What is Ohio's road fatality rate?

Ohio has a road fatality rate of 10.5 per 100,000 population and 1.1 per 100 million vehicle miles traveled (VMT). This is 14.0% below the national average.

How many road fatalities occurred in Ohio in 2023?

In 2023, Ohio recorded 1,242 road fatalities. The state's total fatalities across the 2015-2023 period are 10,742.

What is the leading cause of road fatalities in Ohio?

The leading cause is nighttime, accounting for 44.9% of all fatalities (4,819 deaths over the reporting period).

Are road fatalities increasing or decreasing in Ohio?

Road fatalities in Ohio are increasing with a +11.9% change over the reporting period (2015-2023). Fatalities went from 1,110 in 2015 to 1,242 in 2023.

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

Ohio's fatality rate of 10.5 per 100K is 14.0% lower than the national average of 12.2 per 100K. According to NHTSA FARS, Ohio ranks #32 of 51 states by fatality rate (highest first), the same sort as /rankings/deadliest-states. See /methodology#corpus-placement.

What percentage of Ohio's road fatalities involve alcohol?

Alcohol-impaired driving accounts for 26.6% of road fatalities in Ohio, representing 2,857 deaths over the reporting period. Speeding accounts for 19.5% and pedestrian incidents for 11.9%.

Are rural or urban roads more dangerous in Ohio?

In Ohio, urban roads account for more fatalities: 4,568 rural vs. 6,073 urban deaths. Rural roads account for 42.5% of all fatalities.

STATE FATALITY DATA - 2023

Ohio: larger FARS fatality book

Ohio holds a larger FARS book (10,742 across 2015-2023, #6/51 by volume) with 1,242 deaths in 2023.

Compiled by PlainRoadSafety · September 3, 2026

1,242
Deaths (2023): 10.5
Per 100k residents: Below average; 1.1
Per 100M VMT: -32
2022–2023 deaths

Larger fatality book

Ohio ranks #6 of 51 by total FARS fatalities (10,742 across 2015-2023) - top-third book size.

Ohio in the larger-book third

According to NHTSA FARS, Ohio carries a top-third fatality book (10,742 across 2015-2023, volume rank #6/51) at 10.5/100k.

#32 of 51
among US states by rate: 10.5/100k
2023 fatality rate: #6/51
by total FARS fatalities: Nighttime
leading contributing factor

1,242 2023 Fatalities, By Roadway Setting

61%

Urban 762 (61.4%)
Rural 477 (38.4%)
Trafficway Not in State Inventory 3 (0.2%)

FARS milepost strip

Milepost OH · Ohio #32 of 51 · 10.5/100k

Ohio · 10.5/100k · 1,242 in 2023 · #32 of 51

PHOTO 10.5/100k
YOY #32 of 51
FARS 1.1/100M
NHTSA 10,742 book
MILE near Virginia
BAND 19.5% spd
POST 11.9% ped
RATE -14.0% 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

55/100

Ohio

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-

10.5/100k

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

Exposure-Adjusted Rate B-

1.10/100M VMT

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

Pedestrian Safety B-

11.9%

Share of fatalities that were pedestrians (NHTSA FARS)

Impaired-Driving Control D

26.6%

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

Safety Trend F

+11.9%

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

Pedestrian-led roadside pattern in Ohio

After vehicle-to-vehicle crashes, Ohio's 2023 FARS first-harm leader is Pedestrian at 10.3%, 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 45.7% · 567
Pedestrian 10.3% · 128
Ditch 6.3% · 78
Tree (Standing Only) 4.7% · 58
Utility Pole/Light Support 4.0% · 50

Light condition

Daylight 49.0% · 609
Dark - Not Lighted 23.4% · 291
Dark - Lighted 21.8% · 271
Dusk 3.3% · 41
Dawn 2.1% · 26

Roadway class

State Highway 32.0% · 397
County 24.7% · 307
U.S. Highway 14.4% · 179
Interstate 12.2% · 152
Municipal 10.6% · 132

