What is West Virginia's road fatality rate?

West Virginia has a road fatality rate of 14.7 per 100,000 population and 1.6 per 100 million vehicle miles traveled (VMT). This is 20.4% above the national average.

How many road fatalities occurred in West Virginia in 2023?

In 2023, West Virginia recorded 260 road fatalities. The state's total fatalities across the 2015-2023 period are 2,470.

What is the leading cause of road fatalities in West Virginia?

The leading cause is unrestrained, accounting for 41.6% of all fatalities (1,027 deaths over the reporting period).

Are road fatalities increasing or decreasing in West Virginia?

Road fatalities in West Virginia are decreasing with a -3.0% change over the reporting period (2015-2023). Fatalities went from 268 in 2015 to 260 in 2023.

How does West Virginia compare to the national average for road safety?

West Virginia's fatality rate of 14.7 per 100K is 20.4% higher than the national average of 12.2 per 100K. According to NHTSA FARS, West Virginia ranks #16 of 51 states by fatality rate (highest first), the same sort as /rankings/deadliest-states. See /methodology#corpus-placement.

What percentage of West Virginia's road fatalities involve alcohol?

Alcohol-impaired driving accounts for 23.1% of road fatalities in West Virginia, representing 571 deaths over the reporting period. Speeding accounts for 25.9% and pedestrian incidents for 8.6%.

Are rural or urban roads more dangerous in West Virginia?

In West Virginia, rural roads account for more fatalities: 1,596 rural vs. 857 urban deaths. Rural roads account for 64.6% of all fatalities.

STATE FATALITY DATA - 2023

West Virginia: higher-rate fatality band

West Virginia is in the higher per-capita third: 260 traffic deaths in 2023 at 14.7 per 100,000 (#16 of 51).

Compiled by PlainRoadSafety · September 3, 2026

260
Deaths (2023): 14.7
Per 100k residents: Above average; 1.6
Per 100M VMT: -6
2022–2023 deaths

Lower alcohol-impaired share

West Virginia ranks #39 of 51 by alcohol-impaired share (23.1%) - bottom-third alcohol involvement.

West Virginia in the higher-rate third

According to NHTSA FARS, West Virginia sits in the higher-rate third at 14.7 per 100k (#16 of 51), 20% above the U.S. 12.2 benchmark, with unrestrained the largest contributing factor.

#16 of 51
higher-rate third: 14.7/100k
2023 fatality rate: #37/51
by total FARS fatalities: Unrestrained
leading contributing factor

260 2023 Fatalities, By Roadway Setting

64%

Rural 166 (63.8%)
Urban 94 (36.2%)

Highway fatality milepost

Milepost WV · West Virginia #16 of 51 · 14.7/100k

West Virginia · 14.7/100k · 260 in 2023 · #16 of 51

MILE 14.7/100k
BAND #16 of 51
POST 1.6/100M
RATE 2,470 book
RANK near Georgia
VMT 25.9% spd
BOOK 8.6% ped
ALC +20.4% 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

42/100

West Virginia

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

14.7/100k

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

Exposure-Adjusted Rate F

1.63/100M VMT

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

Pedestrian Safety A

8.6%

Share of fatalities that were pedestrians (NHTSA FARS)

Impaired-Driving Control B+

23.1%

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

Safety Trend D

-3.0%

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

Tree/fixed-object pattern in West Virginia

Tree (Standing Only) is West Virginia's top non-vehicle first-harm event in 2023 FARS (10.0%), pointing to roadside departure rather than intersection conflict. 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 45.0% · 117
Tree (Standing Only) 10.0% · 26
Rollover/Overturn 7.7% · 20
Guardrail Face 6.9% · 18
Pedestrian 5.4% · 14

Light condition

Daylight 58.8% · 153
Dark - Not Lighted 31.2% · 81
Dark - Lighted 8.5% · 22
Dusk 0.8% · 2
Dark - Unknown Lighting 0.4% · 1

Roadway class

State Highway 35.8% · 93
U.S. Highway 30.0% · 78
County 20.0% · 52
Interstate 10.8% · 28
Not Signed 2.7% · 7

