What is Illinois's road fatality rate?

Illinois has a road fatality rate of 9.9 per 100,000 population and 1.2 per 100 million vehicle miles traveled (VMT). This is 18.9% below the national average.

How many road fatalities occurred in Illinois in 2023?

In 2023, Illinois recorded 1,241 road fatalities. The state's total fatalities across the 2015-2023 period are 10,246.

What is the leading cause of road fatalities in Illinois?

The leading cause is nighttime, accounting for 48.7% of all fatalities (4,986 deaths over the reporting period).

Are road fatalities increasing or decreasing in Illinois?

Road fatalities in Illinois are increasing with a +24.3% change over the reporting period (2015-2023). Fatalities went from 998 in 2015 to 1,241 in 2023.

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

Illinois's fatality rate of 9.9 per 100K is 18.9% lower than the national average of 12.2 per 100K. According to NHTSA FARS, Illinois ranks #37 of 51 states by fatality rate (highest first), the same sort as /rankings/deadliest-states. See /methodology#corpus-placement.

What percentage of Illinois's road fatalities involve alcohol?

Alcohol-impaired driving accounts for 22.9% of road fatalities in Illinois, representing 2,343 deaths over the reporting period. Speeding accounts for 28.2% and pedestrian incidents for 15.2%.

Are rural or urban roads more dangerous in Illinois?

In Illinois, urban roads account for more fatalities: 3,561 rural vs. 6,656 urban deaths. Rural roads account for 34.8% of all fatalities.

STATE FATALITY DATA - 2023

Illinois: lower-rate fatality band

Illinois is in the lower per-capita third: 1,241 traffic deaths in 2023 at 9.9 per 100,000 (#37 of 51).

Compiled by PlainRoadSafety · September 3, 2026

1,241
Deaths (2023): 9.9
Per 100k residents: Below average; 1.2
Per 100M VMT: -27
2022–2023 deaths

Larger fatality book

Illinois ranks #9 of 51 by total FARS fatalities (10,246 across 2015-2023) - top-third book size.

Illinois in the lower-rate third

According to NHTSA FARS, Illinois sits in the lower-rate third at 9.9 per 100k (#37 of 51), 19% below the U.S. 12.2 benchmark, with nighttime the largest contributing factor.

#37 of 51
lower-rate third: 9.9/100k
2023 fatality rate: #9/51
by total FARS fatalities: Nighttime
leading contributing factor

FARS milepost strip

Milepost IL · Illinois #37 of 51 · 9.9/100k

Illinois · 9.9/100k · 1,241 in 2023 · #37 of 51

FARS 9.9/100k
NHTSA #37 of 51
MILE 1.2/100M
BAND 10,246 book
POST near Wisconsin
RATE 28.2% spd
RANK 15.2% ped
VMT -18.9% 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 →

C-

Road Safety Index

54/100

Illinois

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 B

9.9/100k

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

Exposure-Adjusted Rate C

1.21/100M VMT

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

Pedestrian Safety D

15.2%

Share of fatalities that were pedestrians (NHTSA FARS)

Impaired-Driving Control B+

22.9%

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

Safety Trend F

+24.3%

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

Pedestrian-led roadside pattern in Illinois

After vehicle-to-vehicle crashes, Illinois's 2023 FARS first-harm leader is Pedestrian at 15.0%, 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 46.2% · 573
Pedestrian 15.0% · 186
Rollover/Overturn 6.3% · 78
Tree (Standing Only) 5.7% · 71
Pedalcyclist 3.4% · 42

Light condition

Daylight 45.0% · 559
Dark - Not Lighted 27.4% · 340
Dark - Lighted 21.7% · 269
Dusk 2.3% · 29
Dawn 1.9% · 23

Roadway class

Not Signed 42.4% · 526
State Highway 26.5% · 329
Interstate 13.6% · 169
U.S. Highway 12.6% · 156
Municipal 2.6% · 32

