What is Kentucky's road fatality rate?

Kentucky has a road fatality rate of 18.0 per 100,000 population and 1.7 per 100 million vehicle miles traveled (VMT). This is 47.4% above the national average.

How many road fatalities occurred in Kentucky in 2023?

In 2023, Kentucky recorded 814 road fatalities. The state's total fatalities across the 2015-2023 period are 6,977.

What is the leading cause of road fatalities in Kentucky?

The leading cause is unrestrained, accounting for 46.6% of all fatalities (3,248 deaths over the reporting period).

Are road fatalities increasing or decreasing in Kentucky?

Road fatalities in Kentucky are increasing with a +7.0% change over the reporting period (2015-2023). Fatalities went from 761 in 2015 to 814 in 2023.

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

Kentucky's fatality rate of 18.0 per 100K is 47.4% higher than the national average of 12.2 per 100K. According to NHTSA FARS, Kentucky ranks #9 of 51 states by fatality rate (highest first), the same sort as /rankings/deadliest-states. See /methodology#corpus-placement.

What percentage of Kentucky's road fatalities involve alcohol?

Alcohol-impaired driving accounts for 23.5% of road fatalities in Kentucky, representing 1,642 deaths over the reporting period. Speeding accounts for 16.3% and pedestrian incidents for 10.8%.

Are rural or urban roads more dangerous in Kentucky?

In Kentucky, rural roads account for more fatalities: 4,705 rural vs. 2,265 urban deaths. Rural roads account for 67.4% of all fatalities.

STATE FATALITY DATA - 2023

Kentucky: higher-rate fatality band

Kentucky is in the higher per-capita third: 814 traffic deaths in 2023 at 18.0 per 100,000 (#9 of 51).

Compiled by PlainRoadSafety · September 3, 2026

814
Deaths (2023): 18.0
Per 100k residents: Above average; 1.7
Per 100M VMT: +70
2022–2023 deaths

Higher per-capita fatality band

Kentucky ranks #9 of 51 by deaths per 100,000 residents (18.0/100k) - top-third rate among 51 states and D.C.

Kentucky in the higher-rate third

According to NHTSA FARS, Kentucky sits in the higher-rate third at 18.0 per 100k (#9 of 51), 47% above the U.S. 12.2 benchmark, with unrestrained the largest contributing factor.

#9 of 51
higher-rate third: 18.0/100k
2023 fatality rate: #19/51
by total FARS fatalities: Unrestrained
leading contributing factor

814 2023 Fatalities, By Roadway Setting

61%

Rural 495 (60.8%)
Urban 318 (39.1%)
Trafficway Not in State Inventory 1 (0.1%)

FARS milepost strip

Milepost KY · Kentucky #9 of 51 · 18.0/100k

Kentucky · 18.0/100k · 814 in 2023 · #9 of 51

PED 18.0/100k
RUR #9 of 51
VS-US 1.7/100M
PHOTO 6,977 book
YOY near Louisiana
FARS 16.3% spd
NHTSA 10.8% ped
MILE +47.4% 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 →

Road Safety Index

29/100

Kentucky

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

18.0/100k

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

Exposure-Adjusted Rate F

1.66/100M VMT

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

Pedestrian Safety B

10.8%

Share of fatalities that were pedestrians (NHTSA FARS)

Impaired-Driving Control B

23.5%

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

Safety Trend F

+7.0%

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

Pedestrian-led roadside pattern in Kentucky

After vehicle-to-vehicle crashes, Kentucky's 2023 FARS first-harm leader is Pedestrian at 13.6%, 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 40.5% · 330
Pedestrian 13.6% · 111
Tree (Standing Only) 9.8% · 80
Rollover/Overturn 7.0% · 57
Embankment 4.3% · 35

Light condition

Daylight 53.1% · 432
Dark - Not Lighted 26.4% · 215
Dark - Lighted 13.4% · 109
Dark - Unknown Lighting 2.6% · 21
Dusk 2.5% · 20

