What is Iowa's road fatality rate?

Iowa has a road fatality rate of 11.8 per 100,000 population and 1.1 per 100 million vehicle miles traveled (VMT). This is 3.4% below the national average.

How many road fatalities occurred in Iowa in 2023?

In 2023, Iowa recorded 377 road fatalities. The state's total fatalities across the 2015-2023 period are 3,119.

What is the leading cause of road fatalities in Iowa?

The leading cause is unrestrained, accounting for 41.6% of all fatalities (1,297 deaths over the reporting period).

Are road fatalities increasing or decreasing in Iowa?

Road fatalities in Iowa are increasing with a +17.8% change over the reporting period (2015-2023). Fatalities went from 320 in 2015 to 377 in 2023.

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

Iowa's fatality rate of 11.8 per 100K is 3.4% lower than the national average of 12.2 per 100K. According to NHTSA FARS, Iowa ranks #28 of 51 states by fatality rate (highest first), the same sort as /rankings/deadliest-states. See /methodology#corpus-placement.

What percentage of Iowa's road fatalities involve alcohol?

Alcohol-impaired driving accounts for 26.0% of road fatalities in Iowa, representing 811 deaths over the reporting period. Speeding accounts for 20.5% and pedestrian incidents for 6.9%.

Are rural or urban roads more dangerous in Iowa?

In Iowa, rural roads account for more fatalities: 2,270 rural vs. 845 urban deaths. Rural roads account for 72.8% of all fatalities.

STATE FATALITY DATA - 2023

Iowa road fatality profile

According to NHTSA FARS, Iowa ranks #28 of 51 by fatality rate. 377 traffic deaths in 2023, 11.8 per 100,000.

Compiled by PlainRoadSafety · September 3, 2026

377
Deaths (2023): 11.8
Per 100k residents: Near average; 1.1
Per 100M VMT: +41
2022–2023 deaths

State FARS profile

Iowa: 11.8/100k (#28 of 51), book 3,119, alcohol 26.0%.

What NHTSA FARS shows for Iowa

According to NHTSA FARS, Iowa ranks #28 of 51 by fatality rate (11.8/100k vs U.S. 12.2); unrestrained leads contributing factors.

#28 of 51
among US states by rate: 11.8/100k
2023 fatality rate: #34/51
by total FARS fatalities: Unrestrained
leading contributing factor

Highway fatality milepost

Milepost IA · Iowa #28 of 51 · 11.8/100k

Iowa · 11.8/100k · 377 in 2023 · #28 of 51

PED 11.8/100k
RUR #28 of 51
VS-US 1.1/100M
PHOTO 3,119 book
YOY near Nebraska
FARS 20.5% spd
NHTSA 6.9% ped
MILE -3.4% 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

53/100

Iowa

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 C-

11.8/100k

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

Exposure-Adjusted Rate B-

1.13/100M VMT

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

Pedestrian Safety A+

6.9%

Share of fatalities that were pedestrians (NHTSA FARS)

Impaired-Driving Control D

26.0%

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

Safety Trend F

+17.8%

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

Rollover-heavy crash pattern in Iowa

Rollover/overturn leads Iowa's non-vehicle first-harm events in 2023 FARS (10.3%), with U.S. Highway the most common roadway class. 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 48.5% · 184
Rollover/Overturn 10.3% · 39
Ditch 10.0% · 38
Pedestrian 6.9% · 26
Tree (Standing Only) 4.0% · 15

Light condition

Daylight 54.1% · 205
Dark - Not Lighted 29.3% · 111
Dark - Lighted 12.4% · 47
Dusk 1.8% · 7
Dawn 1.3% · 5

Roadway class

U.S. Highway 25.1% · 95
County 21.9% · 83
State Highway 17.9% · 68
Interstate 15.0% · 57
Municipal 10.6% · 40

Weather at crash

Clear 71.8% · 272
Cloudy 16.6% · 63
Rain 4.5% · 17
Snow 3.4% · 13
Fog, Smog, Smoke 1.3% · 5

Vermont

11
Michigan

11
Nebraska

12
Iowa

12
Colorado

12
Nevada

12

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

Unrestrained

42
Nighttime

40
Weather-Related

29
Alcohol-Impaired

26
Speeding

21
Pedestrian

7

What this shows Unrestrained is the top contributing cause in Iowa, involved in 41.6% of all road deaths. Note: categories overlap as a single crash may involve multiple factors.

Iowa vs all states by fatality rate

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

12 Lower than most a lower per-capita rate than 53% 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

Iowa 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.

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

Fatality Trend Analysis (2015–2023)

Between 2015 and 2023, road fatalities in Iowa increased by 17.8%, going from 320 to 377 annual deaths.

Year	Fatalities	Rate	Alcohol	Speeding	Pedestrian
2015	320	10.0	89	46	25
2016	402	12.5	109	94	22
2017	330	10.3	90	70	23
2018	319	9.9	80	57	22
2019	336	10.5	92	68	21
2020	343	10.7	94	62	29
2021	356	11.1	89	84	30
2022	336	10.5	79	74	15
2023	377	11.8	89	85	29

Per-capita county spikes in Iowa: Louisa and Union

Fatalities are spread across 99 Iowa counties (no single county exceeds 12% of the book). Per-capita leaders are Louisa (66.6/100k) and Union (50.4/100k), while volume still ranks Polk first.

#	County	Total Fatalities	Latest Year	Avg Annual	Trend
1	POLK (153)	270	39	30.0	↑ increasing
2	LINN (113)	131	27	14.6	↑ increasing
3	SCOTT (163)	120	16	13.3	↑ increasing
4	POTTAWATTAMIE (155)	94	11	10.4	↑ increasing
5	BLACK HAWK (13)	78	13	8.7	↑ increasing
6	WOODBURY (193)	68	9	7.6	↑ increasing
7	JOHNSON (103)	67	10	7.4	↔ stable
8	DALLAS (49)	54	14	6.0	↑ increasing
9	DUBUQUE (61)	51	4	5.7	↑ increasing
10	LEE (111)	49	5	5.4	↔ stable
11	WEBSTER (187)	48	8	5.3	↑ increasing
12	MARSHALL (127)	47	7	5.2	↑ increasing
13	CERRO GORDO (33)	45	1	5.0	↓ decreasing
14	BENTON (11)	43	2	4.8	↔ stable
15	WARREN (181)	41	4	4.6	↔ stable
16	CLINTON (45)	40	5	4.4	↔ stable
17	IOWA (95)	38	5	4.2	↓ decreasing
18	MUSCATINE (139)	38	4	4.2	↑ increasing
19	STORY (169)	37	4	4.1	↑ increasing
20	JASPER (99)	36	7	4.0	↑ increasing

Showing top 20 of 99 counties by total fatalities.

States With Similar Fatality Rates

Nebraska and Colorado are the nearest fatality-rate neighbours to Iowa at 11.8 per 100k.

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

Nebraska

11.5 per 100K

227 fatalities (2023)

Colorado

12.2 per 100K

720 fatalities (2023)

Nevada

12.2 per 100K

389 fatalities (2023)

Michigan

10.9 per 100K

1,094 fatalities (2023)

Vermont

10.7 per 100K

69 fatalities (2023)

Delaware

13.1 per 100K

135 fatalities (2023)

Louisa-rate peers and Iowa 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 Iowa (#28 of 51; volume #34/51). See our methodology. Retrieved and formatted by PlainRoadSafety · vintage 2026-09-03

Verify with NHTSA FARS → · Verify with Census →