What is Nevada's road fatality rate?

Nevada has a road fatality rate of 12.2 per 100,000 population and 1.4 per 100 million vehicle miles traveled (VMT). This is 0.1% below the national average.

How many road fatalities occurred in Nevada in 2023?

In 2023, Nevada recorded 389 road fatalities. The state's total fatalities across the 2015-2023 period are 3,123.

What is the leading cause of road fatalities in Nevada?

The leading cause is nighttime, accounting for 50.8% of all fatalities (1,586 deaths over the reporting period).

Are road fatalities increasing or decreasing in Nevada?

Road fatalities in Nevada are increasing with a +19.3% change over the reporting period (2015-2023). Fatalities went from 326 in 2015 to 389 in 2023.

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

Nevada's fatality rate of 12.2 per 100K is 0.1% lower than the national average of 12.2 per 100K. According to NHTSA FARS, Nevada ranks #27 of 51 states by fatality rate (highest first), the same sort as /rankings/deadliest-states. See /methodology#corpus-placement.

What percentage of Nevada's road fatalities involve alcohol?

Alcohol-impaired driving accounts for 25.2% of road fatalities in Nevada, representing 787 deaths over the reporting period. Speeding accounts for 28.9% and pedestrian incidents for 23.3%.

Are rural or urban roads more dangerous in Nevada?

In Nevada, urban roads account for more fatalities: 939 rural vs. 2,164 urban deaths. Rural roads account for 30.1% of all fatalities.

STATE FATALITY DATA - 2023

Nevada road fatality profile

According to NHTSA FARS, Nevada ranks #27 of 51 by fatality rate. 389 traffic deaths in 2023, 12.2 per 100,000.

Compiled by PlainRoadSafety · September 3, 2026

389
Deaths (2023): 12.2
Per 100k residents: Near average; 1.4
Per 100M VMT: -28
2022–2023 deaths

State FARS profile

Nevada: 12.2/100k (#27 of 51), book 3,123, alcohol 25.2%.

What NHTSA FARS shows for Nevada

According to NHTSA FARS, Nevada ranks #27 of 51 by fatality rate (12.2/100k vs U.S. 12.2); nighttime leads contributing factors.

#27 of 51
among US states by rate: 12.2/100k
2023 fatality rate: #33/51
by total FARS fatalities: Nighttime
leading contributing factor

NHTSA FARS milepost

Milepost NV · Nevada #27 of 51 · 12.2/100k

Nevada · 12.2/100k · 389 in 2023 · #27 of 51

PHOTO 12.2/100k
YOY #27 of 51
FARS 1.4/100M
NHTSA 3,123 book
MILE near Colorado
BAND 28.9% spd
POST 23.3% ped
RATE -0.1% 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

32/100

Nevada

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-

12.2/100k

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

Exposure-Adjusted Rate F

1.40/100M VMT

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

Pedestrian Safety F

23.3%

Share of fatalities that were pedestrians (NHTSA FARS)

Impaired-Driving Control C-

25.2%

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

Safety Trend F

+19.3%

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

Pedestrian-led roadside pattern in Nevada

After vehicle-to-vehicle crashes, Nevada's 2023 FARS first-harm leader is Pedestrian at 24.1%, 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 39.9% · 162
Pedestrian 24.1% · 98
Curb 9.1% · 37
Rollover/Overturn 7.6% · 31
Post, Pole or Other Supports 4.7% · 19

Light condition

Daylight 39.9% · 162
Dark - Lighted 39.2% · 159
Dark - Not Lighted 15.8% · 64
Dawn 2.5% · 10
Dusk 2.2% · 9

Roadway class

Not Signed 45.6% · 185
State Highway 25.9% · 105
U.S. Highway 15.3% · 62
Interstate 10.6% · 43
County 1.2% · 5

Weather at crash

Clear 83.3% · 338
Cloudy 11.1% · 45
Rain 4.2% · 17
Snow 0.7% · 3
Severe Crosswinds 0.2% · 1

Nebraska

12
Iowa

12
Nevada

12
Colorado

12
Delaware

13
Indiana

13

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

Nighttime

51
Unrestrained

33
Speeding

29
Alcohol-Impaired

25
Pedestrian

23
Weather-Related

19

What this shows Nighttime is the top contributing cause in Nevada, involved in 50.8% of all road deaths. Note: categories overlap as a single crash may involve multiple factors.

Nevada vs all states by fatality rate

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

12 Around the middle a lower per-capita rate than 49% 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

Nevada 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.

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

Fatality Trend Analysis (2015–2023)

Between 2015 and 2023, road fatalities in Nevada increased by 19.3%, going from 326 to 389 annual deaths.

Year	Fatalities	Rate	Alcohol	Speeding	Pedestrian
2015	326	10.2	105	112	66
2016	329	10.3	101	117	80
2017	311	9.7	80	91	91
2018	329	10.3	84	87	79
2019	304	9.5	97	85	62
2020	333	10.4	80	102	81
2021	385	12.1	90	113	80
2022	417	13.1	80	112	83
2023	389	12.2	70	85	106

Clark leads Nevada's county fatality book

Clark County alone accounts for 63.5% of Nevada's 2,797 FARS fatalities over 2015-2023 (1,776 deaths); on a per-100k basis, Nye sits higher at 55.6/100k.

#	County	Total Fatalities	Latest Year	Avg Annual	Trend
1	CLARK (3)	1,776	256	197.3	↑ increasing
2	WASHOE (31)	368	48	40.9	↑ increasing
3	NYE (23)	124	31	13.8	↑ increasing
4	ELKO (7)	84	5	9.3	↑ increasing
5	LYON (19)	74	7	8.2	↑ increasing
6	CHURCHILL (1)	67	13	7.4	↑ increasing
7	DOUGLAS (5)	46	2	5.1	↓ decreasing
8	HUMBOLDT (13)	43	5	4.8	↑ increasing
9	IND.CITY-CARSON CITY (510)	41	7	4.6	↑ increasing
10	LINCOLN (17)	31	4	3.4	↔ stable
11	ESMERALDA (9)	29	3	3.2	↑ increasing
12	MINERAL (21)	23	3	2.6	↔ stable
13	PERSHING (27)	22	1	2.4	↔ stable
14	WHITE PINE (33)	22	3	2.4	↓ decreasing
15	EUREKA (11)	18	0	2.0	↔ stable
16	LANDER (15)	17	1	1.9	↔ stable
17	STOREY (29)	12	0	1.3	↔ stable

States With Similar Fatality Rates

Colorado and Iowa are the nearest fatality-rate neighbours to Nevada at 12.2 per 100k.

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

Colorado

12.2 per 100K

720 fatalities (2023)

Iowa

11.8 per 100K

377 fatalities (2023)

Nebraska

11.5 per 100K

227 fatalities (2023)

Delaware

13.1 per 100K

135 fatalities (2023)

Indiana

13.1 per 100K

898 fatalities (2023)

Kansas

13.2 per 100K

387 fatalities (2023)

Clark County and related Nevada 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 Nevada (#27 of 51; volume #33/51). See our methodology. Retrieved and formatted by PlainRoadSafety · vintage 2026-09-03

Verify with NHTSA FARS → · Verify with Census →