Motorcycle Deaths by State

No state recorded more motorcyclist deaths in 2024 than Florida. It lost 642 riders and passengers, the highest raw total in the country. Adjust for population, and the picture changes. The most dangerous state for riders is somewhere else entirely. Wyoming recorded 24 motorcyclist deaths in 2024. That total ranks 45th out of 51, near the bottom of the raw list. But Wyoming has just under 588,000 residents. That is the smallest population of any state in this ranking. Those 24 deaths work out to 4.08 for every 100,000 people. That is the highest rate in the nation. It runs 48% above Florida's 2.75.

That is the widest gap on this site between a state's total rank and its rate rank: 44 places apart. It also shows most clearly what a small population does to a rate. Twenty-four deaths is a modest count next to Florida's 642. Divide it across half a million people instead of 23 million. It becomes the country's steepest rate for rider deaths. Florida's total leads the country for the same reason it leads most national totals. Its population is the fourth-largest in the nation. A similar death rate spread over that many residents produces a large raw number by simple math.

Neither ranking is wrong. Florida's 642 deaths are a genuine, large-scale toll. That is the kind of number a state transportation office has to plan around. Wyoming's rate describes a different kind of risk: the odds facing one rider in that state. It holds no matter how few or many riders share the road. A story about total lives lost points to Florida. A story about where riding carries the highest risk points to Wyoming.

This ranking carries both numbers for all 50 states and the District of Columbia. You never have to check two sources to compare them. The counts include only motorcycle riders and passengers who died in the crash. They leave out other people who died in a crash that involved a motorcycle. That is the narrower, more common meaning of "motorcyclist deaths." Every number traces to our record, which covers 2000 through 2024. This ranking's totals and rates use the most recent complete year, 2024.

Which years the numbers cover: totals and rates use the latest complete year, 2024. Which states are counted: 50 states plus the District of Columbia (51 rows). See our data sources page for the full source list.

More State Crash Rankings

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• Truck accident deaths by state