What is Minnesota's road fatality rate?

Minnesota has a road fatality rate of 7.1 per 100,000 population and 0.7 per 100 million vehicle miles traveled (VMT). This is 41.9% below the national average.

How many road fatalities occurred in Minnesota in 2023?

In 2023, Minnesota recorded 409 road fatalities. The state's total fatalities across the 2015-2023 period are 3,641.

What is the leading cause of road fatalities in Minnesota?

The leading cause is nighttime, accounting for 38.3% of all fatalities (1,393 deaths over the reporting period).

Are road fatalities increasing or decreasing in Minnesota?

Road fatalities in Minnesota are stable with a -0.5% change over the reporting period (2015-2023). Fatalities went from 411 in 2015 to 409 in 2023.

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

Minnesota's fatality rate of 7.1 per 100K is 41.9% lower than the national average of 12.2 per 100K. According to NHTSA FARS, Minnesota ranks #45 of 51 states by fatality rate (highest first), the same sort as /rankings/deadliest-states. See /methodology#corpus-placement.

What percentage of Minnesota's road fatalities involve alcohol?

Alcohol-impaired driving accounts for 26.9% of road fatalities in Minnesota, representing 981 deaths over the reporting period. Speeding accounts for 26.0% and pedestrian incidents for 11.1%.

Are rural or urban roads more dangerous in Minnesota?

In Minnesota, rural roads account for more fatalities: 2,114 rural vs. 1,513 urban deaths. Rural roads account for 58.1% of all fatalities.

STATE FATALITY DATA - 2023

Minnesota: lower-rate fatality band

Minnesota is in the lower per-capita third: 409 traffic deaths in 2023 at 7.1 per 100,000 (#45 of 51).

Compiled by PlainRoadSafety · September 3, 2026

409
Deaths (2023): 7.1
Per 100k residents: Below average; 0.7
Per 100M VMT: -35
2022–2023 deaths

Lower per-capita fatality band

Minnesota ranks #45 of 51 by deaths per 100,000 residents (7.1/100k) - bottom-third rate among 51 states and D.C.

Minnesota in the lower-rate third

According to NHTSA FARS, Minnesota sits in the lower-rate third at 7.1 per 100k (#45 of 51), 42% below the U.S. 12.2 benchmark, with nighttime the largest contributing factor.

#45 of 51
lower-rate third: 7.1/100k
2023 fatality rate: #31/51
by total FARS fatalities: Nighttime
leading contributing factor

Highway fatality milepost

Milepost MN · Minnesota #45 of 51 · 7.1/100k

Minnesota · 7.1/100k · 409 in 2023 · #45 of 51

ALC 7.1/100k
SPD #45 of 51
PED 0.7/100M
RUR 3,641 book
VS-US near District of Columbia
PHOTO 26.0% spd
YOY 11.1% ped
FARS -41.9% 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 →

Road Safety Index

71/100

Minnesota

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 A

7.1/100k

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

Exposure-Adjusted Rate A+

0.70/100M VMT

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

Pedestrian Safety B

11.1%

Share of fatalities that were pedestrians (NHTSA FARS)

Impaired-Driving Control D

26.9%

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

Safety Trend F

-0.5%

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

Rollover-heavy crash pattern in Minnesota

Rollover/overturn leads Minnesota's non-vehicle first-harm events in 2023 FARS (14.2%), with County 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 50.5% · 203
Rollover/Overturn 14.2% · 57
Pedestrian 9.2% · 37
Tree (Standing Only) 5.5% · 22
Embankment 2.0% · 8

Light condition

Daylight 59.5% · 239
Dark - Lighted 17.9% · 72
Dark - Not Lighted 16.7% · 67
Dusk 3.0% · 12
Dawn 1.5% · 6

Roadway class

County 42.8% · 172
State Highway 21.6% · 87
U.S. Highway 13.9% · 56
Interstate 10.4% · 42
Municipal 7.2% · 29

Weather at crash

Clear 72.9% · 293
Cloudy 15.7% · 63
Rain 5.2% · 21
Fog, Smog, Smoke 1.5% · 6
Snow 1.2% · 5

District of …

7
Hawaii

7
New Jersey

7
Rhode Island

7
Minnesota

7
Alaska

8

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

Nighttime

38
Unrestrained

32
Weather-Related

30
Alcohol-Impaired

27
Speeding

26
Pedestrian

11

What this shows Nighttime is the top contributing cause in Minnesota, involved in 38.3% of all road deaths. Note: categories overlap as a single crash may involve multiple factors.