Weather at crash

Clear 61.0% · 758
Cloudy 25.9% · 322
Rain 9.7% · 120
Fog, Smog, Smoke 1.7% · 21
Snow 1.0% · 12

California

10
Washington

10
Ohio

11
Virginia

11
Vermont

11
Michigan

11

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

Nighttime

45
Unrestrained

44
Weather-Related

38
Alcohol-Impaired

27
Speeding

20
Pedestrian

12

What this shows Nighttime is the top contributing cause in Ohio, involved in 44.9% of all road deaths. Note: categories overlap as a single crash may involve multiple factors.

Ohio vs all states by fatality rate

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

11 Lower than most a lower per-capita rate than 61% 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

Ohio 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.

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

Fatality Trend Analysis (2015–2023)

On a larger fatality book (#6/51), Ohio went from 1,110 in 2015 to 1,242 in 2023.

Year	Fatalities	Rate	Alcohol	Speeding	Pedestrian
2015	1,110	9.4	357	207	116
2016	1,132	9.6	385	256	134
2017	1,179	10.0	368	223	142
2018	1,068	9.1	326	248	127
2019	1,153	9.8	380	257	124
2020	1,230	10.4	421	262	159
2021	1,354	11.5	242	236	168
2022	1,274	10.8	180	206	160
2023	1,242	10.5	198	196	145

Per-capita county spikes in Ohio: Fayette and Harrison

Fatalities are spread across 88 Ohio counties (no single county exceeds 12% of the book). Per-capita leaders are Fayette (38.2/100k) and Harrison (35.3/100k), while volume still ranks Franklin first.

#	County	Total Fatalities	Latest Year	Avg Annual	Trend
1	FRANKLIN (49)	883	129	98.1	↑ increasing
2	CUYAHOGA (35)	756	104	84.0	↑ increasing
3	HAMILTON (61)	509	80	56.6	↑ increasing
4	MONTGOMERY (113)	485	64	53.9	↑ increasing
5	LUCAS (95)	351	52	39.0	↑ increasing
6	SUMMIT (153)	343	46	38.1	↑ increasing
7	STARK (151)	254	20	28.2	↑ increasing
8	BUTLER (17)	231	33	25.7	↑ increasing
9	LORAIN (93)	210	21	23.3	↑ increasing
10	LICKING (89)	181	23	20.1	↑ increasing
11	MAHONING (99)	170	10	18.9	↑ increasing
12	CLERMONT (25)	151	23	16.8	↑ increasing
13	TRUMBULL (155)	146	24	16.2	↑ increasing
14	CLARK (23)	141	19	15.7	↑ increasing
15	WARREN (165)	141	23	15.7	↑ increasing
16	ASHTABULA (7)	132	19	14.7	↑ increasing
17	WAYNE (169)	132	23	14.7	↑ increasing
18	DELAWARE (41)	126	16	14.0	↑ increasing
19	WOOD (173)	125	23	13.9	↑ increasing
20	FAIRFIELD (45)	121	15	13.4	↑ increasing

Showing top 20 of 88 counties by total fatalities.

States With Similar Fatality Rates

Virginia and California are the nearest fatality-rate neighbours to Ohio at 10.5 per 100k.

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

Virginia

10.5 per 100K

913 fatalities (2023)

California

10.4 per 100K

4,061 fatalities (2023)

Washington

10.4 per 100K

810 fatalities (2023)

Vermont

10.7 per 100K

69 fatalities (2023)

Michigan

10.9 per 100K

1,094 fatalities (2023)

Maryland

10.0 per 100K

621 fatalities (2023)

Fayette-rate peers and Ohio 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 Ohio (#32 of 51; volume #6/51). See our methodology. Retrieved and formatted by PlainRoadSafety · vintage 2026-09-03

Verify with NHTSA FARS → · Verify with Census →