What is Arkansas's road fatality rate?

Arkansas has a road fatality rate of 19.4 per 100,000 population and 1.5 per 100 million vehicle miles traveled (VMT). This is 58.9% above the national average.

How many road fatalities occurred in Arkansas in 2023?

In 2023, Arkansas recorded 596 road fatalities. The state's total fatalities across the 2015-2023 period are 5,243.

What is the leading cause of road fatalities in Arkansas?

The leading cause is unrestrained, accounting for 43.9% of all fatalities (2,301 deaths over the reporting period).

Are road fatalities increasing or decreasing in Arkansas?

Road fatalities in Arkansas are increasing with a +8.4% change over the reporting period (2015-2023). Fatalities went from 550 in 2015 to 596 in 2023.

How does Arkansas compare to the national average for road safety?

Arkansas's fatality rate of 19.4 per 100K is 58.9% higher than the national average of 12.2 per 100K. According to NHTSA FARS, Arkansas ranks #5 of 51 states by fatality rate (highest first), the same sort as /rankings/deadliest-states. See /methodology#corpus-placement.

What percentage of Arkansas's road fatalities involve alcohol?

Alcohol-impaired driving accounts for 24.0% of road fatalities in Arkansas, representing 1,256 deaths over the reporting period. Speeding accounts for 22.0% and pedestrian incidents for 11.0%.

Are rural or urban roads more dangerous in Arkansas?

In Arkansas, rural roads account for more fatalities: 3,320 rural vs. 1,923 urban deaths. Rural roads account for 63.3% of all fatalities.

STATE FATALITY DATA - 2023

Arkansas: higher-rate fatality band

Arkansas is in the higher per-capita third: 596 traffic deaths in 2023 at 19.4 per 100,000 (#5 of 51).

Compiled by PlainRoadSafety · September 3, 2026

596
Deaths (2023): 19.4
Per 100k residents: Well above average; 1.5
Per 100M VMT: -41
2022–2023 deaths

Higher per-capita fatality band

Arkansas ranks #5 of 51 by deaths per 100,000 residents (19.4/100k) - top-third rate among 51 states and D.C.

Arkansas in the higher-rate third

According to NHTSA FARS, Arkansas sits in the higher-rate third at 19.4 per 100k (#5 of 51), 59% above the U.S. 12.2 benchmark, with unrestrained the largest contributing factor.

#5 of 51
higher-rate third: 19.4/100k
2023 fatality rate: #26/51
by total FARS fatalities: Unrestrained
leading contributing factor

596 2023 Fatalities, By Roadway Setting

62%

Rural 371 (62.2%)
Urban 225 (37.8%)

FARS milepost strip

Milepost AR · Arkansas #5 of 51 · 19.4/100k

Arkansas · 19.4/100k · 596 in 2023 · #5 of 51

VS-US 19.4/100k
PHOTO #5 of 51
YOY 1.5/100M
FARS 5,243 book
NHTSA near South Carolina
MILE 22.0% spd
BAND 11.0% ped
POST +58.9% vs US

Stamps derive from this state's NHTSA FARS row (per-100k rate, corpus rank, VMT rate, fatality book, nearest-rate peer, alcohol/speeding/pedestrian shares, vs-national gap), not a trip-risk forecast. PlainRoadSafety is informational only. See our disclaimer. Verify with NHTSA FARS → · Read with methodology → · Understanding road fatality data → · States ranked →

Road Safety Index

29/100

Arkansas

Benchmarked against all 51 states (50 states + DC) on fatality rate, exposure-adjusted rate, pedestrian and impaired-driving fatality share, and safety trend from NHTSA FARS, US Census Bureau, and FHWA sources, not enforcement, infrastructure spend, or road-condition ratings.

Fatality Rate F

19.4/100k

Fatalities per 100,000 residents (NHTSA FARS + Census PEP population)

Exposure-Adjusted Rate F

1.52/100M VMT

Fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles traveled (NHTSA FARS + FHWA Highway Statistics)

Pedestrian Safety B

11.0%

Share of fatalities that were pedestrians (NHTSA FARS)

Impaired-Driving Control B-

24.0%

Share of fatalities that were alcohol-impaired (NHTSA FARS)

Safety Trend F

+8.4%

Change in fatalities over the reporting period; negative is declining (NHTSA FARS)

Pedestrian-led roadside pattern in Arkansas

After vehicle-to-vehicle crashes, Arkansas's 2023 FARS first-harm leader is Pedestrian at 12.1%, a pedestrian-forward pattern relative to fixed-object states. Counts come from the NHTSA FARS accident microdata for 2023 (first harmful event, weather, light, route, and rural/urban setting), not from the seeded state rollup alone.

