What is Oklahoma's road fatality rate?

Oklahoma has a road fatality rate of 17.7 per 100,000 population and 1.6 per 100 million vehicle miles traveled (VMT). This is 45.0% above the national average.

How many road fatalities occurred in Oklahoma in 2023?

In 2023, Oklahoma recorded 718 road fatalities. The state's total fatalities across the 2015-2023 period are 6,127.

What is the leading cause of road fatalities in Oklahoma?

The leading cause is nighttime, accounting for 43.8% of all fatalities (2,686 deaths over the reporting period).

Are road fatalities increasing or decreasing in Oklahoma?

Road fatalities in Oklahoma are increasing with a +11.3% change over the reporting period (2015-2023). Fatalities went from 645 in 2015 to 718 in 2023.

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

Oklahoma's fatality rate of 17.7 per 100K is 45.0% higher than the national average of 12.2 per 100K. According to NHTSA FARS, Oklahoma ranks #11 of 51 states by fatality rate (highest first), the same sort as /rankings/deadliest-states. See /methodology#corpus-placement.

What percentage of Oklahoma's road fatalities involve alcohol?

Alcohol-impaired driving accounts for 22.5% of road fatalities in Oklahoma, representing 1,376 deaths over the reporting period. Speeding accounts for 21.2% and pedestrian incidents for 12.4%.

Are rural or urban roads more dangerous in Oklahoma?

In Oklahoma, rural roads account for more fatalities: 3,727 rural vs. 2,390 urban deaths. Rural roads account for 60.8% of all fatalities.

STATE FATALITY DATA - 2023

Oklahoma: higher-rate fatality band

Oklahoma is in the higher per-capita third: 718 traffic deaths in 2023 at 17.7 per 100,000 (#11 of 51).

Compiled by PlainRoadSafety · September 3, 2026

718
Deaths (2023): 17.7
Per 100k residents: Above average; 1.6
Per 100M VMT: +8
2022–2023 deaths

Lower alcohol-impaired share

Oklahoma ranks #42 of 51 by alcohol-impaired share (22.5%) - bottom-third alcohol involvement.

Oklahoma in the higher-rate third

According to NHTSA FARS, Oklahoma sits in the higher-rate third at 17.7 per 100k (#11 of 51), 45% above the U.S. 12.2 benchmark, with nighttime the largest contributing factor.

#11 of 51
higher-rate third: 17.7/100k
2023 fatality rate: #21/51
by total FARS fatalities: Nighttime
leading contributing factor

FARS state milepost

Milepost OK · Oklahoma #11 of 51 · 17.7/100k

Oklahoma · 17.7/100k · 718 in 2023 · #11 of 51

YOY 17.7/100k
FARS #11 of 51
NHTSA 1.6/100M
MILE 6,127 book
BAND near Louisiana
POST 21.2% spd
RATE 12.4% ped
RANK +45.0% 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

30/100

Oklahoma

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

17.7/100k

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

Exposure-Adjusted Rate F

1.57/100M VMT

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

Pedestrian Safety C+

12.4%

Share of fatalities that were pedestrians (NHTSA FARS)

Impaired-Driving Control B+

22.5%

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

Safety Trend F

+11.3%

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

Pedestrian-led roadside pattern in Oklahoma

After vehicle-to-vehicle crashes, Oklahoma's 2023 FARS first-harm leader is Pedestrian at 11.7%, 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 46.7% · 332
Pedestrian 11.7% · 83
Rollover/Overturn 9.1% · 65
Tree (Standing Only) 5.5% · 39
Curb 3.0% · 21

Light condition

Daylight 50.6% · 360
Dark - Not Lighted 33.2% · 236
Dark - Lighted 11.3% · 80
Dusk 2.3% · 16
Dawn 1.7% · 12

Roadway class

U.S. Highway 24.2% · 172
State Highway 22.8% · 162
Not Signed 22.6% · 161
Interstate 15.8% · 112
County 13.4% · 95

