Preliminary Monthly Estimates

Monthly Preliminary Motor-Vehicle Fatality Estimates – May 2026

May motor-vehicle deaths up 1% from 2025

National Safety Council (NSC) estimates that the number of miles driven in May 2026 decreased 0.7% compared to May 2025, and was down 0.2% from 2024. The number of deaths for May 2026 is estimated to be 3,420. This preliminary estimate is up 1% from 2025, but down 9% from 2024. The slight increase in the number of deaths, combined with a decrease in miles driven, results in an increase of 2.6% in the monthly mileage death rate compared to last May. The mileage death rate per 100 million vehicle miles driven for May 2026 is 1.17, compared to 1.14 in May 2025, 1.28 in May 2024, and 1.36 in May 2023.

Mileage source: Federal Highway Administration

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Through May, motor-vehicle deaths decreased by more than 13% in 10 states:

  • West Virginia (-45%, 48 fewer deaths)
  • Hawaii (-37%, 22 fewer deaths)
  • Illinois (-28%, 129 fewer deaths)
  • Kansas (-23%, 35 fewer deaths)
  • Maryland (-20%, 38 fewer deaths)
  • Oklahoma (-20%, 51 fewer deaths)
  • Idaho (-18%, 15 fewer deaths)
  • Utah (-17%, 17 fewer deaths)
  • New Hampshire (-15%, 6 fewer deaths)
  • Tennessee (-14%, 60 fewer deaths)

Seven states and the District of Columbia experienced increases of more than 10%:

  • District of Columbia (+129%, 9 more deaths)
  • Rhode Island (+56%, 5 more deaths)
  • North Dakota (+42%, 11 more deaths)
  • California (+25%, 242 more deaths)
  • Delaware (+21%, 8 more deaths)
  • Iowa (+18%, 17 more deaths)
  • Mississippi (+13%, 26 more deaths)
  • Kentucky (+11%, 26 more deaths)

The line chart compares the 2026 monthly fatality trends against the 2025 and 2024 trends. Adjust the filter to select which years to compare. In May 2026, 20 states and the District of Columbia reported fewer deaths compared to May 2025 preliminary reports, 4 states reported the same number of deaths, and 25 states reported more deaths in May 2026 than in May 2025. Please use the data table to view detailed state preliminary estimates.

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How to Use Injury Facts® Charts and Tables
NSC preliminary motor-vehicle fatality estimates do not include U.S. territories.

How NSC Calculates Crash Fatality Estimates

NSC collects preliminary motor-vehicle fatality estimates from data reporters in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. State data reporters generally work in state Department of Transportation offices and are often the same individuals responsible for providing data to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS).

Each month, state data reporters provide a first estimate for the previous month’s fatalities and updated estimates for all previously reported months.

NSC maintains a three-year database of all state motor-vehicle fatality estimate reports. Using January as an example, the NSC database includes the January estimate first reported in February, as well as any updated January estimates reported in March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, and December.

Fatality estimates tend to mature over the course of the year. Numbers often increase as fatalities are confirmed. Because of the maturation of the data, NSC calculates year-to-year percent change estimates by comparing monthly motor-vehicle estimates of comparable maturity.

To calculate national fatality estimates, percent change estimates are multiplied by the most recently available final motor-vehicle fatality estimates reported by the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS). Therefore, NSC estimates reflect the NCHS definition of motor-vehicle fatalities as both traffic and non-traffic deaths that occur within a year of the incident. Since NHTSA counts only traffic deaths that occur within 30 days of the incident, NSC motor-vehicle fatality estimates are not comparable to NHTSA figures.

All state level data are displayed as reported by each state. All fatality estimates are preliminary. To ensure proper comparisons, 2025 state fatality estimates are preliminary figures covering the same reporting period as those for 2026. In other words, preliminary 2026 estimates are compared to preliminary 2025 and 2024 estimates, even if updated estimates are available.

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