Iowa car accident statistics (2020-2024)

Car accident deaths in Iowa by year

Annual car accident deaths rose from 275 in 2020 to 287 in 2021, fell to 278 in 2022, rose to 305 in 2023 and fell to 285 in 2024. The highest count was 305 in 2023; the lowest was 275 in 2020. The 2024 count was 10 deaths higher than the 2020 count.^{[1][2][3][4][5]}

Iowa's share of the national car accident death total was 0.8% in 2020, 2021 and 2022, followed by 0.9% in 2023 and 0.8% in 2024. Across 2020 through 2024, Iowa accounted for 0.8% of 176,219 national deaths. Within Iowa, the share of all traffic deaths occurring in qualifying crashes ranged from 80.1% in 2024 to 82.7% in 2022.^{[1][2][3][4][5]}

2024 figures come from the FARS Annual Report File and can be revised when NHTSA publishes the final file.

Who died in Iowa car accidents

People in cars, SUVs, pickups or vans accounted for 1,118 deaths, or 78.2%, the largest person category in Iowa's car accident count. People in other vehicles accounted for 163 deaths, or 11.4%. Nonoccupants (FARS person-type grouping) accounted for 149 deaths, or 10.4%. These categories describe people killed in qualifying passenger-vehicle-involved crashes from 2020 through 2024.^{[1][2][3][4][5][7]}

The nonoccupant label follows the FARS person-type grouping rather than a literal test of position relative to a vehicle. For readers searching for a car accident lawyer, these counts are grouped by crash location and person category.^{[1][2][3][4][5][7]}

Collision types and setting

Manner of collision identifies the first harmful event. Angle (side impact) recorded 397 deaths; Head-on, 200; Rear-end, 114; Sideswipe, 38; Other, 7; and Unknown, 1. Not a collision with a motor vehicle in transport recorded 673 deaths. That row includes events such as rollovers or striking a fixed object or parked vehicle. It does not mean another vehicle must be moving: a vehicle stopped in traffic can be in transport.^{[1][2][3][4][5][7]}

Daytime car accident deaths numbered 782 (54.7%); nighttime deaths numbered 648 (45.3%). Urban locations recorded 469 deaths (32.8%), rural locations recorded 959 (67.1%), and unknown land use accounted for 2 (0.1%). These figures cover 2020 through 2024.^{[1][2][3][4][5][7]}

Counties with the most car accident deaths

Polk County recorded the most car accident deaths, 177, followed by Scott County with 82 and Linn County with 66. Black Hawk County recorded 45; Pottawattamie County, 41; Woodbury County, 36; Dallas County, 31; Johnson County, 27; and Muscatine County, 26. Dubuque County and Lee County each recorded 25 deaths. Marshall County recorded 23, Plymouth County recorded 22, and Cerro Gordo County and Sioux County each recorded 21.^{[1][2][3][4][5][6]}

Those are death counts for 2020 through 2024, assigned by crash county. Rates measure average annual deaths per 100,000 residents. Among the listed counties, Plymouth County had the highest rate at 17.1, and Johnson County had the lowest at 3.5. Polk County's rate was 7.0. These rate rankings apply only to the listed counties.^{[1][2][3][4][5][6]}

Up to 15 counties with the most deaths in the period, largest first. Rates for counties with few deaths change sharply with each death.

How Iowa compares with the national rate

Iowa's car accident death rate was 8.9, compared with the national rate of 10.5. Both figures represent average annual deaths per 100,000 residents for 2020 through 2024. Iowa's rate was lower than the national rate. The corresponding death counts were 1,430 for Iowa and 176,219 for the United States.^{[1][2][3][4][5][6]}

The calculation divides deaths during the period by the sum of annual Census Bureau population estimates for those years, then multiplies by 100,000. It does not adjust for miles driven or visitors. Iowa's July 1, 2024 population estimate of 3,230,454 is shown separately; it is not the denominator used to calculate the period's car accident death rate.^{[1][2][3][4][5][6]}

About these figures

NHTSA's Fatality Analysis Reporting System is a census of fatal motor vehicle traffic crashes. Inclusion requires a motor vehicle traveling on a trafficway customarily open to the public and a vehicle occupant or nonoccupant dying within 30 days. FARS excludes nonfatal crashes and injuries. State and county counts follow crash location, not where those killed lived.^[8][6][7]

The 2020 through 2023 figures use FARS Final Files. The 2024 Annual Report File can change when replaced by the Final File. Rates use deaths divided by summed annual Census Bureau population estimates, Vintage 2025, multiplied by 100,000. The separate July 1, 2024 estimate is not that denominator. Rates do not adjust for miles driven or visitors.^[8][6][7]

See also

• FARS Annual Report File and Final File
• Car accident statistics for Polk County, Iowa (2020-2024)