What is Missouri's road fatality rate?

Missouri has a road fatality rate of 16.0 per 100,000 population and 1.2 per 100 million vehicle miles traveled (VMT). This is 31.0% above the national average.

How many road fatalities occurred in Missouri in 2023?

In 2023, Missouri recorded 991 road fatalities. The state's total fatalities across the 2015-2023 period are 8,602.

What is the leading cause of road fatalities in Missouri?

The leading cause is unrestrained, accounting for 50.9% of all fatalities (4,381 deaths over the reporting period).

Are road fatalities increasing or decreasing in Missouri?

Road fatalities in Missouri are increasing with a +13.9% change over the reporting period (2015-2023). Fatalities went from 870 in 2015 to 991 in 2023.

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

Missouri's fatality rate of 16.0 per 100K is 31.0% higher than the national average of 12.2 per 100K. According to NHTSA FARS, Missouri ranks #13 of 51 states by fatality rate (highest first), the same sort as /rankings/deadliest-states. See /methodology#corpus-placement.

What percentage of Missouri's road fatalities involve alcohol?

Alcohol-impaired driving accounts for 24.1% of road fatalities in Missouri, representing 2,069 deaths over the reporting period. Speeding accounts for 37.4% and pedestrian incidents for 11.6%.

Are rural or urban roads more dangerous in Missouri?

In Missouri, rural roads account for more fatalities: 4,531 rural vs. 4,057 urban deaths. Rural roads account for 52.7% of all fatalities.

STATE FATALITY DATA - 2023

Missouri: higher-rate fatality band

Missouri is in the higher per-capita third: 991 traffic deaths in 2023 at 16.0 per 100,000 (#13 of 51).

Compiled by PlainRoadSafety · September 3, 2026

991
Deaths (2023): 16.0
Per 100k residents: Above average; 1.2
Per 100M VMT: -66
2022–2023 deaths

Higher per-capita fatality band

Missouri ranks #13 of 51 by deaths per 100,000 residents (16.0/100k) - top-third rate among 51 states and D.C.

Missouri in the higher-rate third

According to NHTSA FARS, Missouri sits in the higher-rate third at 16.0 per 100k (#13 of 51), 31% above the U.S. 12.2 benchmark, with unrestrained the largest contributing factor.

#13 of 51
higher-rate third: 16.0/100k
2023 fatality rate: #15/51
by total FARS fatalities: Unrestrained
leading contributing factor

991 2023 Fatalities, By Roadway Setting

50%

Rural 498 (50.3%)
Urban 487 (49.1%)
Trafficway Not in State Inventory 6 (0.6%)

NHTSA fatality milepost

Milepost MO · Missouri #13 of 51 · 16.0/100k

Missouri · 16.0/100k · 991 in 2023 · #13 of 51

MILE 16.0/100k
BAND #13 of 51
POST 1.2/100M
RATE 8,602 book
RANK near South Dakota
VMT 37.4% spd
BOOK 11.6% ped
ALC +31.0% 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

41/100

Missouri

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

16.0/100k

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

Exposure-Adjusted Rate C-

1.23/100M VMT

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

Pedestrian Safety B-

11.6%

Share of fatalities that were pedestrians (NHTSA FARS)

Impaired-Driving Control C+

24.1%

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

Safety Trend F

+13.9%

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

Pedestrian-led roadside pattern in Missouri

After vehicle-to-vehicle crashes, Missouri's 2023 FARS first-harm leader is Pedestrian at 11.9%, 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 43.0% · 426
Pedestrian 11.9% · 118
Rollover/Overturn 9.6% · 95
Tree (Standing Only) 5.2% · 52
Embankment 3.8% · 38

Light condition

Daylight 53.6% · 531
Dark - Not Lighted 26.9% · 267
Dark - Lighted 18.2% · 180
Dark - Unknown Lighting 0.4% · 4
Dawn 0.1% · 1

Roadway class

State Highway 36.7% · 364
Municipal 21.9% · 217
U.S. Highway 15.0% · 149
Interstate 14.3% · 142
County 10.4% · 103