Minnesota vs all states by fatality rate

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

7 Among the safer states a lower per-capita rate than 86% 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

Minnesota 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.

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

Fatality Trend Analysis (2015–2023)

In the lower-rate third, Minnesota moved from 411 deaths in 2015 to 409 in 2023 (-0.5%).

Year	Fatalities	Rate	Alcohol	Speeding	Pedestrian
2015	411	7.2	131	50	39
2016	392	6.8	107	89	58
2017	358	6.2	107	88	38
2018	381	6.6	121	110	42
2019	364	6.3	103	77	47
2020	394	6.9	130	121	45
2021	488	8.5	94	166	50
2022	444	7.7	106	131	43
2023	409	7.1	82	116	42

Hennepin leads Minnesota's county fatality book

Hennepin County alone accounts for 13.1% of Minnesota's 3,230 FARS fatalities over 2015-2023 (422 deaths); on a per-100k basis, Faribault sits higher at 36.0/100k.

#	County	Total Fatalities	Latest Year	Avg Annual	Trend
1	HENNEPIN (53)	422	56	46.9	↑ increasing
2	RAMSEY (123)	178	21	19.8	↑ increasing
3	ANOKA (3)	177	22	19.7	↑ increasing
4	DAKOTA (37)	151	16	16.8	↑ increasing
5	ST LOUIS (137)	142	26	15.8	↑ increasing
6	STEARNS (145)	98	16	10.9	↑ increasing
7	SHERBURNE (141)	86	17	9.6	↑ increasing
8	WASHINGTON (163)	85	18	9.4	↑ increasing
9	OLMSTED (109)	71	4	7.9	↔ stable
10	WRIGHT (171)	68	12	7.6	↑ increasing
11	SCOTT (139)	64	4	7.1	↑ increasing
12	CROW WING (35)	58	3	6.4	↑ increasing
13	CHISAGO (25)	54	3	6.0	↑ increasing
14	CASS (21)	53	1	5.9	↑ increasing
15	PINE (115)	51	4	5.7	↔ stable
16	CARVER (19)	49	5	5.4	↔ stable
17	OTTER TAIL (111)	46	3	5.1	↑ increasing
18	DOUGLAS (41)	45	4	5.0	↑ increasing
19	ITASCA (61)	45	7	5.0	↑ increasing
20	MORRISON (97)	45	7	5.0	↑ increasing

Showing top 20 of 87 counties by total fatalities.

States With Similar Fatality Rates

Among lower-rate peers, District of Columbia (6.5/100k) and Hawaii (6.5/100k) bracket Minnesota's 7.1 per 100k.

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

District of Columbia

6.5 per 100K

44 fatalities (2023)

Hawaii

6.5 per 100K

93 fatalities (2023)

New Jersey

6.5 per 100K

606 fatalities (2023)

Rhode Island

6.5 per 100K

71 fatalities (2023)

Alaska

8.2 per 100K

60 fatalities (2023)

Utah

8.2 per 100K

280 fatalities (2023)

Hennepin County and related Minnesota 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 Minnesota (#45 of 51; volume #31/51). See our methodology. Retrieved and formatted by PlainRoadSafety · vintage 2026-09-03

Verify with NHTSA FARS → · Verify with Census →

Minnesota: lower-rate fatality band

Rollover-heavy crash pattern in Minnesota

First harmful event

Light condition

Roadway class

Weather at crash

Minnesota rate neighbourhood

Leading Causes of Fatalities

Fatality Trend Analysis (2015–2023)

Hennepin leads Minnesota's county fatality book

States With Similar Fatality Rates

Hennepin County and related Minnesota road data