Roadway class

State Highway 47.9% · 390
U.S. Highway 28.9% · 235
Interstate 9.1% · 74
County 7.2% · 59
Not Signed 3.7% · 30

Weather at crash

Clear 71.6% · 583
Cloudy 18.1% · 147
Rain 7.6% · 62
Fog, Smog, Smoke 1.1% · 9
Severe Crosswinds 0.4% · 3

Arizona

18
Louisiana

18
Oklahoma

18
Kentucky

18
Montana

18
Tennessee

19

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

Unrestrained

47
Nighttime

40
Weather-Related

33
Alcohol-Impaired

24
Distracted

20
Speeding

16

What this shows Unrestrained is the top contributing cause in Kentucky, involved in 46.6% of all road deaths. Note: categories overlap as a single crash may involve multiple factors.

Kentucky vs all states by fatality rate

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

18 Higher risk than most a lower per-capita rate than 16% 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

Kentucky 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.

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

Fatality Trend Analysis (2015–2023)

In the higher-rate third, Kentucky moved from 761 deaths in 2015 to 814 in 2023 (+7.0%).

Year	Fatalities	Rate	Alcohol	Speeding	Pedestrian
2015	761	16.8	211	132	67
2016	834	18.4	209	125	81
2017	782	17.3	204	130	83
2018	724	16.0	167	110	73
2019	732	16.2	185	111	73
2020	780	17.2	216	161	91
2021	806	17.8	159	138	75
2022	744	16.4	134	128	93
2023	814	18.0	157	105	121

Jefferson leads Kentucky's county fatality book

Jefferson County alone accounts for 14.3% of Kentucky's 6,216 FARS fatalities over 2015-2023 (890 deaths); on a per-100k basis, Breathitt sits higher at 54.0/100k.

#	County	Total Fatalities	Latest Year	Avg Annual	Trend
1	JEFFERSON (111)	890	134	98.9	↑ increasing
2	FAYETTE (67)	305	49	33.9	↑ increasing
3	HARDIN (93)	152	26	16.9	↑ increasing
4	WARREN (227)	144	16	16.0	↔ stable
5	PIKE (195)	129	21	14.3	↑ increasing
6	LAUREL (125)	106	9	11.8	↑ increasing
7	PULASKI (199)	104	17	11.6	↑ increasing
8	CHRISTIAN (47)	101	10	11.2	↑ increasing
9	BOONE (15)	98	11	10.9	↓ decreasing
10	DAVIESS (59)	98	16	10.9	↑ increasing
11	MCCRACKEN (145)	96	7	10.7	↑ increasing
12	BULLITT (29)	94	12	10.4	↑ increasing
13	NELSON (179)	87	14	9.7	↔ stable
14	KENTON (117)	84	7	9.3	↓ decreasing
15	MADISON (151)	81	11	9.0	↑ increasing
16	FLOYD (71)	80	16	8.9	↑ increasing
17	BARREN (9)	77	12	8.6	↑ increasing
18	CAMPBELL (37)	77	6	8.6	↓ decreasing
19	PERRY (193)	77	6	8.6	↑ increasing
20	GRAYSON (85)	73	9	8.1	↑ increasing

Showing top 20 of 120 counties by total fatalities.

States With Similar Fatality Rates

Among higher-rate peers, Louisiana (17.7/100k) and Oklahoma (17.7/100k) sit closest to Kentucky's 18.0 per 100k.

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

Louisiana

17.7 per 100K

811 fatalities (2023)

Oklahoma

17.7 per 100K

718 fatalities (2023)

Montana

18.4 per 100K

208 fatalities (2023)

Arizona

17.5 per 100K

1,304 fatalities (2023)

Tennessee

18.6 per 100K

1,323 fatalities (2023)

Alabama

19.1 per 100K

974 fatalities (2023)

Jefferson County and related Kentucky 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 Kentucky (#9 of 51; volume #19/51). See our methodology. Retrieved and formatted by PlainRoadSafety · vintage 2026-09-03

Verify with NHTSA FARS → · Verify with Census →