The Deadliest County in Arizona Has 16,000 Residents
Data Desk · Arizona
112.8
road deaths for every 100,000 residents, every year, in La Paz County
That's about 1 death for every 890 residents each year. La Paz County has about 16,700 people. It recorded 94 road deaths in five years, the worst rate of any county in Arizona once you adjust for population.
Federal fatal-crash records, La Paz County · 2020-2024
Arizona's Deadliest County Isn't Its Biggest City
La Paz County sits in far western Arizona, along the California border. About 16,700 people live there. From 2020 through 2024, the county recorded 94 road deaths. We average that over five years. We adjust it for population too. The result: 112.8 deaths a year for every 100,000 residents. Arizona's statewide rate is 16.5. Maricopa County, home to Phoenix, sits at 13.4. La Paz County's rate runs 6.8 times the state number. It runs 8.4 times Maricopa's.
A small county can swing wildly on a rate like this. A handful of deaths can push the number way up or down in a single year. That's why we use five years of records here, not one. The rate still holds up. La Paz County isn't a fluke year. It's a place where dying on the road happens far more often than almost anywhere else in the state.
Most of the Deaths Happen on Roads Built for Someone Else's Trip
Look at where those 94 deaths happened, and a pattern shows up. 75 of them, 80%, happened on an interstate, a U.S. highway, or a state highway. These are the roads built to move traffic through La Paz County, not around it. Interstate 10 crosses the county on its way between Phoenix and California. U.S. Route 95 runs through it too. Most of the drivers on those roads probably don't live in La Paz County. The county carries the risk of highways built for other people's trips.
Where La Paz County's road deaths happened, 2020-2024
Every Arizona County, Ranked by Its Death Rate
Here is every Arizona county's road death rate, worst to best. Each rate covers 2020 through 2024 and is adjusted for population. La Paz County isn't just first. It isn't close. The next-worst county, Apache, sits at less than a third of La Paz County's rate.
| Rank | State | Deaths, 2020-2024 | Per 100,000 residents per year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Worst | La Paz County | 94 | 112.8 |
| 2 | Apache County | 126 | 38.6 |
| 3 | Gila County | 103 | 38.3 |
| 4 | Coconino County | 268 | 37.1 |
| 5 | Navajo County | 200 | 36.9 |
| 6 | Graham County | 64 | 32.6 |
| 7 | Mohave County | 317 | 28.8 |
| 8 | Yavapai County | 288 | 23.5 |
| 9 | Cochise County | 146 | 23.3 |
| 10 | Greenlee County | 9 | 19.1 |
| 11 | Pima County | 868 | 16.4 |
| 12 | Pinal County | 382 | 16.3 |
| 13 | Santa Cruz County | 39 | 15.9 |
| 14 | Maricopa County | 3,053 | 13.4 |
| 15 | Yuma County | 135 | 12.8 |
Scroll to see all rows on small screens.
Citation
injured.org, “The Deadliest County in Arizona Has 16,000 Residents,” analysis of our national crash record, La Paz County, Arizona, 2020-2024. https://injured.org/data/arizona-deadliest-county-has-16000-residents/
Methodology
We pulled this from federal fatal-crash records, 2020-2024. Read the full methodology →
Updated July 2026
The death rate here means deaths for every 100,000 residents each year. We average that over five years. We count a death where it happened, using the county the crash record lists. Full source detail lives on our data sources page.