What is Indiana's road fatality rate?

Indiana has a road fatality rate of 13.1 per 100,000 population and 1.1 per 100 million vehicle miles traveled (VMT). This is 7.3% above the national average.

How many road fatalities occurred in Indiana in 2023?

In 2023, Indiana recorded 898 road fatalities. The state's total fatalities across the 2015-2023 period are 7,935.

What is the leading cause of road fatalities in Indiana?

The leading cause is nighttime, accounting for 44.9% of all fatalities (3,566 deaths over the reporting period).

Are road fatalities increasing or decreasing in Indiana?

Road fatalities in Indiana are increasing with a +9.9% change over the reporting period (2015-2023). Fatalities went from 817 in 2015 to 898 in 2023.

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

Indiana's fatality rate of 13.1 per 100K is 7.3% higher than the national average of 12.2 per 100K. According to NHTSA FARS, Indiana ranks #25 of 51 states by fatality rate (highest first), the same sort as /rankings/deadliest-states. See /methodology#corpus-placement.

What percentage of Indiana's road fatalities involve alcohol?

Alcohol-impaired driving accounts for 18.9% of road fatalities in Indiana, representing 1,502 deaths over the reporting period. Speeding accounts for 15.3% and pedestrian incidents for 11.2%.

Are rural or urban roads more dangerous in Indiana?

In Indiana, rural roads account for more fatalities: 4,606 rural vs. 3,319 urban deaths. Rural roads account for 58.0% of all fatalities.

STATE FATALITY DATA - 2023

Indiana: larger FARS fatality book

Indiana holds a larger FARS book (7,935 across 2015-2023, #16/51 by volume) with 898 deaths in 2023.

Compiled by PlainRoadSafety · September 3, 2026

898
Deaths (2023): 13.1
Per 100k residents: Near average; 1.1
Per 100M VMT: -78
2022–2023 deaths

Lower alcohol-impaired share

Indiana ranks #48 of 51 by alcohol-impaired share (18.9%) - bottom-third alcohol involvement.

Indiana in the larger-book third

According to NHTSA FARS, Indiana carries a top-third fatality book (7,935 across 2015-2023, volume rank #16/51) at 13.1/100k.

#25 of 51
among US states by rate: 13.1/100k
2023 fatality rate: #16/51
by total FARS fatalities: Nighttime
leading contributing factor

FARS state milepost

Milepost IN · Indiana #25 of 51 · 13.1/100k

Indiana · 13.1/100k · 898 in 2023 · #25 of 51

NHTSA 13.1/100k
MILE #25 of 51
BAND 1.1/100M
POST 7,935 book
RATE near Delaware
RANK 15.3% spd
VMT 11.2% ped
BOOK +7.3% 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

57/100

Indiana

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 D

13.1/100k

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

Exposure-Adjusted Rate B

1.05/100M VMT

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

Pedestrian Safety B

11.2%

Share of fatalities that were pedestrians (NHTSA FARS)

Impaired-Driving Control A+

18.9%

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

Safety Trend F

+9.9%

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

Pedestrian-led roadside pattern in Indiana

After vehicle-to-vehicle crashes, Indiana's 2023 FARS first-harm leader is Pedestrian at 9.7%, 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 44.0% · 398
Pedestrian 9.7% · 88
Tree (Standing Only) 9.7% · 88
Rollover/Overturn 6.1% · 55
Pedalcyclist 3.4% · 31

Light condition

Daylight 49.9% · 451
Dark - Not Lighted 29.1% · 263
Dark - Lighted 14.4% · 130
Dusk 3.7% · 33
Dawn 1.9% · 17

Roadway class

Municipal 25.9% · 234
State Highway 21.9% · 198
County 20.0% · 181
U.S. Highway 15.9% · 144
Interstate 10.8% · 98

Weather at crash

Clear 74.0% · 669
Cloudy 14.2% · 128
Rain 9.0% · 81
Fog, Smog, Smoke 1.2% · 11
Snow 0.9% · 8

Colorado

12
Indiana

13
Delaware

13
Kansas

13
North Dakota

14
Oregon

14

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

Nighttime

45
Unrestrained

36
Weather-Related

29
Alcohol-Impaired

19
Speeding

15
Pedestrian

11

What this shows Nighttime is the top contributing cause in Indiana, involved in 44.9% of all road deaths. Note: categories overlap as a single crash may involve multiple factors.

Indiana vs all states by fatality rate

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

13 Around the middle a lower per-capita rate than 45% 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

Indiana 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.

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

Fatality Trend Analysis (2015–2023)

On a larger fatality book (#16/51), Indiana went from 817 in 2015 to 898 in 2023.

Year	Fatalities	Rate	Alcohol	Speeding	Pedestrian
2015	817	11.9	161	231	96
2016	829	12.1	170	210	87
2017	916	13.3	186	210	101
2018	860	12.5	171	187	114
2019	810	11.8	147	181	73
2020	897	13.1	181	58	93
2021	932	13.6	161	49	111
2022	976	14.2	168	60	114
2023	898	13.1	157	32	96

Marion leads Indiana's county fatality book

Marion County alone accounts for 14.0% of Indiana's 7,118 FARS fatalities over 2015-2023 (993 deaths); on a per-100k basis, Spencer sits higher at 40.2/100k.

#	County	Total Fatalities	Latest Year	Avg Annual	Trend
1	MARION (97)	993	131	110.3	↑ increasing
2	LAKE (89)	444	55	49.3	↑ increasing
3	ALLEN (3)	314	39	34.9	↑ increasing
4	ST JOSEPH (141)	224	31	24.9	↑ increasing
5	ELKHART (39)	213	20	23.7	↑ increasing
6	LA PORTE (91)	153	26	17.0	↑ increasing
7	PORTER (127)	149	16	16.6	↑ increasing
8	MADISON (95)	146	21	16.2	↑ increasing
9	HAMILTON (57)	144	24	16.0	↑ increasing
10	VANDERBURGH (163)	144	24	16.0	↑ increasing
11	DELAWARE (35)	124	17	13.8	↑ increasing
12	TIPPECANOE (157)	121	21	13.4	↑ increasing
13	VIGO (167)	118	17	13.1	↑ increasing
14	KOSCIUSKO (85)	112	14	12.4	↑ increasing
15	BARTHOLOMEW (5)	109	9	12.1	↑ increasing
16	HENDRICKS (63)	105	11	11.7	↑ increasing
17	HOWARD (67)	104	13	11.6	↑ increasing
18	CLARK (19)	103	16	11.4	↑ increasing
19	GRANT (53)	90	13	10.0	↑ increasing
20	JOHNSON (81)	87	16	9.7	↑ increasing

Showing top 20 of 92 counties by total fatalities.

States With Similar Fatality Rates

Delaware and Kansas are the nearest fatality-rate neighbours to Indiana at 13.1 per 100k.

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

Delaware

13.1 per 100K

135 fatalities (2023)

Kansas

13.2 per 100K

387 fatalities (2023)

North Dakota

13.5 per 100K

106 fatalities (2023)

Oregon

13.9 per 100K

587 fatalities (2023)

Colorado

12.2 per 100K

720 fatalities (2023)

Idaho

14.0 per 100K

275 fatalities (2023)

Marion County and related Indiana 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 Indiana (#25 of 51; volume #16/51). See our methodology. Retrieved and formatted by PlainRoadSafety · vintage 2026-09-03

Verify with NHTSA FARS → · Verify with Census →