America's 100 Deadliest Driving Days: 10 States Got Worse While Summer Traffic Deaths Fell 8.1%

Mississippi, South Dakota and Iowa had higher summer fatality rates in 2024 than in 2022, even as the national summer death toll fell 8.1%. MoneyGeek analyzed three consecutive summers of NHTSA crash data and FHWA traffic volume data across all 50 states and Washington, D.C., and found that 10 states worsened while 41 improved. The spread between the safest and most dangerous summer driving states is now 2.8-to-1: Mississippi's rate of 1.88 deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled is nearly triple Massachusetts' rate of 0.67. Summer teen driver fatalities rose 17.2% over two years, the only age group to worsen.

The AAA Foundation has long identified the roughly 100 days between Memorial Day and Labor Day as the deadliest stretch of the American driving calendar, particularly for young drivers. MoneyGeek's analysis covers the full calendar months of June through August to approximate that window.

In the most recent summer, 113 Americans died on average every day. That daily count is down from roughly 123 two summers earlier, consistent with a broader post-2021 recovery. U.S. annual traffic deaths jumped from 36,355 in 2019 to 43,230 in 2021, an 18.9% surge. The decline that began in mid-2022 has returned national fatalities roughly to pre-pandemic levels, but not below them.

The national improvement is real. Ten states didn't share in it.

The states with the highest summer fatality rates share common traits: large rural highway networks, high speed limits on undivided roads and long distances between trauma centers. Six of the seven most dangerous states are in the South or Mountain West.

*Rankings cover the 50 states only. Washington, D.C., is excluded as a small-sample jurisdiction (fewer than 25 fatalities in at least one year of the study) but appears in the full data table with its Danger Rank.

Mississippi ranked as the most dangerous state at 1.88 deaths per 100 million VMT, with its rate rising 11.9% over the study period. Massachusetts had the safest summer roads at 0.67, about 36% of Mississippi's rate. Those two states diverge on road design, speed limits and how consistently those limits are enforced.

Most states didn't move in a straight line. Of the 51 jurisdictions in this study, 27 changed direction between the first and second year-over-year comparisons. Texas added 91 summer deaths one year, then cut 114 the next, ending with a net improvement of 5.6%. Georgia's swing was sharper: its rate rose slightly, then fell 25.2% to 0.98, the largest rate drop among states with more than 300 summer deaths. Iowa went the other way, jumping 29.9% and only partially recovering, leaving it 18.7% worse over the study period.

Crashes with a fatally injured driver aged 15 to 20 reached 635 in the most recent summer, up from 542 at the start of the study. That 17.2% increase in teen driver fatalities over two years runs counter to the 8.1% decline in overall summer deaths, and unlike many state-level patterns in this data, it worsened both years. Texas led all states with 68 teen summer fatalities. Arizona's count nearly doubled, from 12 to 23.

AAA Foundation research connects the summer increase in teen fatalities to more nighttime driving, more passengers in the vehicle and highway trips that outpace new drivers' experience. Consecutive annual increases carry pricing implications for young-driver auto insurance in affected states, where adding a teen driver to an existing policy usually costs less than a standalone one.

NHTSA's latest release (April 1, 2026) adds context. Full-year 2024 FARS data shows 39,254 deaths, down 4.3% from the prior year. The preliminary 2025 estimate of 36,640 deaths would, if confirmed, represent a return to pre-pandemic levels and the second-lowest fatality rate in FARS history at 1.10 per 100 million VMT. Thirty-nine states plus Washington, D.C., showed full-year decreases. The announcement came during Distracted Driving Awareness Month. Distracted driving is a leading cause of summer fatalities nationally.

But the summer data is a warning. The factors tied to persistent high fatality rates, including rural highway design, high speed limits on undivided roads and limited EMS access, don't disappear because the national average improves. Each year of elevated rates shifts the baseline insurers use for that state, and each summer adds to the human toll.

Last summer averaged 113 deaths a day. That number can fall.

Traffic fatality trends feed the actuarial models that set state-level auto insurance premiums. When a state's fatality rate rises, insurers pay out more claims and reserve more capital against future liability. Those costs eventually flow to policyholders.

The relationship is well documented. States with sustained rate deterioration over the study period, including Mississippi, Iowa and South Dakota, are more likely to see upward pressure on loss ratios in upcoming rate filings. Insurers use multi-year averages, so a single bad year may not immediately show up in premium renewals, but consecutive years of higher fatality rates will.

Rising fatality rates also affect uninsured-motorist coverage pricing. Higher crash frequency correlates with more UM claims, which pushes those premiums up alongside liability rates, a factor in auto insurance coverage decisions in states where fatality rates rose.

States with consistent improvement, including Indiana, Oklahoma, California and Louisiana, may see more competitive rate filings over the next renewal cycle as their loss ratios trend down.

This table ranks all 50 states and Washington, D.C., by summer fatality rate, with a secondary ranking by trajectory. Danger Rank shows where each state falls in the 2024 data. Trend Rank and Pattern columns show whether a state improved or worsened over the study period.

Danger Rank = rank by 2024 summer fatality rate (1 = most dangerous). Trend Rank = rank by rate change from 2022 to 2024 (1 = biggest increase). Rate = deaths per 100 million VMT.

Bolded states worsened over the study period (10 total). † = fewer than 25 summer fatalities in any year; interpret percentage changes with caution.

MoneyGeek analyzed traffic fatality data from NHTSA's Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) for June, July and August across all 50 states and Washington, D.C., for 2022, 2023 and 2024. MoneyGeek normalized summer fatality counts per 100 million vehicle miles traveled using Federal Highway Administration Traffic Volume Trends monthly state-level VMT data.