Weather at crash

Clear 85.4% · 1,060
Rain 7.6% · 94
Cloudy 2.1% · 26
Snow 1.4% · 17
Fog, Smog, Smoke 0.8% · 10

Maine

10
Illinois

10
Wisconsin

10
Maryland

10
California

10
Washington

10

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

Nighttime

49
Unrestrained

33
Speeding

28
Alcohol-Impaired

23
Pedestrian

15
Weather-Related

14

What this shows Nighttime is the top contributing cause in Illinois, involved in 48.7% of all road deaths. Note: categories overlap as a single crash may involve multiple factors.

Illinois vs all states by fatality rate

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

10 Lower than most a lower per-capita rate than 71% 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

Illinois plotted against a representative sample of 27 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.

Illinois 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 Illinois's own, highlighted) for its exact figures.

Fatality Trend Analysis (2015–2023)

In the lower-rate third, Illinois moved from 998 deaths in 2015 to 1,241 in 2023 (+24.3%).

Year	Fatalities	Rate	Alcohol	Speeding	Pedestrian
2015	998	8.0	319	280	150
2016	1,078	8.6	340	368	147
2017	1,090	8.7	358	358	147
2018	1,035	8.2	322	345	166
2019	1,009	8.0	294	269	173
2020	1,193	9.5	286	336	175
2021	1,334	10.6	147	328	209
2022	1,268	10.1	144	256	191
2023	1,241	9.9	133	345	199

Cook leads Illinois's county fatality book

Cook County alone accounts for 29.5% of Illinois's 9,248 FARS fatalities over 2015-2023 (2,724 deaths); on a per-100k basis, Mason sits higher at 55.9/100k.

#	County	Total Fatalities	Latest Year	Avg Annual	Trend
1	COOK (31)	2,724	377	302.7	↑ increasing
2	WILL (197)	454	42	50.4	↑ increasing
3	LAKE (97)	386	60	42.9	↑ increasing
4	DUPAGE (43)	332	48	36.9	↑ increasing
5	ST. CLAIR (163)	287	36	31.9	↑ increasing
6	KANE (89)	285	48	31.7	↑ increasing
7	MADISON (119)	272	39	30.2	↑ increasing
8	WINNEBAGO (201)	252	30	28.0	↑ increasing
9	MCHENRY (111)	183	10	20.3	↔ stable
10	SANGAMON (167)	178	28	19.8	↑ increasing
11	LASALLE (99)	144	25	16.0	↑ increasing
12	PEORIA (143)	144	16	16.0	↑ increasing
13	CHAMPAIGN (19)	138	17	15.3	↑ increasing
14	KANKAKEE (91)	134	14	14.9	↑ increasing
15	MCLEAN (113)	115	22	12.8	↑ increasing
16	MACON (115)	103	20	11.4	↑ increasing
17	VERMILION (183)	97	15	10.8	↑ increasing
18	TAZEWELL (179)	89	12	9.9	↑ increasing
19	DEKALB (37)	88	16	9.8	↑ increasing
20	WILLIAMSON (199)	85	5	9.4	↑ increasing

Showing top 20 of 102 counties by total fatalities.

States With Similar Fatality Rates

Among lower-rate peers, Wisconsin (9.9/100k) and Maryland (10.0/100k) bracket Illinois's 9.9 per 100k.

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

Wisconsin

9.9 per 100K

583 fatalities (2023)

Maryland

10.0 per 100K

621 fatalities (2023)

Maine

9.7 per 100K

135 fatalities (2023)

California

10.4 per 100K

4,061 fatalities (2023)

Washington

10.4 per 100K

810 fatalities (2023)

New Hampshire

9.3 per 100K

130 fatalities (2023)

Cook County and related Illinois 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 Illinois (#37 of 51; volume #9/51). See our methodology. Retrieved and formatted by PlainRoadSafety · vintage 2026-09-03

Verify with NHTSA FARS → · Verify with Census →