What is Tennessee's road fatality rate?

Tennessee has a road fatality rate of 18.6 per 100,000 population and 1.6 per 100 million vehicle miles traveled (VMT). This is 52.3% above the national average.

How many road fatalities occurred in Tennessee in 2023?

In 2023, Tennessee recorded 1,323 road fatalities. The state's total fatalities across the 2015-2023 period are 10,379.

What is the leading cause of road fatalities in Tennessee?

The leading cause is nighttime, accounting for 45.4% of all fatalities (4,709 deaths over the reporting period).

Are road fatalities increasing or decreasing in Tennessee?

Road fatalities in Tennessee are increasing with a +37.5% change over the reporting period (2015-2023). Fatalities went from 962 in 2015 to 1,323 in 2023.

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

Tennessee's fatality rate of 18.6 per 100K is 52.3% higher than the national average of 12.2 per 100K. According to NHTSA FARS, Tennessee ranks #7 of 51 states by fatality rate (highest first), the same sort as /rankings/deadliest-states. See /methodology#corpus-placement.

What percentage of Tennessee's road fatalities involve alcohol?

Alcohol-impaired driving accounts for 24.3% of road fatalities in Tennessee, representing 2,527 deaths over the reporting period. Speeding accounts for 16.2% and pedestrian incidents for 13.0%.

Are rural or urban roads more dangerous in Tennessee?

In Tennessee, urban roads account for more fatalities: 4,500 rural vs. 5,870 urban deaths. Rural roads account for 43.4% of all fatalities.

STATE FATALITY DATA - 2023

Tennessee: higher-rate fatality band

Tennessee is in the higher per-capita third: 1,323 traffic deaths in 2023 at 18.6 per 100,000 (#7 of 51).

Compiled by PlainRoadSafety · September 3, 2026

1,323
Deaths (2023): 18.6
Per 100k residents: Well above average; 1.6
Per 100M VMT: +10
2022–2023 deaths

Higher per-capita fatality band

Tennessee ranks #7 of 51 by deaths per 100,000 residents (18.6/100k) - top-third rate among 51 states and D.C.

Tennessee in the higher-rate third

According to NHTSA FARS, Tennessee sits in the higher-rate third at 18.6 per 100k (#7 of 51), 52% above the U.S. 12.2 benchmark, with nighttime the largest contributing factor.

#7 of 51
higher-rate third: 18.6/100k
2023 fatality rate: #8/51
by total FARS fatalities: Nighttime
leading contributing factor

1,323 2023 Fatalities, By Roadway Setting

62%

Urban 818 (61.8%)
Rural 504 (38.1%)
Trafficway Not in State Inventory 1 (0.1%)

FARS state milepost

Milepost TN · Tennessee #7 of 51 · 18.6/100k

Tennessee · 18.6/100k · 1,323 in 2023 · #7 of 51

VMT 18.6/100k
BOOK #7 of 51
ALC 1.6/100M
SPD 10,379 book
PED near Montana
RUR 16.2% spd
VS-US 13.0% ped
PHOTO +52.3% 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

24/100

Tennessee

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

18.6/100k

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

Exposure-Adjusted Rate F

1.59/100M VMT

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

Pedestrian Safety C

13.0%

Share of fatalities that were pedestrians (NHTSA FARS)

Impaired-Driving Control C+

24.3%

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

Safety Trend F

+37.5%

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

Pedestrian-led roadside pattern in Tennessee

After vehicle-to-vehicle crashes, Tennessee's 2023 FARS first-harm leader is Pedestrian at 12.3%, 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 44.7% · 592
Pedestrian 12.3% · 163
Tree (Standing Only) 8.1% · 107
Embankment 5.2% · 69
Rollover/Overturn 5.0% · 66

Light condition

Daylight 46.0% · 609
Dark - Not Lighted 24.7% · 327
Dark - Lighted 24.2% · 320
Dusk 1.9% · 25
Dawn 1.4% · 18

