What is New Mexico's road fatality rate?

New Mexico has a road fatality rate of 20.7 per 100,000 population and 1.6 per 100 million vehicle miles traveled (VMT). This is 69.5% above the national average.

How many road fatalities occurred in New Mexico in 2023?

In 2023, New Mexico recorded 437 road fatalities. The state's total fatalities across the 2015-2023 period are 3,684.

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

The leading cause is nighttime, accounting for 48.0% of all fatalities (1,768 deaths over the reporting period).

Are road fatalities increasing or decreasing in New Mexico?

Road fatalities in New Mexico are increasing with a +46.6% change over the reporting period (2015-2023). Fatalities went from 298 in 2015 to 437 in 2023.

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

New Mexico's fatality rate of 20.7 per 100K is 69.5% higher than the national average of 12.2 per 100K. According to NHTSA FARS, New Mexico ranks #3 of 51 states by fatality rate (highest first), the same sort as /rankings/deadliest-states. See /methodology#corpus-placement.

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

Alcohol-impaired driving accounts for 23.8% of road fatalities in New Mexico, representing 878 deaths over the reporting period. Speeding accounts for 24.6% and pedestrian incidents for 20.3%.

Are rural or urban roads more dangerous in New Mexico?

In New Mexico, rural roads account for more fatalities: 2,036 rural vs. 1,627 urban deaths. Rural roads account for 55.3% of all fatalities.

STATE FATALITY DATA - 2023

New Mexico: higher-rate fatality band

New Mexico is in the higher per-capita third: 437 traffic deaths in 2023 at 20.7 per 100,000 (#3 of 51).

Compiled by PlainRoadSafety · September 3, 2026

437
Deaths (2023): 20.7
Per 100k residents: Well above average; 1.6
Per 100M VMT: -29
2022–2023 deaths

Higher per-capita fatality band

New Mexico ranks #3 of 51 by deaths per 100,000 residents (20.7/100k) - top-third rate among 51 states and D.C.

New Mexico in the higher-rate third

According to NHTSA FARS, New Mexico sits in the higher-rate third at 20.7 per 100k (#3 of 51), 70% above the U.S. 12.2 benchmark, with nighttime the largest contributing factor.

#3 of 51
higher-rate third: 20.7/100k
2023 fatality rate: #30/51
by total FARS fatalities: Nighttime
leading contributing factor

NHTSA FARS milepost

Milepost NM · New Mexico #3 of 51 · 20.7/100k

New Mexico · 20.7/100k · 437 in 2023 · #3 of 51

ALC 20.7/100k
SPD #3 of 51
PED 1.6/100M
RUR 3,684 book
VS-US near South Carolina
PHOTO 24.6% spd
YOY 20.3% ped
FARS +69.5% 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

18/100

New Mexico

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

20.7/100k

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

Exposure-Adjusted Rate F

1.55/100M VMT

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

Pedestrian Safety F

20.3%

Share of fatalities that were pedestrians (NHTSA FARS)

Impaired-Driving Control B-

23.8%

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

Safety Trend F

+46.6%

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

Pedestrian-led roadside pattern in New Mexico

After vehicle-to-vehicle crashes, New Mexico's 2023 FARS first-harm leader is Pedestrian at 23.4%, 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 40.5% · 178
Pedestrian 23.4% · 103
Rollover/Overturn 17.5% · 77
Guardrail Face 2.5% · 11
Pedalcyclist 2.5% · 11

Light condition

Daylight 40.2% · 177
Dark - Not Lighted 35.9% · 158
Dark - Lighted 16.6% · 73
Dusk 3.2% · 14
Dawn 2.3% · 10

Roadway class

Interstate 25.5% · 112
State Highway 24.1% · 106
U.S. Highway 20.7% · 91
Municipal 19.5% · 86
County 6.1% · 27

Weather at crash

Clear 90.0% · 396
Rain 2.7% · 12
Blowing Snow 1.4% · 6
Cloudy 1.4% · 6
Snow 1.1% · 5

Montana

18
Tennessee

19
Alabama

19
Arkansas

19
South Carolina

20
New Mexico

21

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

Nighttime

48
Unrestrained

39
Distracted

39
Speeding

25
Alcohol-Impaired

24
Pedestrian

20

What this shows Nighttime is the top contributing cause in New Mexico, involved in 48.0% of all road deaths. Note: categories overlap as a single crash may involve multiple factors.

New Mexico vs all states by fatality rate

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

21 Higher risk than most a lower per-capita rate than 4% 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 Mexico 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 Mexico 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 Mexico's own, highlighted) for its exact figures.

Fatality Trend Analysis (2015–2023)

In the higher-rate third, New Mexico moved from 298 deaths in 2015 to 437 in 2023 (+46.6%).

Year	Fatalities	Rate	Alcohol	Speeding	Pedestrian
2015	298	14.1	93	58	54
2016	405	19.2	126	53	74
2017	380	18.0	115	49	75
2018	392	18.5	110	67	83
2019	425	20.1	122	93	83
2020	398	18.8	117	146	79
2021	483	22.8	68	165	102
2022	466	22.0	81	154	93
2023	437	20.7	46	121	105

Bernalillo leads New Mexico's county fatality book

Bernalillo County alone accounts for 25.5% of New Mexico's 3,386 FARS fatalities over 2015-2023 (862 deaths); on a per-100k basis, Torrance sits higher at 102.3/100k.

#	County	Total Fatalities	Latest Year	Avg Annual	Trend
1	BERNALILLO (1)	862	115	95.8	↑ increasing
2	MCKINLEY (31)	238	29	26.4	↑ increasing
3	SAN JUAN (45)	234	20	26.0	↔ stable
4	DONA ANA (13)	196	32	21.8	↑ increasing
5	SANTA FE (49)	169	15	18.8	↑ increasing
6	LEA (25)	150	18	16.7	↑ increasing
7	SANDOVAL (43)	139	13	15.4	↑ increasing
8	CIBOLA (6)	124	15	13.8	↑ increasing
9	EDDY (15)	117	18	13.0	↑ increasing
10	RIO ARRIBA (39)	94	15	10.4	↑ increasing
11	CHAVES (5)	87	8	9.7	↑ increasing
12	LUNA (29)	86	10	9.6	↑ increasing
13	VALENCIA (61)	83	14	9.2	↑ increasing
14	TORRANCE (57)	81	16	9.0	↑ increasing
15	SOCORRO (53)	76	12	8.4	↑ increasing
16	OTERO (35)	73	13	8.1	↑ increasing
17	TAOS (55)	71	4	7.9	↑ increasing
18	GUADALUPE (19)	69	7	7.7	↑ increasing
19	CURRY (9)	54	7	6.0	↑ increasing
20	GRANT (17)	46	7	5.1	↑ increasing

Showing top 20 of 33 counties by total fatalities.

States With Similar Fatality Rates

Among higher-rate peers, South Carolina (19.5/100k) and Arkansas (19.4/100k) sit closest to New Mexico's 20.7 per 100k.

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

South Carolina

19.5 per 100K

1,047 fatalities (2023)

Arkansas

19.4 per 100K

596 fatalities (2023)

Alabama

19.1 per 100K

974 fatalities (2023)

Tennessee

18.6 per 100K

1,323 fatalities (2023)

Montana

18.4 per 100K

208 fatalities (2023)

Kentucky

18.0 per 100K

814 fatalities (2023)

Bernalillo County and related New Mexico 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 Mexico (#3 of 51; volume #30/51). See our methodology. Retrieved and formatted by PlainRoadSafety · vintage 2026-09-03

Verify with NHTSA FARS → · Verify with Census →