Weather at crash

Clear 73.9% · 732
Cloudy 18.1% · 179
Rain 5.4% · 54
Fog, Smog, Smoke 1.5% · 15
Snow 0.3% · 3

Georgia

15
West Virginia

15
Florida

15
South Dakota

15
Missouri

16
Arizona

18

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

Unrestrained

51
Nighttime

45
Speeding

37
Weather-Related

31
Alcohol-Impaired

24
Pedestrian

12

What this shows Unrestrained is the top contributing cause in Missouri, involved in 50.9% of all road deaths. Note: categories overlap as a single crash may involve multiple factors.

Missouri vs all states by fatality rate

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

16 Higher risk than most a lower per-capita rate than 24% 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

Missouri 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.

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

Fatality Trend Analysis (2015–2023)

In the higher-rate third, Missouri moved from 870 deaths in 2015 to 991 in 2023 (+13.9%).

Year	Fatalities	Rate	Alcohol	Speeding	Pedestrian
2015	870	14.0	231	309	104
2016	947	15.3	267	328	96
2017	932	15.0	258	347	96
2018	921	14.9	237	365	95
2019	881	14.2	242	326	109
2020	987	15.9	289	409	128
2021	1,016	16.4	193	393	117
2022	1,057	17.1	185	370	128
2023	991	16.0	167	369	127

Per-capita county spikes in Missouri: Ripley and Pemiscot

Fatalities are spread across 115 Missouri counties (no single county exceeds 12% of the book). Per-capita leaders are Ripley (74.0/100k) and Pemiscot (54.7/100k), while volume still ranks Jackson first.

#	County	Total Fatalities	Latest Year	Avg Annual	Trend
1	JACKSON (95)	862	132	95.8	↑ increasing
2	ST LOUIS (189)	718	99	79.8	↑ increasing
3	ST. LOUIS (CITY) (510)	515	52	57.2	↑ increasing
4	GREENE (77)	332	54	36.9	↑ increasing
5	JEFFERSON (99)	289	24	32.1	↑ increasing
6	ST. CHARLES (183)	251	22	27.9	↑ increasing
7	FRANKLIN (71)	170	20	18.9	↑ increasing
8	BOONE (19)	157	26	17.4	↑ increasing
9	CLAY (47)	157	18	17.4	↑ increasing
10	JASPER (97)	135	15	15.0	↑ increasing
11	NEWTON (145)	131	17	14.6	↑ increasing
12	CASS (37)	119	15	13.2	↑ increasing
13	LAWRENCE (109)	100	20	11.1	↑ increasing
14	LINCOLN (113)	98	19	10.9	↑ increasing
15	PLATTE (165)	98	14	10.9	↑ increasing
16	ST FRANCOIS (187)	97	11	10.8	↑ increasing
17	BARRY (9)	92	19	10.2	↑ increasing
18	BUCHANAN (21)	92	16	10.2	↑ increasing
19	CAPE GIRARDEAU (31)	88	13	9.8	↑ increasing
20	PHELPS (161)	87	11	9.7	↓ decreasing

Showing top 20 of 115 counties by total fatalities.

States With Similar Fatality Rates

Among higher-rate peers, South Dakota (15.2/100k) and Florida (15.0/100k) sit closest to Missouri's 16.0 per 100k.

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

South Dakota

15.2 per 100K

140 fatalities (2023)

Florida

15.0 per 100K

3,396 fatalities (2023)

West Virginia

14.7 per 100K

260 fatalities (2023)

Georgia

14.6 per 100K

1,615 fatalities (2023)

Arizona

17.5 per 100K

1,304 fatalities (2023)

North Carolina

14.4 per 100K

1,561 fatalities (2023)

Ripley-rate peers and Missouri 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 Missouri (#13 of 51; volume #15/51). See our methodology. Retrieved and formatted by PlainRoadSafety · vintage 2026-09-03

Verify with NHTSA FARS → · Verify with Census →