What is Utah's road fatality rate?

Utah has a road fatality rate of 8.2 per 100,000 population and 0.8 per 100 million vehicle miles traveled (VMT). This is 32.8% below the national average.

How many road fatalities occurred in Utah in 2023?

In 2023, Utah recorded 280 road fatalities. The state's total fatalities across the 2015-2023 period are 2,547.

What is the leading cause of road fatalities in Utah?

The leading cause is nighttime, accounting for 38.9% of all fatalities (991 deaths over the reporting period).

Are road fatalities increasing or decreasing in Utah?

Road fatalities in Utah are increasing with a +0.7% change over the reporting period (2015-2023). Fatalities went from 278 in 2015 to 280 in 2023.

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

Utah's fatality rate of 8.2 per 100K is 32.8% lower than the national average of 12.2 per 100K. According to NHTSA FARS, Utah ranks #44 of 51 states by fatality rate (highest first), the same sort as /rankings/deadliest-states. See /methodology#corpus-placement.

What percentage of Utah's road fatalities involve alcohol?

Alcohol-impaired driving accounts for 19.6% of road fatalities in Utah, representing 500 deaths over the reporting period. Speeding accounts for 28.3% and pedestrian incidents for 14.0%.

Are rural or urban roads more dangerous in Utah?

In Utah, urban roads account for more fatalities: 1,055 rural vs. 1,489 urban deaths. Rural roads account for 41.4% of all fatalities.

STATE FATALITY DATA - 2023

Utah: lower-rate fatality band

Utah is in the lower per-capita third: 280 traffic deaths in 2023 at 8.2 per 100,000 (#44 of 51).

Compiled by PlainRoadSafety · September 3, 2026

280
Deaths (2023): 8.2
Per 100k residents: Below average; 0.8
Per 100M VMT: -39
2022–2023 deaths

Lower alcohol-impaired share

Utah ranks #47 of 51 by alcohol-impaired share (19.6%) - bottom-third alcohol involvement.

Utah in the lower-rate third

According to NHTSA FARS, Utah sits in the lower-rate third at 8.2 per 100k (#44 of 51), 33% below the U.S. 12.2 benchmark, with nighttime the largest contributing factor.

#44 of 51
lower-rate third: 8.2/100k
2023 fatality rate: #36/51
by total FARS fatalities: Nighttime
leading contributing factor

280 2023 Fatalities, By Roadway Setting

60%

Urban 167 (59.6%)
Rural 113 (40.4%)

NHTSA fatality milepost

Milepost UT · Utah #44 of 51 · 8.2/100k

Utah · 8.2/100k · 280 in 2023 · #44 of 51

RATE 8.2/100k
RANK #44 of 51
VMT 0.8/100M
BOOK 2,547 book
ALC near Alaska
SPD 28.3% spd
PED 14.0% ped
RUR -32.8% 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

72/100

Utah

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 A-

8.2/100k

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

Exposure-Adjusted Rate A+

0.81/100M VMT

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

Pedestrian Safety C-

14.0%

Share of fatalities that were pedestrians (NHTSA FARS)

Impaired-Driving Control A+

19.6%

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

Safety Trend F

+0.7%

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

Pedestrian-led roadside pattern in Utah

After vehicle-to-vehicle crashes, Utah's 2023 FARS first-harm leader is Pedestrian at 12.9%, 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 47.5% · 133
Pedestrian 12.9% · 36
Rollover/Overturn 10.4% · 29
Embankment 3.2% · 9
Pedalcyclist 3.2% · 9

Light condition

Daylight 53.2% · 149
Dark - Not Lighted 23.6% · 66
Dark - Lighted 16.8% · 47
Dusk 3.2% · 9
Dark - Unknown Lighting 1.4% · 4

Roadway class

State Highway 29.6% · 83
U.S. Highway 25.7% · 72
Not Signed 24.3% · 68
Interstate 17.9% · 50
County 1.4% · 4

Weather at crash

Clear 68.9% · 193
Cloudy 22.1% · 62
Snow 5.0% · 14
Rain 2.5% · 7
Sleet or Hail 0.4% · 1

Minnesota

7
Utah

8
Alaska

8
Connecticut

9
New Hampshire

9
Pennsylvania

9

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

Nighttime

39
Unrestrained

36
Speeding

28
Weather-Related

27
Alcohol-Impaired

20
Pedestrian

14

What this shows Nighttime is the top contributing cause in Utah, involved in 38.9% of all road deaths. Note: categories overlap as a single crash may involve multiple factors.

Utah vs all states by fatality rate

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

8 Among the safer states a lower per-capita rate than 82% 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

Utah 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.

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

Fatality Trend Analysis (2015–2023)

In the lower-rate third, Utah moved from 278 deaths in 2015 to 280 in 2023 (+0.7%).

Year	Fatalities	Rate	Alcohol	Speeding	Pedestrian
2015	278	8.1	51	63	47
2016	281	8.2	59	72	35
2017	273	8.0	63	78	42
2018	260	7.6	70	68	36
2019	248	7.3	39	63	38
2020	276	8.1	60	67	33
2021	332	9.7	59	108	43
2022	319	9.3	60	109	45
2023	280	8.2	39	93	38

Salt Lake leads Utah's county fatality book

Salt Lake County alone accounts for 25.9% of Utah's 2,269 FARS fatalities over 2015-2023 (587 deaths); on a per-100k basis, San Juan sits higher at 55.7/100k.

#	County	Total Fatalities	Latest Year	Avg Annual	Trend
1	SALT LAKE (35)	587	68	65.2	↑ increasing
2	UTAH (49)	266	31	29.6	↑ increasing
3	WEBER (57)	169	29	18.8	↑ increasing
4	DAVIS (11)	129	10	14.3	↑ increasing
5	WASHINGTON (53)	120	17	13.3	↑ increasing
6	TOOELE (45)	97	14	10.8	↑ increasing
7	CACHE (5)	83	11	9.2	↓ decreasing
8	BOX ELDER (3)	82	12	9.1	↑ increasing
9	WASATCH (51)	75	10	8.3	↑ increasing
10	SAN JUAN (37)	70	8	7.8	↔ stable
11	IRON (21)	65	11	7.2	↑ increasing
12	MILLARD (27)	58	1	6.4	↑ increasing
13	GRAND (19)	51	6	5.7	↑ increasing
14	EMERY (15)	44	3	4.9	↔ stable
15	JUAB (23)	44	5	4.9	↔ stable
16	SUMMIT (43)	39	5	4.3	↑ increasing
17	UINTAH (47)	39	8	4.3	↑ increasing
18	KANE (25)	36	7	4.0	↔ stable
19	DUCHESNE (13)	34	7	3.8	↔ stable
20	SEVIER (41)	34	2	3.8	↓ decreasing

Showing top 20 of 29 counties by total fatalities.

States With Similar Fatality Rates

Among lower-rate peers, Alaska (8.2/100k) and Connecticut (8.5/100k) bracket Utah's 8.2 per 100k.

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

Alaska

8.2 per 100K

60 fatalities (2023)

Connecticut

8.5 per 100K

308 fatalities (2023)

Minnesota

7.1 per 100K

409 fatalities (2023)

New Hampshire

9.3 per 100K

130 fatalities (2023)

Pennsylvania

9.3 per 100K

1,211 fatalities (2023)

Maine

9.7 per 100K

135 fatalities (2023)

Salt Lake County and related Utah 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 Utah (#44 of 51; volume #36/51). See our methodology. Retrieved and formatted by PlainRoadSafety · vintage 2026-09-03

Verify with NHTSA FARS → · Verify with Census →