Massachusetts car accident statistics (2020-2024)

Car accident deaths in Massachusetts by year

Car accident deaths rose from 300 in 2020 to 356 in 2021 and 386 in 2022. The count then fell to 296 in 2023 before rising to 326 in 2024. Within this period, 2022 had the highest count and 2023 had the lowest. The 2024 count was 26 deaths higher than the 2020 count.^{[1][2][3][4][5]}

Massachusetts accounted for 0.9% of the national car accident death total for 2020 through 2024. Its annual share was 0.9% in 2020, 1.0% in 2021, 1.1% in 2022, 0.8% in 2023 and 1.0% in 2024. The national total for the period was 176,219 deaths. The state's highest annual share occurred in 2022, and its lowest occurred in 2023.^{[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 Massachusetts car accidents

People in cars, SUVs, pickups or vans accounted for 1,114 deaths, or 66.9% of car accident deaths in Massachusetts from 2020 through 2024. This was the largest person category. People in other vehicles accounted for 175 deaths, or 10.5%, making it the smallest category. Nonoccupants (FARS person-type grouping) accounted for 375 deaths, or 22.5%.^{[1][2][3][4][5][7]}

These labels classify the people killed in the selected passenger-vehicle-involved crashes. Nonoccupants (FARS person-type grouping) is a person-type classification, rather than a literal test of position relative to a vehicle. It can include occupants of parked motor vehicles.^{[1][2][3][4][5][7]}

Collision types and setting

By manner of collision, deaths were 213 for Angle (side impact), 216 for Head-on, 120 for Rear-end, 70 for Sideswipe, 7 for Other and 1 for Unknown. Not a collision with a motor vehicle in transport accounted for 1,037 deaths. That row describes a first harmful event other than a collision between motor vehicles in transport, such as striking a fixed object or a rollover. Vehicles stopped in traffic can be in transport.^{[1][2][3][4][5][7]}

Daytime accounted for 791 deaths (47.5%); nighttime accounted for 870 (52.3%). Urban deaths numbered 1,554 (93.4%), and rural deaths numbered 105 (6.3%). Unknown time accounted for 3 deaths; unknown land use accounted for 5.^{[1][2][3][4][5][7]}

Counties with the most car accident deaths

Middlesex County recorded the most car accident deaths in the county table, with 243 during 2020 through 2024. Worcester County followed with 238, then Hampden County with 204, Norfolk County with 184 and Bristol County with 183. Plymouth County recorded 166 deaths, Essex County 152 and Suffolk County 110. These are counts assigned to the county where each crash happened.^{[1][2][3][4][5][6]}

Death counts and population-based rates describe different measures. Middlesex County's average annual rate was 3.0 deaths per 100,000 residents, while Worcester County's was 5.5. Hampden County had the highest rate among the listed counties at 8.8. Norfolk County's rate was 5.0, and Bristol County's was 6.3. Rates for counties with few deaths can change sharply with each death.^{[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 Massachusetts compares with the national rate

The Massachusetts car accident death rate was 4.7, compared with the national rate of 10.5. Both figures measure average annual deaths per 100,000 residents for 2020 through 2024. The Massachusetts rate was lower than the national rate. The corresponding death counts were 1,664 in Massachusetts and 176,219 across the United States.^{[1][2][3][4][5][6]}

Each rate uses deaths during the period divided by the sum of annual Census Bureau population estimates, multiplied by 100,000. This calculation does not adjust for miles driven or visitors. The separately reported 2024 population estimate of 7,138,560 is not the rate's denominator. For readers searching for a car accident lawyer, the same grouping distinction applies: these deaths are assigned by crash location, not by residence.^{[1][2][3][4][5][6]}

About these figures

NHTSA's FARS is a census of fatal motor vehicle traffic crashes. Inclusion requires a motor vehicle traveling on a trafficway customarily open to the public and an occupant or nonoccupant death within 30 days. Nonfatal crashes and injuries are excluded. State and county death counts follow crash location, not where the people killed lived.^[8][6][7]

The 2020 through 2023 figures use FARS Final Files. Figures for 2024 use the Annual Report File and may change with the Final File. Rates divide period deaths by summed annual Census Bureau population estimates from Vintage 2025, then multiply by 100,000. They measure average annual deaths per 100,000 residents without adjusting for mileage or visitors; the separate 2024 population estimate is not the denominator.^[8][6][7]

See also

• FARS Annual Report File and Final File
• Car accident statistics for Middlesex County, Massachusetts (2020-2024)
• Car accident statistics for Worcester County, Massachusetts (2020-2024)
• Car accident statistics for Hampden County, Massachusetts (2020-2024)
• Car accident statistics for Norfolk County, Massachusetts (2020-2024)
• Car accident statistics for Bristol County, Massachusetts (2020-2024)