Roadway class

U.S. Highway 27.8% · 368
State Highway 24.4% · 323
Municipal 18.3% · 242
County 14.6% · 193
Interstate 14.5% · 192

Weather at crash

Clear 79.4% · 1,050
Rain 8.5% · 113
Cloudy 8.1% · 107
Fog, Smog, Smoke 1.5% · 20
Sleet or Hail 0.3% · 4

Kentucky

18
Montana

18
Tennessee

19
Alabama

19
Arkansas

19
South Carolina

20

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

Nighttime

45
Unrestrained

40
Alcohol-Impaired

24
Weather-Related

22
Speeding

16
Pedestrian

13

What this shows Nighttime is the top contributing cause in Tennessee, involved in 45.4% of all road deaths. Note: categories overlap as a single crash may involve multiple factors.

Tennessee vs all states by fatality rate

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

19 Higher risk than most a lower per-capita rate than 12% 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

Tennessee 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.

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

Fatality Trend Analysis (2015–2023)

In the higher-rate third, Tennessee moved from 962 deaths in 2015 to 1,323 in 2023 (+37.5%).

Year	Fatalities	Rate	Alcohol	Speeding	Pedestrian
2015	962	13.5	291	169	104
2016	1,037	14.6	251	175	97
2017	1,024	14.4	245	150	121
2018	1,040	14.6	207	158	136
2019	1,136	15.9	283	179	148
2020	1,217	17.1	297	186	172
2021	1,327	18.6	287	225	177
2022	1,313	18.4	335	209	209
2023	1,323	18.6	331	229	186

Shelby leads Tennessee's county fatality book

Shelby County alone accounts for 16.7% of Tennessee's 9,417 FARS fatalities over 2015-2023 (1,571 deaths); on a per-100k basis, Haywood sits higher at 63.5/100k.

#	County	Total Fatalities	Latest Year	Avg Annual	Trend
1	SHELBY (157)	1,571	259	174.6	↑ increasing
2	DAVIDSON (37)	849	138	94.3	↑ increasing
3	KNOX (93)	523	86	58.1	↑ increasing
4	HAMILTON (65)	359	51	39.9	↑ increasing
5	RUTHERFORD (149)	297	37	33.0	↑ increasing
6	MONTGOMERY (125)	236	36	26.2	↑ increasing
7	SULLIVAN (163)	170	13	18.9	↑ increasing
8	WILSON (189)	169	25	18.8	↑ increasing
9	BLOUNT (9)	151	17	16.8	↑ increasing
10	MADISON (113)	145	23	16.1	↑ increasing
11	SEVIER (155)	140	23	15.6	↑ increasing
12	WILLIAMSON (187)	140	16	15.6	↑ increasing
13	GREENE (59)	138	17	15.3	↑ increasing
14	SUMNER (165)	138	22	15.3	↑ increasing
15	ROBERTSON (147)	135	20	15.0	↑ increasing
16	MAURY (119)	132	17	14.7	↑ increasing
17	PUTNAM (141)	120	16	13.3	↑ increasing
18	MCMINN (107)	118	18	13.1	↑ increasing
19	CUMBERLAND (35)	114	16	12.7	↑ increasing
20	MONROE (123)	107	12	11.9	↑ increasing

Showing top 20 of 95 counties by total fatalities.

States With Similar Fatality Rates

Among higher-rate peers, Montana (18.4/100k) and Alabama (19.1/100k) sit closest to Tennessee's 18.6 per 100k.

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

Montana

18.4 per 100K

208 fatalities (2023)

Alabama

19.1 per 100K

974 fatalities (2023)

Kentucky

18.0 per 100K

814 fatalities (2023)

Arkansas

19.4 per 100K

596 fatalities (2023)

South Carolina

19.5 per 100K

1,047 fatalities (2023)

Louisiana

17.7 per 100K

811 fatalities (2023)

Shelby County and related Tennessee 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 Tennessee (#7 of 51; volume #8/51). See our methodology. Retrieved and formatted by PlainRoadSafety · vintage 2026-09-03

Verify with NHTSA FARS → · Verify with Census →