To see where pedestrians are most at risk, researchers at TruckInfo.net analyzed data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s FARS and 2023 U.S. Census Bureau ACS 1-year estimates and found the following trends.
The current pedestrian safety problem is not a short-term blip. NHTSA’s latest annual file shows 7,080 pedestrian deaths in 2024, up 72.3% from 4,109 in 2009.
Among large cities, walk-to-work share and pedestrian fatality rates are negatively correlated. In TruckInfo.net’s matched sample of 50 large cities, places where more residents walk to work generally post lower pedestrian fatality rates.
Even when looking at total pedestrian fatalities instead of per-capita rates, several of the most dangerous roadways are outside the country’s very largest counties. Three of the top 10 are in counties with fewer than 1 million residents.
Among large cities with populations above 350,000, Memphis ranks first with 69.5 pedestrian fatalities per 100,000 residents over the 2015-2024 window.
Louisiana, Florida, Arizona, and South Carolina round out the top five states based on pedestrian fatalities per 100,000 residents.
Fatality counts were sourced from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System. This refresh used the 2015-2024 annual files, with the 2024 file representing the latest annual release available from NHTSA as of April 2026. Population and walk-to-work data were sourced from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2023 ACS 1-year estimates. Large cities were defined as cities with populations over 350,000.
This story was produced by TruckInfo.net and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.