What is Washington's road fatality rate?

Washington has a road fatality rate of 10.4 per 100,000 population and 1.4 per 100 million vehicle miles traveled (VMT). This is 14.8% below the national average.

How many road fatalities occurred in Washington in 2023?

In 2023, Washington recorded 810 road fatalities. The state's total fatalities across the 2015-2023 period are 5,528.

What is the leading cause of road fatalities in Washington?

The leading cause is nighttime, accounting for 47.2% of all fatalities (2,607 deaths over the reporting period).

Are road fatalities increasing or decreasing in Washington?

Road fatalities in Washington are increasing with a +47.0% change over the reporting period (2015-2023). Fatalities went from 551 in 2015 to 810 in 2023.

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

Washington's fatality rate of 10.4 per 100K is 14.8% lower than the national average of 12.2 per 100K. According to NHTSA FARS, Washington ranks #35 of 51 states by fatality rate (highest first), the same sort as /rankings/deadliest-states. See /methodology#corpus-placement.

What percentage of Washington's road fatalities involve alcohol?

Alcohol-impaired driving accounts for 26.7% of road fatalities in Washington, representing 1,478 deaths over the reporting period. Speeding accounts for 30.7% and pedestrian incidents for 18.1%.

Are rural or urban roads more dangerous in Washington?

In Washington, urban roads account for more fatalities: 2,344 rural vs. 3,133 urban deaths. Rural roads account for 42.4% of all fatalities.

STATE FATALITY DATA - 2023

Washington: lower-rate fatality band

Washington is in the lower per-capita third: 810 traffic deaths in 2023 at 10.4 per 100,000 (#35 of 51).

Compiled by PlainRoadSafety · September 3, 2026

810
Deaths (2023): 10.4
Per 100k residents: Below average; 1.4
Per 100M VMT: +67
2022–2023 deaths

Lower per-capita fatality band

Washington ranks #35 of 51 by deaths per 100,000 residents (10.4/100k) - bottom-third rate among 51 states and D.C.

Washington in the lower-rate third

According to NHTSA FARS, Washington sits in the lower-rate third at 10.4 per 100k (#35 of 51), 15% below the U.S. 12.2 benchmark, with nighttime the largest contributing factor.

#35 of 51
lower-rate third: 10.4/100k
2023 fatality rate: #23/51
by total FARS fatalities: Nighttime
leading contributing factor

FARS state milepost

Milepost WA · Washington #35 of 51 · 10.4/100k

Washington · 10.4/100k · 810 in 2023 · #35 of 51

PED 10.4/100k
RUR #35 of 51
VS-US 1.4/100M
PHOTO 5,528 book
YOY near California
FARS 30.7% spd
NHTSA 18.1% ped
MILE -14.8% 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

41/100

Washington

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-

10.4/100k

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

Exposure-Adjusted Rate F

1.35/100M VMT

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

Pedestrian Safety F

18.1%

Share of fatalities that were pedestrians (NHTSA FARS)

Impaired-Driving Control D

26.7%

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

Safety Trend F

+47.0%

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

Pedestrian-led roadside pattern in Washington

After vehicle-to-vehicle crashes, Washington's 2023 FARS first-harm leader is Pedestrian at 18.2%, 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 39.6% · 320
Pedestrian 18.2% · 147
Rollover/Overturn 8.0% · 65
Tree (Standing Only) 7.4% · 60
Utility Pole/Light Support 3.1% · 25

Light condition

Daylight 43.5% · 352
Dark - Lighted 24.5% · 198
Dark - Not Lighted 24.5% · 198
Dusk 3.1% · 25
Dark - Unknown Lighting 2.5% · 20

Roadway class

State Highway 27.1% · 219
Municipal 25.1% · 203
County 24.4% · 197
Interstate 12.1% · 98
U.S. Highway 9.0% · 73

Weather at crash

Clear 69.0% · 558
Cloudy 15.8% · 128
Rain 11.1% · 90
Fog, Smog, Smoke 2.0% · 16
Snow 0.5% · 4

Maryland

10
Washington

10
California

10
Ohio

11
Virginia

11
Vermont

11

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

Nighttime

47
Unrestrained

32
Weather-Related

31
Speeding

31
Alcohol-Impaired

27
Distracted

21

What this shows Nighttime is the top contributing cause in Washington, involved in 47.2% of all road deaths. Note: categories overlap as a single crash may involve multiple factors.

Washington vs all states by fatality rate

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

10 Lower than most a lower per-capita rate than 65% 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

Washington 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.

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

Fatality Trend Analysis (2015–2023)

In the lower-rate third, Washington moved from 551 deaths in 2015 to 810 in 2023 (+47.0%).

Year	Fatalities	Rate	Alcohol	Speeding	Pedestrian
2015	551	7.1	177	157	84
2016	536	6.9	171	153	83
2017	563	7.2	180	170	104
2018	539	6.9	173	182	99
2019	538	6.9	194	152	102
2020	574	7.3	186	172	105
2021	674	8.6	101	207	143
2022	743	9.5	146	253	131
2023	810	10.4	150	252	150

King leads Washington's county fatality book

King County alone accounts for 20.1% of Washington's 4,977 FARS fatalities over 2015-2023 (998 deaths); on a per-100k basis, Lincoln sits higher at 59.6/100k.

#	County	Total Fatalities	Latest Year	Avg Annual	Trend
1	KING (33)	998	167	110.9	↑ increasing
2	PIERCE (53)	627	117	69.7	↑ increasing
3	SNOHOMISH (61)	357	43	39.7	↑ increasing
4	SPOKANE (63)	341	60	37.9	↑ increasing
5	YAKIMA (77)	335	47	37.2	↑ increasing
6	CLARK (11)	259	37	28.8	↑ increasing
7	THURSTON (67)	180	35	20.0	↑ increasing
8	GRANT (25)	165	24	18.3	↑ increasing
9	BENTON (5)	149	30	16.6	↑ increasing
10	KITSAP (35)	141	22	15.7	↑ increasing
11	WHATCOM (73)	127	20	14.1	↑ increasing
12	SKAGIT (57)	119	17	13.2	↑ increasing
13	COWLITZ (15)	95	16	10.6	↑ increasing
14	LEWIS (41)	92	17	10.2	↑ increasing
15	MASON (45)	91	20	10.1	↑ increasing
16	KITTITAS (37)	89	16	9.9	↔ stable
17	GRAYS HARBOR (27)	77	9	8.6	↑ increasing
18	OKANOGAN (47)	69	6	7.7	↔ stable
19	FRANKLIN (21)	65	13	7.2	↑ increasing
20	ADAMS (1)	58	10	6.4	↑ increasing

Showing top 20 of 39 counties by total fatalities.

States With Similar Fatality Rates

Among lower-rate peers, California (10.4/100k) and Ohio (10.5/100k) bracket Washington's 10.4 per 100k.

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

California

10.4 per 100K

4,061 fatalities (2023)

Ohio

10.5 per 100K

1,242 fatalities (2023)

Virginia

10.5 per 100K

913 fatalities (2023)

Vermont

10.7 per 100K

69 fatalities (2023)

Maryland

10.0 per 100K

621 fatalities (2023)

Illinois

9.9 per 100K

1,241 fatalities (2023)

King County and related Washington 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 Washington (#35 of 51; volume #23/51). See our methodology. Retrieved and formatted by PlainRoadSafety · vintage 2026-09-03

Verify with NHTSA FARS → · Verify with Census →