GeraSure / US Road Fatality Risk
US Road Fatality Risk by State
Gera US Road Fatality Index (GUSRFI/10) for all 50 states + DC. Highest: Mississippi (9.9/10). US average: 12.695/100k. NHTSA FARS 2021-2023 · Risk-context only.
Which US states have the highest road fatality rate?
Mississippi has the highest Gera US Road Fatality Index (GUSRFI 9.9/10) among all 50 states and DC, with a 3-year average of 24.943 road fatalities per 100,000 population (2021-2023 NHTSA FARS). The US average is 12.695 per 100k. Massachusetts has the lowest rate at 5.673/100k (GUSRFI 0/10).
Top 10 highest GUSRFI states (FARS 2021-2023 / Census PEP 2023 / FHWA VM-2 2023)
| State | GUSRFI | Band | Per 100k pop | Per 100M VMT |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Mississippi | 9.9/10 | Very High | 24.943/100k | 1.793/100M VMT |
| 2. South Carolina | 8.8/10 | Very High | 21.066/100k | 1.831/100M VMT |
| 3. New Mexico | 8.4/10 | Very High | 21.892/100k | 1.644/100M VMT |
| 4. Arkansas | 8.1/10 | Very High | 21.055/100k | 1.641/100M VMT |
| 5. Louisiana | 7.6/10 | High | 19.494/100k | 1.613/100M VMT |
| 6. Montana | 7.6/10 | High | 19.69/100k | 1.611/100M VMT |
| 7. Wyoming | 7.6/10 | High | 22.232/100k | 1.359/100M VMT |
| 8. Tennessee | 7.2/10 | High | 18.747/100k | 1.584/100M VMT |
| 9. Arizona | 7.1/10 | High | 17.309/100k | 1.691/100M VMT |
| 10. Oklahoma | 7.1/10 | High | 18.094/100k | 1.59/100M VMT |
GUSRFI = 0.6 × norm(per_100k) + 0.4 × norm(per_VMT) × 10. 3yr avg 2021-2023. US public domain data.
All 51 states — browse by GUSRFI
Mississippi
24.943/100k · Very High
South Carolina
21.066/100k · Very High
New Mexico
21.892/100k · Very High
Arkansas
21.055/100k · Very High
Louisiana
19.494/100k · High
Montana
19.69/100k · High
Wyoming
22.232/100k · High
Tennessee
18.747/100k · High
Arizona
17.309/100k · High
Oklahoma
18.094/100k · High
Kentucky
17.453/100k · High
Alabama
19.333/100k · High
West Virginia
15.161/100k · High
Florida
15.991/100k · High
Oregon
14.046/100k · Moderate
Georgia
15.932/100k · Moderate
Texas
14.654/100k · Moderate
Delaware
14.168/100k · Moderate
Missouri
16.523/100k · Moderate
South Dakota
15.594/100k · Moderate
North Carolina
15.269/100k · Moderate
Nevada
12.691/100k · Moderate
Kansas
13.84/100k · Moderate
Idaho
13.136/100k · Moderate
Colorado
12.407/100k · Moderate
California
11.285/100k · Moderate
Indiana
13.712/100k · Moderate
North Dakota
13.03/100k · Low
Illinois
10.161/100k · Low
Michigan
11.15/100k · Low
Alaska
9.675/100k · Low
Nebraska
11.708/100k · Low
Ohio
10.96/100k · Low
Virginia
11.105/100k · Low
Washington
9.538/100k · Low
Iowa
11.151/100k · Low
Maine
11.288/100k · Low
Pennsylvania
9.295/100k · Low
Vermont
11.279/100k · Low
Connecticut
9.022/100k · Low
Maryland
9.45/100k · Low
Wisconsin
10.237/100k · Low
New Hampshire
9.335/100k · Low
Utah
9.183/100k · Very Low
District of Columbia
5.795/100k · Very Low
Hawaii
7.012/100k · Very Low
New Jersey
7.139/100k · Very Low
New York
5.846/100k · Very Low
Minnesota
7.769/100k · Very Low
Rhode Island
5.659/100k · Very Low
Massachusetts
5.673/100k · Very Low
County-level road fatality data
Gera also publishes county-level road fatality data for the 350 highest-impact US counties (by annual fatality count, NHTSA FARS 2021-2023). County GUSRFI is based on fatalities per 100k population.
Browse top counties →Get personalised road-risk insurance tools
GeraSure is building state and county-level auto-insurance comparison tools informed by GUSRFI risk signals. Join the waitlist to be first to compare coverage options matched to your state’s fatality risk context.
US road fatality rates by state: frequently asked questions
- Which state has the highest road fatality rate in the US?
- Mississippi has the highest Gera US Road Fatality Index (GUSRFI 9.9/10) with 24.943 road fatalities per 100,000 population (3-year average 2021-2023, NHTSA FARS). This is 2.0× the US average of 12.695/100k.
- How many road fatalities occur in the US each year?
- Based on NHTSA FARS data, the US recorded 43,230 road fatalities in 2021, 42,721 in 2022, and 41,025 in 2023 — a 3-year average of 42,325 per year. The national rate of 12.695 per 100k population includes all crash types (pedestrian, cyclist, occupant) on public roads.
- What is the Gera US Road Fatality Index (GUSRFI)?
- GUSRFI is a 0–10 index Gera computes from three US federal open datasets: NHTSA FARS (annual fatality counts by state), Census Bureau Population Estimates (3-year average population), and FHWA VM-2 (annual vehicle-miles traveled by state). It combines a 3-year fatality rate per 100,000 population (60% weight) and a fatality rate per 100 million VMT (40% weight), min-max normalised across all 51 states + DC. Higher scores indicate historically higher road fatality risk context.
- Which state has the lowest road fatality rate?
- Massachusetts has the lowest GUSRFI (0/10) with 5.673 road fatalities per 100k (2021-2023 NHTSA FARS). Other low-GUSRFI states include New York, Minnesota, Rhode Island.
- What data does the GUSRFI use and where can I verify it?
- GUSRFI uses three US Government public-domain datasets: (1) NHTSA FARS annual national ZIP files at static.nhtsa.gov/nhtsa/downloads/FARS/ (no key required); (2) Census PEP NST-EST2023 at www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/; (3) FHWA VM-2 at fhwa.dot.gov/policyinformation/statistics/2023/xls/vm2.xlsx. All inputs and the full reproducible formula are published at https://gerasure.com/methodology/us-road-fatality-index.
Contains public sector information published by NHTSA / US Census Bureau / FHWA and licensed under the US Government public domain. Source: NHTSA Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) — annual national CSV ZIPs 2021-2023 (FARS 2021-2023 / Census PEP 2023 / FHWA VM-2 2023, published 2024-2025).
Full GUSRFI formula and verification: Gera US Road Fatality Index methodology.