Weather at crash

Clear 71.9% · 187
Rain 12.7% · 33
Cloudy 12.3% · 32
Fog, Smog, Smoke 1.2% · 3
Sleet or Hail 1.2% · 3

Texas

14
North Carolina

14
Georgia

15
West Virginia

15
Florida

15
South Dakota

15

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

Unrestrained

42
Nighttime

38
Weather-Related

28
Speeding

26
Alcohol-Impaired

23
Pedestrian

9

What this shows Unrestrained is the top contributing cause in West Virginia, involved in 41.6% of all road deaths. Note: categories overlap as a single crash may involve multiple factors.

West Virginia vs all states by fatality rate

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

15 Around the middle a lower per-capita rate than 29% 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

West Virginia 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.

West Virginia 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 West Virginia's own, highlighted) for its exact figures.

Fatality Trend Analysis (2015–2023)

In the higher-rate third, West Virginia moved from 268 deaths in 2015 to 260 in 2023 (-3.0%).

Year	Fatalities	Rate	Alcohol	Speeding	Pedestrian
2015	268	15.1	76	63	19
2016	269	15.2	76	58	24
2017	304	17.2	79	78	26
2018	294	16.6	60	85	22
2019	260	14.7	61	82	31
2020	267	15.1	88	58	18
2021	282	15.9	38	62	36
2022	266	15.0	52	69	21
2023	260	14.7	41	85	15

Per-capita county spikes in West Virginia: Hampshire and Taylor

Fatalities are spread across 55 West Virginia counties (no single county exceeds 12% of the book). Per-capita leaders are Hampshire (50.7/100k) and Taylor (36.6/100k), while volume still ranks Kanawha first.

#	County	Total Fatalities	Latest Year	Avg Annual	Trend
1	KANAWHA (39)	217	26	24.1	↑ increasing
2	BERKELEY (3)	116	9	12.9	↑ increasing
3	RALEIGH (81)	97	12	10.8	↑ increasing
4	CABELL (11)	95	16	10.6	↑ increasing
5	MERCER (55)	88	9	9.8	↑ increasing
6	MONONGALIA (61)	79	11	8.8	↑ increasing
7	WOOD (107)	78	9	8.7	↑ increasing
8	WAYNE (99)	72	9	8.0	↑ increasing
9	HARRISON (33)	59	7	6.6	↔ stable
10	LOGAN (45)	59	8	6.6	↑ increasing
11	JEFFERSON (37)	57	5	6.3	↑ increasing
12	NICHOLAS (67)	56	7	6.2	↑ increasing
13	PUTNAM (79)	54	3	6.0	↔ stable
14	HAMPSHIRE (27)	52	12	5.8	↑ increasing
15	JACKSON (35)	52	5	5.8	↑ increasing
16	FAYETTE (19)	50	7	5.6	↑ increasing
17	GREENBRIER (25)	50	7	5.6	↑ increasing
18	LEWIS (41)	44	3	4.9	↓ decreasing
19	PRESTON (77)	42	3	4.7	↑ increasing
20	RANDOLPH (83)	41	1	4.6	↓ decreasing

Showing top 20 of 55 counties by total fatalities.

States With Similar Fatality Rates

Among higher-rate peers, Georgia (14.6/100k) and North Carolina (14.4/100k) sit closest to West Virginia's 14.7 per 100k.

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

Georgia

14.6 per 100K

1,615 fatalities (2023)

North Carolina

14.4 per 100K

1,561 fatalities (2023)

Florida

15.0 per 100K

3,396 fatalities (2023)

South Dakota

15.2 per 100K

140 fatalities (2023)

Texas

14.1 per 100K

4,291 fatalities (2023)

Idaho

14.0 per 100K

275 fatalities (2023)

Hampshire-rate peers and West Virginia 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 West Virginia (#16 of 51; volume #37/51). See our methodology. Retrieved and formatted by PlainRoadSafety · vintage 2026-09-03

Verify with NHTSA FARS → · Verify with Census →