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Fatal car crashes in Wisconsin, county by county

From 2020 through 2024, 3,017 people died in 2,749 crashes on Wisconsin roads. That is 10.1 deaths a year for every 100,000 residents, below the US rate of 12.1, and the 36th highest rate of the 50 states and DC.

Milwaukee County had the most deaths (478). The road stretch with the most fatal crashes was SR-145 (W Fond Du Lac Ave) in Milwaukee County (27). In 2024, 595 people were killed, 3% fewer than in 2020.

Source: NHTSA Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), 2020-2024 · checked October 2, 2026

3,017

people killed in crashes, 2020-2024

10.1

deaths a year per 100,000 residents, 36th highest of 51 (US 12.1)

288

pedestrians killed, 10% of deaths (US 18%)

31%

of fatal crashes were speeding-related (US 28%)

Death rate by county

Deaths a year per 100,000 residents, 2020-2024. Rural counties often rank highest: fewer people, faster roads and longer waits for an ambulance.

Adams County: 28.1 per 100,000 a year, 30 deathsBarron County: 17.1 per 100,000 a year, 40 deathsBayfield County: 16.6 per 100,000 a year, 14 deathsBrown County: 5 per 100,000 a year, 69 deathsBuffalo County: 25.3 per 100,000 a year, 17 deathsBurnett County: 24.4 per 100,000 a year, 21 deathsCalumet County: 9 per 100,000 a year, 24 deathsChippewa County: 9.8 per 100,000 a year, 33 deathsClark County: 24.1 per 100,000 a year, 42 deathsColumbia County: 19.3 per 100,000 a year, 56 deathsCrawford County: 20 per 100,000 a year, 16 deathsDane County: 6.3 per 100,000 a year, 186 deathsDodge County: 14.2 per 100,000 a year, 63 deathsDoor County: 9.8 per 100,000 a year, 15 deathsDouglas County: 17.2 per 100,000 a year, 38 deathsDunn County: 11.3 per 100,000 a year, 26 deathsEau Claire County: 7.2 per 100,000 a year, 39 deathsFond du Lac County: 11.9 per 100,000 a year, 62 deathsGrant County: 11.8 per 100,000 a year, 31 deathsGreen County: 12.9 per 100,000 a year, 24 deathsIowa County: 17.5 per 100,000 a year, 21 deathsJackson County: 20.9 per 100,000 a year, 22 deathsJefferson County: 11.6 per 100,000 a year, 50 deathsJuneau County: 18.1 per 100,000 a year, 24 deathsKenosha County: 9 per 100,000 a year, 76 deathsLa Crosse County: 5.1 per 100,000 a year, 31 deathsLafayette County: 17.3 per 100,000 a year, 15 deathsLanglade County: 14.3 per 100,000 a year, 14 deathsLincoln County: 23.9 per 100,000 a year, 34 deathsManitowoc County: 13.2 per 100,000 a year, 54 deathsMarathon County: 7.9 per 100,000 a year, 55 deathsMarinette County: 14.6 per 100,000 a year, 31 deathsMilwaukee County: 10.3 per 100,000 a year, 478 deathsMonroe County: 16 per 100,000 a year, 37 deathsOconto County: 20.5 per 100,000 a year, 41 deathsOneida County: 15.7 per 100,000 a year, 30 deathsOutagamie County: 5.7 per 100,000 a year, 56 deathsOzaukee County: 4.5 per 100,000 a year, 21 deathsPierce County: 10.1 per 100,000 a year, 22 deathsPolk County: 23.6 per 100,000 a year, 54 deathsPortage County: 9.2 per 100,000 a year, 33 deathsPrice County: 18.5 per 100,000 a year, 13 deathsRacine County: 8.2 per 100,000 a year, 81 deathsRichland County: 19.9 per 100,000 a year, 17 deathsRock County: 12.3 per 100,000 a year, 102 deathsRusk County: 29.6 per 100,000 a year, 21 deathsSt. Croix County: 10.2 per 100,000 a year, 50 deathsSauk County: 16.5 per 100,000 a year, 55 deathsSawyer County: 28.7 per 100,000 a year, 27 deathsShawano County: 16.9 per 100,000 a year, 35 deathsSheboygan County: 7.6 per 100,000 a year, 45 deathsTaylor County: 10.9 per 100,000 a year, 11 deathsTrempealeau County: 11.7 per 100,000 a year, 18 deathsVernon County: 14 per 100,000 a year, 22 deathsVilas County: 9.2 per 100,000 a year, 11 deathsWalworth County: 11.1 per 100,000 a year, 59 deathsWashburn County: 14.1 per 100,000 a year, 12 deathsWashington County: 7.4 per 100,000 a year, 51 deathsWaukesha County: 4.8 per 100,000 a year, 101 deathsWaupaca County: 11.7 per 100,000 a year, 30 deathsWaushara County: 23.9 per 100,000 a year, 30 deathsWinnebago County: 6.6 per 100,000 a year, 57 deathsWood County: 13.5 per 100,000 a year, 50 deaths
under 1010-1515-2020-3030+ too few crashes