Weather at crash

Clear 71.9% · 511
Cloudy 19.1% · 136
Rain 5.9% · 42
Fog, Smog, Smoke 1.1% · 8
Blowing Sand, Soil, Dirt 0.1% · 1

Arizona

18
Oklahoma

18
Louisiana

18
Kentucky

18
Montana

18
Tennessee

19

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

Nighttime

44
Unrestrained

42
Weather-Related

33
Alcohol-Impaired

23
Speeding

21
Pedestrian

12

What this shows Nighttime is the top contributing cause in Oklahoma, involved in 43.8% of all road deaths. Note: categories overlap as a single crash may involve multiple factors.

Oklahoma vs all states by fatality rate

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

18 Higher risk than most a lower per-capita rate than 18% 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

Oklahoma 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.

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

Fatality Trend Analysis (2015–2023)

In the higher-rate third, Oklahoma moved from 645 deaths in 2015 to 718 in 2023 (+11.3%).

Year	Fatalities	Rate	Alcohol	Speeding	Pedestrian
2015	645	15.9	187	156	70
2016	687	16.9	186	164	88
2017	657	16.2	171	123	79
2018	655	16.2	159	128	60
2019	640	15.8	168	114	85
2020	653	16.1	197	133	86
2021	762	18.8	126	164	106
2022	710	17.5	62	145	96
2023	718	17.7	120	173	87

Oklahoma leads Oklahoma's county fatality book

Oklahoma County alone accounts for 13.3% of Oklahoma's 5,482 FARS fatalities over 2015-2023 (727 deaths); on a per-100k basis, Love sits higher at 106.8/100k.

#	County	Total Fatalities	Latest Year	Avg Annual	Trend
1	OKLAHOMA (109)	727	111	80.8	↑ increasing
2	TULSA (143)	637	105	70.8	↑ increasing
3	CLEVELAND (27)	190	24	21.1	↑ increasing
4	CANADIAN (17)	150	17	16.7	↔ stable
5	POTTAWATOMIE (125)	123	18	13.7	↑ increasing
6	CREEK (37)	118	16	13.1	↑ increasing
7	ROGERS (131)	112	11	12.4	↑ increasing
8	MCCURTAIN (89)	109	16	12.1	↑ increasing
9	GRADY (51)	107	11	11.9	↔ stable
10	LE FLORE (79)	107	13	11.9	↑ increasing
11	PAYNE (119)	107	26	11.9	↑ increasing
12	MCCLAIN (87)	104	9	11.6	↔ stable
13	MAYES (97)	103	7	11.4	↓ decreasing
14	BRYAN (13)	99	9	11.0	↔ stable
15	COMANCHE (31)	96	12	10.7	↔ stable
16	OTTAWA (115)	94	13	10.4	↑ increasing
17	MUSKOGEE (101)	93	15	10.3	↑ increasing
18	LINCOLN (81)	91	14	10.1	↑ increasing
19	WAGONER (145)	87	8	9.7	↑ increasing
20	PITTSBURG (121)	82	4	9.1	↑ increasing

Showing top 20 of 77 counties by total fatalities.

States With Similar Fatality Rates

Among higher-rate peers, Louisiana (17.7/100k) and Arizona (17.5/100k) sit closest to Oklahoma's 17.7 per 100k.

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

Louisiana

17.7 per 100K

811 fatalities (2023)

Arizona

17.5 per 100K

1,304 fatalities (2023)

Kentucky

18.0 per 100K

814 fatalities (2023)

Montana

18.4 per 100K

208 fatalities (2023)

Tennessee

18.6 per 100K

1,323 fatalities (2023)

Alabama

19.1 per 100K

974 fatalities (2023)

Oklahoma County and related Oklahoma 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 Oklahoma (#11 of 51; volume #21/51). See our methodology. Retrieved and formatted by PlainRoadSafety · vintage 2026-09-03

Verify with NHTSA FARS → · Verify with Census →