First harmful event

Motor Vehicle In-Transport 42.4% · 253
Pedestrian 12.1% · 72
Tree (Standing Only) 9.1% · 54
Rollover/Overturn 7.7% · 46
Ditch 4.4% · 26

Light condition

Daylight 55.0% · 328
Dark - Not Lighted 29.7% · 177
Dark - Lighted 10.4% · 62
Dawn 1.7% · 10
Dusk 1.7% · 10

Roadway class

State Highway 34.9% · 208
U.S. Highway 27.9% · 166
Interstate 17.3% · 103
Municipal 10.7% · 64
County 9.2% · 55

Weather at crash

Clear 77.7% · 463
Cloudy 11.7% · 70
Rain 7.4% · 44
Fog, Smog, Smoke 1.8% · 11
Freezing Rain or Drizzle 0.2% · 1

Montana

18
Tennessee

19
Alabama

19
Arkansas

19
South Carolina

20
New Mexico

21

What this shows Arkansas sits among the five nearest fatality-rate peers on the per-100k scale.

Unrestrained

44
Nighttime

43
Alcohol-Impaired

24
Weather-Related

23
Speeding

22
Pedestrian

11

What this shows Unrestrained is the top contributing cause in Arkansas, involved in 43.9% of all road deaths. Note: categories overlap as a single crash may involve multiple factors.

Arkansas vs all states by fatality rate

Where this state's deaths-per-100k sits among every state and D.C. on PlainRoadSafety

19 Higher risk than most a lower per-capita rate than 8% of 51 states

States and D.C., banded by fatality rate per 100,000 residents

Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more states. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count and share, and where it sits relative to this entry.

Source NHTSA FARS over Census population · 2026-09-03

Arkansas plotted against a representative sample of 26 of 51 states and D.C. by deaths per 100,000 residents (x) and deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled (y). Dashed lines mark the national median across all 51, computed from the full corpus.

Arkansas can rank differently on each axis: population density pushes the per-capita rate one way, and rural-highway commute length pushes the per-mile rate another. Hover or tap any point (including Arkansas's own, highlighted) for its exact figures.

Fatality Trend Analysis (2015–2023)

In the higher-rate third, Arkansas moved from 550 deaths in 2015 to 596 in 2023 (+8.4%).

Year	Fatalities	Rate	Alcohol	Speeding	Pedestrian
2015	550	17.9	159	88	44
2016	561	18.3	129	111	49
2017	525	17.1	134	122	47
2018	520	17.0	144	130	62
2019	511	16.7	132	130	62
2020	651	21.2	172	169	82
2021	692	22.6	193	146	78
2022	637	20.8	86	143	78
2023	596	19.4	107	117	74

Pulaski leads Arkansas's county fatality book

Pulaski County alone accounts for 12.1% of Arkansas's 4,693 FARS fatalities over 2015-2023 (570 deaths); on a per-100k basis, Pike sits higher at 68.6/100k.

#	County	Total Fatalities	Latest Year	Avg Annual	Trend
1	PULASKI (119)	570	88	63.3	↑ increasing
2	WASHINGTON (143)	217	30	24.1	↑ increasing
3	BENTON (7)	209	26	23.2	↑ increasing
4	GARLAND (51)	163	16	18.1	↑ increasing
5	CRAIGHEAD (31)	146	10	16.2	↑ increasing
6	FAULKNER (45)	132	19	14.7	↑ increasing
7	SEBASTIAN (131)	130	20	14.4	↑ increasing
8	WHITE (145)	125	18	13.9	↑ increasing
9	SALINE (125)	120	20	13.3	↑ increasing
10	JEFFERSON (69)	118	18	13.1	↑ increasing
11	CRITTENDEN (35)	115	23	12.8	↑ increasing
12	HOT SPRING (59)	97	13	10.8	↑ increasing
13	LONOKE (85)	95	9	10.6	↑ increasing
14	MILLER (91)	93	9	10.3	↑ increasing
15	INDEPENDENCE (63)	84	7	9.3	↑ increasing
16	POPE (115)	76	16	8.4	↑ increasing
17	CRAWFORD (33)	74	4	8.2	↔ stable
18	UNION (139)	71	6	7.9	↑ increasing
19	LAWRENCE (75)	69	3	7.7	↑ increasing
20	CARROLL (15)	68	9	7.6	↓ decreasing

Showing top 20 of 75 counties by total fatalities.

States With Similar Fatality Rates

Among higher-rate peers, South Carolina (19.5/100k) and Alabama (19.1/100k) sit closest to Arkansas's 19.4 per 100k.

6 of 50 other states are shown here, ranked by closeness to Arkansas's fatality rate.

South Carolina

19.5 per 100K

1,047 fatalities (2023)

Alabama

19.1 per 100K

974 fatalities (2023)

Tennessee

18.6 per 100K

1,323 fatalities (2023)

Montana

18.4 per 100K

208 fatalities (2023)

New Mexico

20.7 per 100K

437 fatalities (2023)

Kentucky

18.0 per 100K

814 fatalities (2023)

Pulaski County and related Arkansas road data

Contextual links from this profile to rankings, tools, research, and peer geographies on PlainRoadSafety.

Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

Data sourced from official public datasets for Arkansas (#5 of 51; volume #26/51). See our methodology. Retrieved and formatted by PlainRoadSafety · vintage 2026-09-03

Verify with NHTSA FARS → · Verify with Census →