Two counties, side by side
Compare the fatal crash rates of two counties
Pick two counties and see each one’s fatal crashes, residents and rate per 100,000 next to each other, with the five-year average and what the record says about those crashes. No winner is declared: both sets of inputs are on the page.
Harris County, TX and Dallas County, TX (example)
In 2024, NHTSA recorded 551 fatal crashes in Harris County, Texas, where 4,996,331 people lived: 11.0 per 100,000. In 2024, NHTSA recorded 304 fatal crashes in Dallas County, Texas, where 2,664,013 people lived: 11.4 per 100,000. The United States as a whole was 10.7 per 100,000.
The road is a scale of fatal crashes per 100,000 residents in 2024, 0 to 40. The yellow post is Harris County; the white posts are Dallas County and the United States.
| Figure | Harris County, TX | Dallas County, TX |
|---|---|---|
| Fatal crashes, 2024 | 551 | 304 |
| Deaths in those crashes, 2024 | 583 | 330 |
| Residents, 2024 (Census) | 4,996,331 | 2,664,013 |
| Per 100,000 residents, 2024 | 11.0 | 11.4 |
| Five-year average per 100,000, 2020 to 2024 | 10.7 | 12.0 |
| Fatal crashes, 2020 to 2024 | 2,580 | 1,573 |
| How far one crash moves the rate | 0.0 points | 0.0 points |
| Rural share of fatal crashes | 3% | 1% |
| On an interstate | 17% | 26% |
| Dark, not lighted | 26% | 17% |
| Involving a pedestrian | 31% | 28% |
| Involving a cyclist | 4% | 2% |
| Speeding reported | 34% | 42% |
| Driver drinking reported | 27% | 23% |
| Involving a large truck | 9% | 12% |
| Involving a motorcycle | 14% | 13% |
| Hit-and-run | 18% | 14% |
| Involving a teen driver (15 to 19) | 9% | 10% |
| On a Saturday or Sunday | 38% | 39% |
Shares are of each county’s fatal crashes over 2020 to 2024, counted from FARS fields; one year is too few crashes to split. “Speeding” is any vehicle coded speeding-related; “drinking” is police-reported, not blood alcohol.
- Formula
- fatal crashes ÷ residents × 100,000
- Harris County
- 551 ÷ 4,996,331 × 100,000 = 11.0 · five-year 2,580 ÷ 24,173,128 × 100,000 = 10.7
- Dallas County
- 304 ÷ 2,664,013 × 100,000 = 11.4 · five-year 1,573 ÷ 13,116,031 × 100,000 = 12.0
How the comparison is built
- Same inputs as every county page: fatal crashes from NHTSA’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System (2020 to 2024, the latest year an Annual Report File), residents from the Census Bureau’s Vintage 2025 estimates. Nothing is recomputed for the comparison.
- Residents, not miles: FHWA publishes vehicle-miles by state only, so the per-100-million-miles form in 23 CFR 490.207 appears on state pages and in the state comparison, not here.
- No verdict. The page prints two sets of rates and their inputs. It does not call either county safer, rank them or grade them; roads carry people who do not live there, and one crash can move a small place by many points.
- Gaps: Connecticut’s legacy counties have counts but no Census population, so they show no rate; crashes coded to an unknown county are in no county’s count.
Informational only, not professional advice. Last reviewed: October 2026. Snapshot built 2026-10-30.
Frequently asked questions
Which county is safer?
The page does not say, and neither does the record. Fatal crashes divided by residents measures how often someone died on that county's roads, not the risk to any one driver, road or trip. Commuters who live elsewhere, through-traffic on an interstate and one multi-vehicle crash all move a rate. Both sets of inputs are on the page so the difference can be read for what it is.
Why compare by residents and not by miles driven?
FHWA publishes vehicle-miles by state, not by county, so a per-mile rate is honest only on state pages. For two counties the only denominator both have is population. To compare by miles driven, compare the two states.
Why does the five-year average differ so much from the single year?
In a small county one crash moves the one-year rate by many points. The five-year figure divides all crashes 2020 to 2024 by all resident-years, so one bad or quiet year counts for a fifth. When the two disagree, read the five-year number and the count beside it.
Can I compare a county with a state?
No. A county's crashes already count toward its state, and the state has a per-mile rate the county cannot have. Every county page draws its state and the US on the same road strip, which is the honest version of that comparison.
Related tools
Type a county and see its fatal crash rate: NHTSA fatal crashes divided by Census population, per 100,000, with every input shown. State pages add the rate per 100 million miles.
Open tool →Compare Fatal Crash Rates of Two StatesTwo states side by side: NHTSA fatal crashes per 100,000 residents and per 100 million vehicle-miles, the five-year average and what the record says about those crashes. No ranking.
Open tool →Crash Rate CalculatorType a crash count and a population and get the rate per 100,000 residents, and per 100 million vehicle-miles if you have the miles, with the formula written out and worked on your numbers.
Open tool →