What is Michigan's road fatality rate?

Michigan has a road fatality rate of 10.9 per 100,000 population and 1.1 per 100 million vehicle miles traveled (VMT). This is 10.7% below the national average.

How many road fatalities occurred in Michigan in 2023?

In 2023, Michigan recorded 1,094 road fatalities. The state's total fatalities across the 2015-2023 period are 9,467.

What is the leading cause of road fatalities in Michigan?

The leading cause is nighttime, accounting for 46.0% of all fatalities (4,359 deaths over the reporting period).

Are road fatalities increasing or decreasing in Michigan?

Road fatalities in Michigan are increasing with a +13.1% change over the reporting period (2015-2023). Fatalities went from 967 in 2015 to 1,094 in 2023.

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

Michigan's fatality rate of 10.9 per 100K is 10.7% lower than the national average of 12.2 per 100K. According to NHTSA FARS, Michigan ranks #30 of 51 states by fatality rate (highest first), the same sort as /rankings/deadliest-states. See /methodology#corpus-placement.

What percentage of Michigan's road fatalities involve alcohol?

Alcohol-impaired driving accounts for 28.1% of road fatalities in Michigan, representing 2,664 deaths over the reporting period. Speeding accounts for 2.6% and pedestrian incidents for 15.4%.

Are rural or urban roads more dangerous in Michigan?

In Michigan, urban roads account for more fatalities: 3,869 rural vs. 5,550 urban deaths. Rural roads account for 40.9% of all fatalities.

STATE FATALITY DATA - 2023

Michigan: larger FARS fatality book

Michigan holds a larger FARS book (9,467 across 2015-2023, #12/51 by volume) with 1,094 deaths in 2023.

Compiled by PlainRoadSafety · September 3, 2026

1,094
Deaths (2023): 10.9
Per 100k residents: Below average; 1.1
Per 100M VMT: -30
2022–2023 deaths

Larger fatality book

Michigan ranks #12 of 51 by total FARS fatalities (9,467 across 2015-2023) - top-third book size.

Michigan in the larger-book third

According to NHTSA FARS, Michigan carries a top-third fatality book (9,467 across 2015-2023, volume rank #12/51) at 10.9/100k.

#30 of 51
among US states by rate: 10.9/100k
2023 fatality rate: #12/51
by total FARS fatalities: Nighttime
leading contributing factor

NHTSA FARS milepost

Milepost MI · Michigan #30 of 51 · 10.9/100k

Michigan · 10.9/100k · 1,094 in 2023 · #30 of 51

YOY 10.9/100k
FARS #30 of 51
NHTSA 1.1/100M
MILE 9,467 book
BAND near Vermont
POST 2.6% spd
RATE 15.4% ped
RANK -10.7% 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

49/100

Michigan

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+

10.9/100k

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

Exposure-Adjusted Rate B-

1.11/100M VMT

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

Pedestrian Safety D

15.4%

Share of fatalities that were pedestrians (NHTSA FARS)

Impaired-Driving Control F

28.1%

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

Safety Trend F

+13.1%

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

Pedestrian-led roadside pattern in Michigan

After vehicle-to-vehicle crashes, Michigan's 2023 FARS first-harm leader is Pedestrian at 15.2%, 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 46.3% · 507
Pedestrian 15.2% · 167
Tree (Standing Only) 10.6% · 116
Rollover/Overturn 5.3% · 58
Pedalcyclist 2.2% · 24

Light condition

Daylight 50.9% · 558
Dark - Not Lighted 25.6% · 281
Dark - Lighted 18.5% · 203
Dawn 2.1% · 23
Dusk 1.9% · 21

Roadway class

Not Signed 55.2% · 605
State Highway 23.3% · 255
Interstate 10.0% · 110
U.S. Highway 8.9% · 97
County 1.5% · 16

Weather at crash

Clear 69.2% · 758
Cloudy 18.2% · 199
Rain 8.1% · 89
Snow 2.6% · 29
Fog, Smog, Smoke 0.7% · 8

California

10
Washington

10
Ohio

11
Virginia

11
Vermont

11
Michigan

11

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

Nighttime

46
Weather-Related

34
Unrestrained

30
Alcohol-Impaired

28
Pedestrian

15
Distracted

7

What this shows Nighttime is the top contributing cause in Michigan, involved in 46.0% of all road deaths. Note: categories overlap as a single crash may involve multiple factors.

Michigan vs all states by fatality rate

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

11 Lower than most a lower per-capita rate than 57% 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

Michigan 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.

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

Fatality Trend Analysis (2015–2023)

On a larger fatality book (#12/51), Michigan went from 967 in 2015 to 1,094 in 2023.

Year	Fatalities	Rate	Alcohol	Speeding	Pedestrian
2015	967	9.6	283	51	166
2016	1,065	10.6	270	53	163
2017	1,031	10.3	350	19	156
2018	977	9.7	296	38	142
2019	986	9.8	274	33	141
2020	1,086	10.8	315	9	172
2021	1,137	11.3	320	18	175
2022	1,124	11.2	295	7	168
2023	1,094	10.9	261	14	175

Wayne leads Michigan's county fatality book

Wayne County alone accounts for 18.6% of Michigan's 8,500 FARS fatalities over 2015-2023 (1,580 deaths); on a per-100k basis, Mackinac sits higher at 55.3/100k.

#	County	Total Fatalities	Latest Year	Avg Annual	Trend
1	WAYNE (163)	1,580	200	175.6	↑ increasing
2	OAKLAND (125)	532	54	59.1	↑ increasing
3	KENT (81)	480	64	53.3	↑ increasing
4	MACOMB (99)	426	53	47.3	↑ increasing
5	GENESEE (49)	411	59	45.7	↑ increasing
6	KALAMAZOO (77)	258	44	28.7	↑ increasing
7	WASHTENAW (161)	220	22	24.4	↑ increasing
8	INGHAM (65)	190	30	21.1	↑ increasing
9	CALHOUN (25)	174	26	19.3	↑ increasing
10	OTTAWA (139)	174	17	19.3	↑ increasing
11	ST. CLAIR (147)	172	22	19.1	↑ increasing
12	MONROE (115)	169	23	18.8	↑ increasing
13	JACKSON (75)	168	29	18.7	↑ increasing
14	MUSKEGON (121)	164	22	18.2	↑ increasing
15	BERRIEN (21)	156	18	17.3	↑ increasing
16	SAGINAW (145)	152	21	16.9	↑ increasing
17	LIVINGSTON (93)	144	13	16.0	↔ stable
18	ALLEGAN (5)	132	13	14.7	↑ increasing
19	VAN BUREN (159)	117	12	13.0	↑ increasing
20	LENAWEE (91)	116	19	12.9	↑ increasing

Showing top 20 of 83 counties by total fatalities.

States With Similar Fatality Rates

Vermont and Ohio are the nearest fatality-rate neighbours to Michigan at 10.9 per 100k.

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

Vermont

10.7 per 100K

69 fatalities (2023)

Ohio

10.5 per 100K

1,242 fatalities (2023)

Virginia

10.5 per 100K

913 fatalities (2023)

California

10.4 per 100K

4,061 fatalities (2023)

Washington

10.4 per 100K

810 fatalities (2023)

Nebraska

11.5 per 100K

227 fatalities (2023)

Wayne County and related Michigan 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 Michigan (#30 of 51; volume #12/51). See our methodology. Retrieved and formatted by PlainRoadSafety · vintage 2026-09-03

Verify with NHTSA FARS → · Verify with Census →