What is North Dakota's road fatality rate?

North Dakota has a road fatality rate of 13.5 per 100,000 population and 1.1 per 100 million vehicle miles traveled (VMT). This is 10.6% above the national average.

How many road fatalities occurred in North Dakota in 2023?

In 2023, North Dakota recorded 106 road fatalities. The state's total fatalities across the 2015-2023 period are 970.

What is the leading cause of road fatalities in North Dakota?

The leading cause is unrestrained, accounting for 51.0% of all fatalities (495 deaths over the reporting period).

Are road fatalities increasing or decreasing in North Dakota?

Road fatalities in North Dakota are decreasing with a -19.1% change over the reporting period (2015-2023). Fatalities went from 131 in 2015 to 106 in 2023.

How does North Dakota compare to the national average for road safety?

North Dakota's fatality rate of 13.5 per 100K is 10.6% higher than the national average of 12.2 per 100K. According to NHTSA FARS, North Dakota ranks #22 of 51 states by fatality rate (highest first), the same sort as /rankings/deadliest-states. See /methodology#corpus-placement.

What percentage of North Dakota's road fatalities involve alcohol?

Alcohol-impaired driving accounts for 37.5% of road fatalities in North Dakota, representing 364 deaths over the reporting period. Speeding accounts for 25.5% and pedestrian incidents for 6.6%.

Are rural or urban roads more dangerous in North Dakota?

In North Dakota, rural roads account for more fatalities: 831 rural vs. 136 urban deaths. Rural roads account for 85.7% of all fatalities.

STATE FATALITY DATA - 2023

North Dakota: smaller FARS fatality book

North Dakota holds a smaller FARS book (970 across 2015-2023, #46/51 by volume) with 106 deaths in 2023.

Compiled by PlainRoadSafety · September 3, 2026

106
Deaths (2023): 13.5
Per 100k residents: Above average; 1.1
Per 100M VMT: +8
2022–2023 deaths

Higher alcohol-impaired share

North Dakota ranks #2 of 51 by alcohol-impaired share (37.5%) - top-third alcohol involvement.

North Dakota in the smaller-book third

According to NHTSA FARS, North Dakota carries a bottom-third fatality book (970 across 2015-2023, volume rank #46/51) at 13.5/100k.

#22 of 51
among US states by rate: 13.5/100k
2023 fatality rate: #46/51
by total FARS fatalities: Unrestrained
leading contributing factor

106 2023 Fatalities, By Roadway Setting

85%

Rural 90 (84.9%)
Urban 16 (15.1%)

FARS milepost strip

Milepost ND · North Dakota #22 of 51 · 13.5/100k

North Dakota · 13.5/100k · 106 in 2023 · #22 of 51

RATE 13.5/100k
RANK #22 of 51
VMT 1.1/100M
BOOK 970 book
ALC near Kansas
SPD 25.5% spd
PED 6.6% ped
RUR +10.6% 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

57/100

North Dakota

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 D

13.5/100k

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

Exposure-Adjusted Rate B

1.07/100M VMT

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

Pedestrian Safety A+

6.6%

Share of fatalities that were pedestrians (NHTSA FARS)

Impaired-Driving Control F

37.5%

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

Safety Trend A

-19.1%

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

Rollover-heavy crash pattern in North Dakota

Rollover/overturn leads North Dakota's non-vehicle first-harm events in 2023 FARS (20.8%), 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 48.1% · 51
Rollover/Overturn 20.8% · 22
Pedestrian 7.5% · 8
Embankment 6.6% · 7
Railway Vehicle 3.8% · 4

Light condition

Daylight 43.4% · 46
Dark - Not Lighted 23.6% · 25
Dark - Lighted 6.6% · 7
Dark - Unknown Lighting 5.7% · 6
Dusk 2.8% · 3

Roadway class

State Highway 33.0% · 35
County 25.5% · 27
U.S. Highway 16.0% · 17
Interstate 9.4% · 10
Municipal 6.6% · 7

