Truck Accident Deaths by State
No state recorded more large-truck crash deaths in 2024 than Texas: 723. That is nearly double second-ranked California's 401. The lead is no surprise. Texas carries some of the country's heaviest freight traffic. It also has the second-largest population in the nation. Adjust for population, and the picture changes. New Mexico recorded 88 large-truck crash deaths in 2024. That total ranks 24th, right in the middle of the list. But New Mexico has just over 2.1 million residents. Those 88 deaths work out to 4.13 for every 100,000 people. That is the highest rate in the country. It runs 79% above Texas's 2.31.
The two rankings answer different questions. Texas's total reflects a lot of truck traffic and a lot of people. That is the raw scale of a large state's freight network. New Mexico's rate reflects something else. A modest death count, spread across a small population, produces the steepest rate in the nation. A state doesn't need Texas-scale traffic to post a Texas-scale rate. It only needs a small enough population. Then the same handful of deaths carries more weight for each resident.
This ranking counts every death in a crash that involved a large truck. A large truck means a single-unit truck or tractor-trailer weighing over 10,000 pounds. The count is not limited to the people riding in the truck. That is broader than "people killed inside the truck." It matches how the federal government itself usually reports these deaths. A person walking, a cyclist, or the people in another vehicle all count toward a state's total here.
The table below carries the raw total and the rate for all 50 states and the District of Columbia. It is built from our national crash record, which spans 2000 through 2024. This ranking's numbers use the most recent complete year, 2024. Which number matters depends on your question. How many people does a state's truck traffic kill? How dangerous is that traffic to any one resident? Both answers sit one column apart in the same table.
The 5 states with the highest large-truck crash death rates
The 5 states with the highest large-truck crash death rates, per 100,000 residents, 2024
| Rank | State | Large-truck crash deaths, 2024 | Per 100,000 residents |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Worst | Texas | 723 | 2.31 |
| 2 | California | 401 | 1.02 |
| 3 | Florida | 358 | 1.53 |
| 4 | North Carolina | 214 | 1.94 |
| 5 | Georgia | 203 | 1.82 |
| 6 | Ohio | 174 | 1.46 |
| 7 | Tennessee | 172 | 2.38 |
| 8 | Pennsylvania | 169 | 1.29 |
| 9 | Arizona | 153 | 2.02 |
| 10 | Illinois | 150 | 1.18 |
| 11 | Indiana | 146 | 2.11 |
| 12 | Missouri | 145 | 2.32 |
| 13 | South Carolina | 141 | 2.57 |
| 14 | Alabama | 139 | 2.70 |
| 15 | Virginia | 123 | 1.40 |
| 15 | New York | 123 | 0.62 |
| 17 | Oklahoma | 116 | 2.83 |
| 18 | Michigan | 112 | 1.10 |
| 19 | Colorado | 105 | 1.76 |
| 20 | Arkansas | 103 | 3.34 |
| 20 | Mississippi | 103 | 3.50 |
| 22 | Louisiana | 96 | 2.09 |
| 23 | Wisconsin | 90 | 1.51 |
| 24 | Kentucky | 88 | 1.92 |
| 24 | New Mexico | 88 | 4.13 |
| 26 | Oregon | 86 | 2.01 |
| 27 | Minnesota | 82 | 1.42 |
| 28 | Washington | 76 | 0.95 |
| 29 | New Jersey | 69 | 0.73 |
| 30 | Kansas | 67 | 2.26 |
| 31 | Maryland | 65 | 1.04 |
| 32 | Nebraska | 63 | 3.14 |
| 33 | Iowa | 58 | 1.79 |
| 34 | Utah | 53 | 1.51 |
| 35 | Nevada | 51 | 1.56 |
| 36 | Idaho | 46 | 2.30 |
| 37 | West Virginia | 39 | 2.20 |
| 38 | Connecticut | 33 | 0.90 |
| 39 | South Dakota | 32 | 3.46 |
| 40 | Montana | 31 | 2.73 |
| 40 | Massachusetts | 31 | 0.43 |
| 42 | Maine | 29 | 2.06 |
| 43 | North Dakota | 24 | 3.01 |
| 44 | Wyoming | 23 | 3.91 |
| 45 | New Hampshire | 14 | 0.99 |
| 46 | Delaware | 12 | 1.14 |
| 47 | Alaska | 11 | 1.49 |
| 48 | Rhode Island | 5 | 0.45 |
| 49 | Vermont | 4 | 0.62 |
| 50 | Hawaii | 2 | 0.14 |
| 51 | District of Columbia | 1 | 0.14 |
Scroll to see all rows on small screens.
Cite this data: "Truck Accident Deaths by State," injured.org, 2026. https://injured.org/data/truck-accident-deaths-by-state/
Methodology
We pulled this from federal fatal-crash records, 2000-2024. Read the full methodology →
Updated July 2026
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.