.2	+1.8 pts
45	Washington	7.3	-0.3 pts
46	Minnesota	7.1	-0.4 pts
47	New Jersey	6.6	+0.4 pts
48	Massachusetts	5.6	+0.6 pts
49	New York	5.2	-0.5 pts
50	Rhode Island	4.7	+0.5 pts
51	District of Columbia	4	+0.6 pts

Other periods

About this ranking

Traffic fatalities (NHTSA FARS) per 100,000 residents in the same year and place.

Deaths are counted where the crash happened and divided by the resident population, so counties with busy highways and few residents can show very high rates. Differs from the WHO road traffic death rate (road_traffic_death_rate).

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

How to cite

Invokely calculation from NHTSA FARS traffic fatalities divided by BEA mid-year population (SAINC1 and CAINC1), per 100,000 residents. https://invokely.ai/docs/methodology#traffic_fatality_rate_per_100k. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Citation styles

Invokely calculated this figure from the publishers' data, so Invokely is the author and the publishers of the inputs are named.

APA 7

Invokely. (n.d.). NHTSA FARS traffic fatalities divided by BEA mid-year population (SAINC1 and CAINC1), per 100,000 residents (US states by traffic fatality rate, 2016) [Data set]. Calculated from data by NHTSA and BEA. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://invokely.ai/docs/methodology#traffic_fatality_rate_per_100k

MLA 9

NHTSA FARS traffic fatalities divided by BEA mid-year population (SAINC1 and CAINC1), per 100,000 residents, US states by traffic fatality rate, 2016. Calculated from data by NHTSA and BEA. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/docs/methodology#traffic_fatality_rate_per_100k. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

Invokely. n.d. NHTSA FARS traffic fatalities divided by BEA mid-year population (SAINC1 and CAINC1), per 100,000 residents. US states by traffic fatality rate, 2016. Dataset. Calculated from data by NHTSA and BEA. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://invokely.ai/docs/methodology#traffic_fatality_rate_per_100k.

Harvard

Invokely (no date) NHTSA FARS traffic fatalities divided by BEA mid-year population (SAINC1 and CAINC1), per 100,000 residents, US states by traffic fatality rate, 2016 [Dataset]. Calculated from data by NHTSA and BEA. Available at: https://invokely.ai/docs/methodology#traffic_fatality_rate_per_100k (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{invokely_us_states_by_traffic_2016,
  author = {{Invokely}},
  title = {{NHTSA FARS traffic fatalities divided by BEA mid-year population (SAINC1 and CAINC1), per 100,000 residents: US states by traffic fatality rate, 2016}},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://invokely.ai/docs/methodology#traffic_fatality_rate_per_100k},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Calculated from data by NHTSA and BEA. Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/traffic-fatality-rate/us-states?period=2016. Publisher attribution: Invokely calculation from NHTSA FARS traffic fatalities divided by BEA mid-year population (SAINC1 and CAINC1), per 100,000 residents. https://invokely.ai/docs/methodology\#traffic\_fatality\_rate\_per\_100k. Retrieved 2026-10-12.},
}

RIS

TY  - DATA
AU  - Invokely
TI  - NHTSA FARS traffic fatalities divided by BEA mid-year population (SAINC1 and CAINC1), per 100,000 residents: US states by traffic fatality rate, 2016
PB  - Invokely
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://invokely.ai/docs/methodology#traffic_fatality_rate_per_100k
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/traffic-fatality-rate/us-states?period=2016
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Calculated from data by NHTSA and BEA.
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/traffic-fatality-rate/us-states?period=2016.
N1  - Publisher attribution: Invokely calculation from NHTSA FARS traffic fatalities divided by BEA mid-year population (SAINC1 and CAINC1), per 100,000 residents. https://invokely.ai/docs/methodology#traffic_fatality_rate_per_100k. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -

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Questions

Which state has the highest traffic fatality rate?

Mississippi, with 23 per 100,000 people in 2016, according to NHTSA and BEA.

Which state has the lowest traffic fatality rate?

District of Columbia, with 4 per 100,000 people in 2016.

Where does this ranking come from?

Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: Invokely, NHTSA FARS traffic fatalities divided by BEA mid-year population (SAINC1 and CAINC1), per 100,000 residents. Retrieved 2026-10-12.