Which states had the highest and lowest auto fatality rates in 2024?
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Executive summary
NHTSA’s early 2024 estimates show U.S. traffic fatalities fell to 39,345 and the national fatality rate dropped to about 1.20 deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled—both cited as the lowest since the immediate pre‑pandemic years—while NHTSA’s state‑level projections show varied changes across states, with decreases in most but increases in several (national totals and rate: [1]; 39,345 figure: p1_s6). Available sources do not provide a simple, single list in this corpus that names which individual state had the absolute highest or lowest fatality rate for the full year 2024; NHTSA’s public materials here give regional and state‑level estimates and percent changes but not a ranked state table in the supplied excerpts (not found in current reporting).
1. Why there’s confusion: national headlines vs. state detail
Federal summaries released by NHTSA and DOT emphasize national trends—39,345 estimated traffic deaths and a 2024 fatality rate of roughly 1.20 per 100 million VMT—while their technical “Crash•Stats” publications break estimates into regions and states using statistical projections (national totals and rate: [1]; methodology and regional/state estimates: p1_s3). The press releases and news reports in the provided set highlight declines and regional shifts but the specific state‑by‑state ranking (highest and lowest fatality rate in 2024) does not appear as a single, quoted list in these excerpts (not found in current reporting).
2. What the federal numbers say about 2024 as a whole
NHTSA’s early estimates show a 3.8% drop in overall traffic deaths for 2024 to 39,345 and a decline in the national fatality rate to about 1.20 deaths per 100 million VMT—described as the lowest rate since 2019 but still above the pre‑COVID seven‑year average of 1.13 per 100M VMT (nationwide totals and rate: [2]; context vs. pre‑COVID average: p1_s1). DOT and NHTSA also reported that fatalities decreased in most states in 2024, with 35 states and Puerto Rico estimated to have declines and increases projected in 14 states plus D.C. compared to 2023 [1].
3. State‑level signals in the available reporting
NHTSA’s “Crash•Stats” papers include region and state estimation methods and charts that compare 2024 estimated rates to 2023 reported rates, and separate releases cover the first quarter, first half, and first nine months with state breakdowns for those periods (methodology and figures: [3]; first‑quarter state changes: [4]; first‑half and nine‑month overviews: [5], p1_s8). Reuters and industry outlets note regional patterns—New England showed increases, the Northeast overall had mixed results—but the supplied excerpts do not list a definitive state with the single highest or lowest 2024 fatality rate (regional increases noted: [6]; regional patterns: p1_s6).
4. Competing data sources and why rankings can differ
Other organizations, like the National Safety Council, publish their own annual estimates that can differ from NHTSA’s early projections; NSC for 2024 released higher national counts and highlighted large percentage increases in several states (examples of state percent changes cited by NSC: Maine +38%, California +34%, etc.: [1]3). These differences expose an implicit agenda: advocacy groups emphasize higher totals to press for policy action, while federal early estimates aim to provide timely but preliminary statistical projections. Both can be useful but can produce different state rankings depending on methodology and whether the data are final (NSC higher totals and state increases: [7]; federal early estimates and methodology: p1_s3).
5. What you should look for to get the definitive state ranking
To identify which state truly had the highest and lowest fatality rates for all of 2024, consult NHTSA’s final state‑by‑state tables once final FARS (Fatality Analysis Reporting System) data are published or check the finalized Crash•Stats PDF that includes a ranked state table—those final files are what the NHTSA methodology references and will resolve preliminary projection differences (state estimation method and use of FARS: p1_s3). The current press releases and news articles in this packet provide national totals, regional signals, and percentage changes but not a single, final ranked state list for 2024 (not found in current reporting).
6. Bottom line and how to interpret partial answers
Available federal reporting shows clear improvement in 2024 national figures—fewer deaths and a lower fatality rate per 100M VMT [2] [1]—and points to state‑by‑state variation with most states down and some up [1]. But the provided sources here do not include a definitive, cited declaration of which single state had the highest or lowest overall fatality rate in calendar year 2024; for a concrete ranked answer, use NHTSA’s final 2024 FARS release or the finalized state tables in the Crash•Stats publication referenced by NHTSA (methodology and state estimates: p1_s3).