The most dangerous roads in Wisconsin

Fatal crashes by road within each county, 2020-2024. A long interstate shows up once per county it crosses.

#RoadWhereFatal crashesDeaths
1 SR-145 W Fond Du Lac Ave Milwaukee County, WI 27 31
2 SR-190 W Capitol Dr Milwaukee County, WI 18 20
3 SR-100 S 108Th St Milwaukee County, WI 17 19
4 N 35Th St Milwaukee County, WI 15 15
5 I-39 90 Ramp Dane County, WI 13 16
6 US-151 E Washington Ave Dane County, WI 13 14
7 US-12 W Beltline Hwy Dane County, WI 13 13
8 I-41 Milwaukee County, WI 13 13
9 I-94 Waukesha County, WI 13 13
10 I-43 Milwaukee County, WI 12 16
11 I-43 Manitowoc County, WI 12 14
12 I-94 St. Croix County, WI 12 14
13 SR-57 N 20Th St Milwaukee County, WI 12 13
14 SR-175 W Appleton Ave Milwaukee County, WI 12 12
15 US-12 Iron Brigade Mem Hwy Eau Claire County, WI 11 13

Deaths by year

Every Wisconsin county

63 counties with 10 or more fatal crashes in five years, by deaths. 9 more had fewer than 10 and are listed after the table.

CountyDeaths 2020-24Per 100K a yearPedestriansPopulation
Milwaukee County 478 10.3 106 924,740
Dane County 186 6.3 24 588,347
Rock County 102 12.3 7 165,461
Waukesha County 101 4.8 7 417,029
Racine County 81 8.2 12 198,651
Kenosha County 76 9.0 8 168,754
Brown County 69 5.0 11 273,909
Dodge County 63 14.2 1 88,635
Fond du Lac County 62 11.9 3 104,269
Walworth County 59 11.1 5 106,029
Winnebago County 57 6.6 7 173,307
Columbia County 56 19.3 5 58,113
Outagamie County 56 5.7 3 195,390
Marathon County 55 7.9 4 139,091
Sauk County 55 16.5 5 66,486
Manitowoc County 54 13.2 4 81,513
Polk County 54 23.6 1 45,831
Washington County 51 7.4 4 138,727
Jefferson County 50 11.6 8 86,245
St. Croix County 50 10.2 4 97,954
Wood County 50 13.5 3 73,943
Sheboygan County 45 7.6 6 118,331
Clark County 42 24.1 2 34,801
Oconto County 41 20.5 0 40,037
Barron County 40 17.1 4 46,810
Eau Claire County 39 7.2 6 108,830
Douglas County 38 17.2 2 44,276
Monroe County 37 16.0 2 46,370
Shawano County 35 16.9 1 41,299
Lincoln County 34 23.9 1 28,461
Chippewa County 33 9.8 3 67,323
Portage County 33 9.2 1 72,040
Grant County 31 11.8 1 52,330
La Crosse County 31 5.1 1 121,060
Marinette County 31 14.6 0 42,343
Adams County 30 28.1 1 21,352
Oneida County 30 15.7 2 38,175
Waupaca County 30 11.7 1 51,171
Waushara County 30 23.9 1 25,079
Sawyer County 27 28.7 1 18,835
Dunn County 26 11.3 0 46,135
Calumet County 24 9.0 2 53,602
Green County 24 12.9 0 37,183
Juneau County 24 18.1 1 26,590
Jackson County 22 20.9 0 21,027
Pierce County 22 10.1 2 43,380
Vernon County 22 14.0 0 31,351
Burnett County 21 24.4 0 17,187
Iowa County 21 17.5 1 23,963
Ozaukee County 21 4.5 1 93,956
Rusk County 21 29.6 4 14,168
Trempealeau County 18 11.7 0 30,801
Buffalo County 17 25.3 0 13,464
Richland County 17 19.9 2 17,123
Crawford County 16 20.0 0 16,008
Door County 15 9.8 1 30,512
Lafayette County 15 17.3 0 17,306
Bayfield County 14 16.6 1 16,838
Langlade County 14 14.3 0 19,535
Price County 13 18.5 1 14,087
Washburn County 12 14.1 1 16,982
Taylor County 11 10.9 1 20,167
Vilas County 11 9.2 0 23,948