Weather at crash

Clear 67.0% · 71
Cloudy 9.4% · 10
Blowing Snow 4.7% · 5
Rain 4.7% · 5
Snow 2.8% · 3

Delaware

13
Indiana

13
Kansas

13
North Dakota

14
Oregon

14
Idaho

14

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

Unrestrained

51
Alcohol-Impaired

38
Nighttime

37
Speeding

26
Weather-Related

25
Distracted

7

What this shows Unrestrained is the top contributing cause in North Dakota, involved in 51.0% of all road deaths. Note: categories overlap as a single crash may involve multiple factors.

North Dakota vs all states by fatality rate

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

14 Around the middle a lower per-capita rate than 41% 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

North Dakota 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.

North Dakota 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 North Dakota's own, highlighted) for its exact figures.

Fatality Trend Analysis (2015–2023)

On a smaller fatality book (#46/51), North Dakota went from 131 in 2015 to 106 in 2023.

Year	Fatalities	Rate	Alcohol	Speeding	Pedestrian
2015	131	16.7	57	28	7
2016	113	14.4	56	22	7
2017	116	14.8	52	28	5
2018	105	13.4	33	41	6
2019	100	12.8	42	25	5
2020	100	12.8	40	24	8
2021	101	12.9	29	29	10
2022	98	12.5	27	26	6
2023	106	13.5	28	24	10

Per-capita county spikes in North Dakota: Mckenzie and Rolette

Fatalities are spread across 53 North Dakota counties (no single county exceeds 12% of the book). Per-capita leaders are Mckenzie (35.1/100k) and Rolette (34.1/100k), while volume still ranks Cass first.

#	County	Total Fatalities	Latest Year	Avg Annual	Trend
1	CASS (17)	75	11	8.3	↑ increasing
2	MCKENZIE (53)	56	5	6.2	↓ decreasing
3	GRAND FORKS (35)	54	8	6.0	↑ increasing
4	WARD (101)	52	10	5.8	↑ increasing
5	WILLIAMS (105)	52	8	5.8	↑ increasing
6	MORTON (59)	44	8	4.9	↑ increasing
7	BURLEIGH (15)	42	3	4.7	↑ increasing
8	ROLETTE (79)	42	4	4.7	↑ increasing
9	MOUNTRAIL (61)	41	3	4.6	↔ stable
10	STARK (89)	30	3	3.3	↓ decreasing
11	BENSON (5)	28	8	3.1	↔ stable
12	RICHLAND (77)	28	3	3.1	↑ increasing
13	STUTSMAN (93)	22	2	2.4	↔ stable
14	MCLEAN (55)	18	0	2.0	↓ decreasing
15	WALSH (99)	18	2	2.0	↔ stable
16	MCHENRY (49)	17	4	1.9	↔ stable
17	BARNES (3)	16	3	1.8	↔ stable
18	BOTTINEAU (9)	14	0	1.6	↔ stable
19	DUNN (25)	13	0	1.4	↔ stable
20	SIOUX (85)	13	2	1.4	↔ stable

Showing top 20 of 53 counties by total fatalities.

States With Similar Fatality Rates

Kansas and Delaware are the nearest fatality-rate neighbours to North Dakota at 13.5 per 100k.

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

Kansas

13.2 per 100K

387 fatalities (2023)

Delaware

13.1 per 100K

135 fatalities (2023)

Indiana

13.1 per 100K

898 fatalities (2023)

Oregon

13.9 per 100K

587 fatalities (2023)

Idaho

14.0 per 100K

275 fatalities (2023)

Texas

14.1 per 100K

4,291 fatalities (2023)

Mckenzie-rate peers and North Dakota 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 North Dakota (#22 of 51; volume #46/51). See our methodology. Retrieved and formatted by PlainRoadSafety · vintage 2026-09-03

Verify with NHTSA FARS → · Verify with Census →