US states by traffic fatality rate

Name: US states by traffic fatality rate, 2021
License: https://invokely.ai/docs/methodology

Mississippi had the highest traffic fatality rate of 51 states in 2021, at 26 per 100,000 people. Rhode Island had the lowest, at 5.7 per 100,000 people. The median was 12.2 per 100,000 people and the figure for the United States was 13 per 100,000 people. Source: NHTSA and BEA.

Highest26Mississippi

Lowest5.7Rhode Island

Median12.251 states

United States13History

All states, 2021

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

Full ranking

Rank	States	2021 per 100,000 people	Change on 2020
1	Mississippi	26	+0.7 pts
2	South Carolina	23.1	+2.3 pts
3	Arkansas	22.9	+1.3 pts
4	New Mexico	22.8	+4 pts
5	Montana	21.6	+2 pts
6	Louisiana	21	+3.2 pts
7	Alabama	19.5	+0.9 pts
8	Oklahoma	19.1	+2.6 pts
9	Tennessee	19	+1.5 pts
10	Wyoming	19	-3 pts
11	Kentucky	17.9	+0.6 pts
12	Florida	17.1	+1.7 pts
13	Georgia	16.8	+1.3 pts
14	South Dakota	16.5	+0.6 pts
15	Missouri	16.5	+0.4 pts
16	Arizona	16.4	+1.7 pts
17	North Carolina	16	+1.3 pts
18	West Virginia	15.8	+0.9 pts
19	Texas	15.2	+2 pts
20	Kansas	14.4	-0.1 pts
21	Idaho	14.3	+2.8 pts
22	Oregon	14.1	+2.1 pts
23	Indiana	13.7	+0.5 pts
24	Delaware	13.5	+1.8 pts
25	North Dakota	13	+0.2 pts
26	Nevada	12.2	+1.5 pts
27	Colorado	11.9	+1.1 pts
28	California	11.5	+1.5 pts
29	Ohio	11.5	+1.1 pts
30	Vermont	11.4	+1.8 pts
31	Michigan	11.3	+0.5 pts
32	Nebraska	11.2	-0.6 pts
33	Virginia	11.2	+1.4 pts
34	Iowa	11.1	+0.4 pts
35	Maine	11.1	-0.9 pts
36	Wisconsin	10.5	+0.2 pts
37	Illinois	10.5	+1.2 pts
38	Utah	9.9	+1.5 pts
39	Alaska	9.5	+0.8 pts
40	Pennsylvania	9.4	+0.8 pts
41	Maryland	9.1	-0.2 pts
42	Washington	8.7	+1.3 pts
43	Minnesota	8.5	+1.6 pts
44	New Hampshire	8.5	+1 pts
45	Connecticut	8.4	0 pts
46	New Jersey	7.5	+1.1 pts
47	Hawaii	6.5	+0.6 pts
48	District of Columbia	6.1	+0.8 pts
49	Massachusetts	5.9	+1 pts
50	New York	5.8	+0.6 pts
51	Rhode Island	5.7	-0.4 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, 2021) [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, 2021. 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, 2021. 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, 2021 [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_2021,
  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, 2021}},
  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=2021. 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, 2021
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=2021
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=2021.
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  -

Embed this chart

Paste this code into a web page or a blog post. The chart shows the latest figures as they are published, with the source and a link back to this page.

Embed code

<iframe src="https://invokely.ai/embed/rankings/traffic-fatality-rate/us-states?period=2021" width="760" height="500" title="US states by traffic fatality rate, 2021, chart from Invokely" loading="lazy" style="border:0;width:100%;max-width:760px" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin"></iframe>

Sites that read oEmbed links, such as WordPress, can show the chart when you paste the link to this page.

Use this data in your AI agent

Invokely serves this figure to AI assistants through MCP and to code through a REST API, with the source and citation attached. Ask your assistant:

Rank US states by traffic fatality rate using official data, and cite the source.

rank_places {"indicator":"traffic_fatality_rate_per_100k","level":"region","within":"United States","limit":10}
GET https://invokely.ai/api/v1/rank?indicator=traffic_fatality_rate_per_100k&level=region&within=United%20States&limit=10

Connect Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor in one step. The trial answers 25 calls a day without an account.

Questions

Which state has the highest traffic fatality rate?

Mississippi, with 26 per 100,000 people in 2021, according to NHTSA and BEA.

Which state has the lowest traffic fatality rate?

Rhode Island, with 5.7 per 100,000 people in 2021.

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.