Fewer than 10 fatal crashes, 2020-2024: Ashland County (10 deaths), Florence County (9 deaths), Forest County (6 deaths), Green Lake County (9 deaths), Iron County (8 deaths), Kewaunee County (8 deaths), Marquette County (11 deaths), Menominee County (4 deaths), Pepin County (9 deaths).

Cities

CityDeaths 2020-24Per 100K a yearPedestriansPopulation
Milwaukee 396 14.1 92 563,531

What was involved

FactorWisconsinShareUS
Speeding was a factor
a driver coded by police as speeding, racing or too fast for conditions		 864 31% 28%
A driver had been drinking
police reported alcohol involvement for at least one driver		 877 32% 26%
A large truck was involved
a truck over 10,000 lbs		 371 13% 13%
Hit-and-run
a driver left the scene		 162 6% 7%
Pedestrians killed
share of all deaths		 288 10% 18%
Motorcyclists killed
share of all deaths		 531 18% 15%
Bicyclists killed
share of all deaths		 51 2% 3%
Teens (15-19) killed
share of all deaths		 206 7% 7%

After a crash in Wisconsin

  1. Get the crash report

    Police departments and sheriffs also release their own reports: for example the Washington County Sheriff's Office offers motor vehicle accident reports through Crashdocs.org for a flat $2.00 fee, using the report number, last name and date from the handout given at the crash.

    How to get a Wisconsin crash report

  2. Know your deadline

    Wisconsin gives you three years to file a personal injury lawsuit (Wis. Stat. § 893.54(1m)(a)). If a city, county or state vehicle was involved: Written notice of the circumstances of the claim must be served on the governmental body within 120 days after the event (or actual notice plus no prejudice to the body); a claim for damages must then be presented and disallowed before suit.

    Work out your date

  3. Who pays

    Wisconsin is an at-fault state: the driver who caused the crash, through their liability insurance, pays for the injuries and damage.

    Wisconsin car accident laws

  4. If you were partly at fault

    In a crash with one other at-fault driver, you can recover if your negligence was not greater than theirs (50% or less), reduced by your share; above 50% you recover nothing from them. With several at-fault parties, your fault is compared with each one separately.

    The rule and its statute

  5. The other driver’s minimum coverage

    The legal minimum liability coverage in Wisconsin is $25,000 per injured person, $50,000 per crash and $10,000 for property (25/50/10).

    Every state’s minimums

Check your deadline and a rough claim range

A filing date and a rough value range for Wisconsin. Both take under a minute.

Check my deadline Estimate my claim