What is New Hampshire's road fatality rate?

New Hampshire has a road fatality rate of 9.3 per 100,000 population and 1.0 per 100 million vehicle miles traveled (VMT). This is 23.8% below the national average.

How many road fatalities occurred in New Hampshire in 2023?

In 2023, New Hampshire recorded 130 road fatalities. The state's total fatalities across the 2015-2023 period are 1,098.

What is the leading cause of road fatalities in New Hampshire?

The leading cause is unrestrained, accounting for 56.7% of all fatalities (623 deaths over the reporting period).

Are road fatalities increasing or decreasing in New Hampshire?

Road fatalities in New Hampshire are increasing with a +14.0% change over the reporting period (2015-2023). Fatalities went from 114 in 2015 to 130 in 2023.

How does New Hampshire compare to the national average for road safety?

New Hampshire's fatality rate of 9.3 per 100K is 23.8% lower than the national average of 12.2 per 100K. According to NHTSA FARS, New Hampshire ranks #40 of 51 states by fatality rate (highest first), the same sort as /rankings/deadliest-states. See /methodology#corpus-placement.

What percentage of New Hampshire's road fatalities involve alcohol?

Alcohol-impaired driving accounts for 26.2% of road fatalities in New Hampshire, representing 288 deaths over the reporting period. Speeding accounts for 36.8% and pedestrian incidents for 10.0%.

Are rural or urban roads more dangerous in New Hampshire?

In New Hampshire, rural roads account for more fatalities: 588 rural vs. 506 urban deaths. Rural roads account for 53.6% of all fatalities.

STATE FATALITY DATA - 2023

New Hampshire: lower-rate fatality band

New Hampshire is in the lower per-capita third: 130 traffic deaths in 2023 at 9.3 per 100,000 (#40 of 51).

Compiled by PlainRoadSafety · September 3, 2026

130
Deaths (2023): 9.3
Per 100k residents: Below average; 1.0
Per 100M VMT: -16
2022–2023 deaths

Smaller fatality book

New Hampshire ranks #45 of 51 by total FARS fatalities (1,098 across 2015-2023) - bottom-third book size.

New Hampshire in the lower-rate third

According to NHTSA FARS, New Hampshire sits in the lower-rate third at 9.3 per 100k (#40 of 51), 24% below the U.S. 12.2 benchmark, with unrestrained the largest contributing factor.

#40 of 51
lower-rate third: 9.3/100k
2023 fatality rate: #45/51
by total FARS fatalities: Unrestrained
leading contributing factor

FARS state milepost

Milepost NH · New Hampshire #40 of 51 · 9.3/100k

New Hampshire · 9.3/100k · 130 in 2023 · #40 of 51

VS-US 9.3/100k
PHOTO #40 of 51
YOY 1.0/100M
FARS 1,098 book
NHTSA near Pennsylvania
MILE 36.8% spd
BAND 10.0% ped
POST -23.8% 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 →

C+

Road Safety Index

63/100

New Hampshire

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 B+

9.3/100k

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

Exposure-Adjusted Rate A-

0.96/100M VMT

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

Pedestrian Safety B+

10.0%

Share of fatalities that were pedestrians (NHTSA FARS)

Impaired-Driving Control D

26.2%

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

Safety Trend F

+14.0%

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

Rollover-heavy crash pattern in New Hampshire

Rollover/overturn leads New Hampshire's non-vehicle first-harm events in 2023 FARS (11.8%), with State Highway 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 44.9% · 57
Rollover/Overturn 11.8% · 15
Tree (Standing Only) 11.0% · 14
Pedestrian 10.2% · 13
Embankment 3.9% · 5

Light condition

Daylight 55.9% · 71
Dark - Not Lighted 20.5% · 26
Dark - Lighted 12.6% · 16
Dusk 5.5% · 7
Dawn 2.4% · 3

Roadway class

State Highway 50.4% · 64
Unknown/Not Reported 17.3% · 22
U.S. Highway 12.6% · 16
Interstate 11.8% · 15
Not Signed 7.1% · 9

Weather at crash

Clear 75.6% · 96
Cloudy 12.6% · 16
Rain 7.1% · 9
Fog, Smog, Smoke 1.6% · 2
Blowing Snow 0.8% · 1

New Hampshire

9
Pennsylvania

9
Maine

10
Illinois

10
Wisconsin

10
Maryland

10

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

Unrestrained

57
Nighttime

39
Speeding

37
Alcohol-Impaired

26
Weather-Related

25
Pedestrian

10

What this shows Unrestrained is the top contributing cause in New Hampshire, involved in 56.7% of all road deaths. Note: categories overlap as a single crash may involve multiple factors.

New Hampshire vs all states by fatality rate

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

9 Among the safer states a lower per-capita rate than 76% 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

New Hampshire 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.

New Hampshire 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 New Hampshire's own, highlighted) for its exact figures.

Fatality Trend Analysis (2015–2023)

In the lower-rate third, New Hampshire moved from 114 deaths in 2015 to 130 in 2023 (+14.0%).

Year	Fatalities	Rate	Alcohol	Speeding	Pedestrian
2015	114	8.1	34	56	8
2016	136	9.7	42	77	17
2017	102	7.3	27	58	11
2018	147	10.5	47	71	9
2019	101	7.2	39	32	10
2020	104	7.4	40	19	16
2021	118	8.4	15	27	8
2022	146	10.4	24	42	16
2023	130	9.3	20	22	15

Hillsborough leads New Hampshire's county fatality book

Hillsborough County alone accounts for 20.9% of New Hampshire's 984 FARS fatalities over 2015-2023 (206 deaths); on a per-100k basis, Carroll sits higher at 17.2/100k.

#	County	Total Fatalities	Latest Year	Avg Annual	Trend
1	HILLSBOROUGH (11)	206	23	22.9	↑ increasing
2	ROCKINGHAM (15)	181	29	20.1	↑ increasing
3	MERRIMACK (13)	137	20	15.2	↑ increasing
4	STRAFFORD (17)	100	9	11.1	↑ increasing
5	GRAFTON (9)	82	14	9.1	↑ increasing
6	CARROLL (3)	69	9	7.7	↑ increasing
7	BELKNAP (1)	68	9	7.6	↑ increasing
8	CHESHIRE (5)	61	13	6.8	↑ increasing
9	COOS (7)	44	3	4.9	↓ decreasing
10	SULLIVAN (19)	36	1	4.0	↑ increasing

States With Similar Fatality Rates

Among lower-rate peers, Pennsylvania (9.3/100k) and Maine (9.7/100k) bracket New Hampshire's 9.3 per 100k.

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

Pennsylvania

9.3 per 100K

1,211 fatalities (2023)

Maine

9.7 per 100K

135 fatalities (2023)

Illinois

9.9 per 100K

1,241 fatalities (2023)

Wisconsin

9.9 per 100K

583 fatalities (2023)

Maryland

10.0 per 100K

621 fatalities (2023)

Connecticut

8.5 per 100K

308 fatalities (2023)

Hillsborough County and related New Hampshire 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 New Hampshire (#40 of 51; volume #45/51). See our methodology. Retrieved and formatted by PlainRoadSafety · vintage 2026-09-03

Verify with NHTSA FARS → · Verify with Census →