Learn about smart growth
Get involved
Signature reports
Dangerous by Design
After decades of preventable deaths, insufficient policy change, and broken promises, our streets are still dangerous by design.
Dangerous by Design 2026 ranks all 50 states and the largest 101 metro areas by pedestrian fatality rates. Every one of them is too dangerous for people walking.
State and metro rankings
Exploring the data
Dangerous by Design 2026 ranks states and the largest 101 metro areas by pedestrian fatality rates. Every one of them is too dangerous for people walking.
This report examines a five-year period (2020-2024) to provide a clearer picture of long-term road safety trends. While a one-year decline in deaths may seem like progress, looking at five-year trends reveals the full scope of the crisis—and how far the U.S. still has to go before our roads can be considered safe. To measure long-term trends, we compare the average rates for 2015-19 to 2020-24.
The most dangerous metros
The deadliest metro areas for people walking, ranked by average annual pedestrian fatality rate per 100,000 residents. Seventeen of this year’s deadliest 20 metro areas also appeared in the 2024 edition of Dangerous by Design.
Rank
▲Metro Area
▲Avg. annual pedestrian fatality rate per 100k people (2020-2024)
▲Pedestrian deaths (2020-2024)
▲Pedestrian deaths (2015-2019)
▲Long term trend in fatality rate
▲1
Memphis, TN-MS-AR
5.5
369
221
2.2
2
Albuquerque, NM
5.32
245
176
1.46
3
Bakersfield-Delano, CA
5.01
229
153
1.56
4
Tucson, AZ
4.43
235
142
1.67
5
Baton Rouge, LA
4.18
183
115
1.49
6
Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway, AR
4.17
158
79
2.03
7
Fresno, CA
4.06
239
137
1.28
8
Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL
3.74
618
557
0.14
T-9
New Orleans-Metairie, LA
3.73
183
145
1.44
T-9
Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA
3.73
871
680
0.75
11
Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, FL
3.7
117
98
0.35
12
Charleston-North Charleston, SC
3.69
154
125
0.46
13
Jackson, MS
3.66
112
74
1.18
14
Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach, FL
3.6
127
126
-0.3
15
North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota, FL
3.44
153
119
0.48
16
Jacksonville, FL
3.41
287
262
-0.08
17
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL
3.4
1062
945
0.3
18
Columbia, SC
3.32
141
119
0.43
T-19
Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA
3.21
389
284
0.76
T-19
Stockton-Lodi, CA
3.21
128
128
-0.24
21
Lakeland-Winter Haven, FL
3.14
124
89
0.55
22
Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ
3.11
782
660
0.34
23
Las Vegas-Henderson-North Las Vegas, NV
3.1
361
287
0.47
24
San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX
3.06
408
328
0.4
25
Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL
3
419
433
-0.45
26
Greenville-Anderson-Greer, SC
2.97
143
124
0.2
27
Cape Coral-Fort Myers, FL
2.96
121
97
0.33
28
Greensboro-High Point, NC
2.95
116
80
0.85
29
Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN
2.9
199
145
0.59
T-30
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA
2.83
1834
1583
0.44
T-30
San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA
2.83
465
402
0.41
32
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA
2.8
875
716
0.36
33
Augusta-Richmond County, GA-SC
2.72
85
56
0.85
34
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX
2.65
986
752
0.47
T-35
New Haven, CT
2.59
74
82
0.68
T-35
Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX
2.59
314
231
0.41
37
Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN
2.48
258
168
0.69
T-38
St. Louis, MO-IL
2.47
347
250
0.69
T-38
Oklahoma City, OK
2.47
181
144
0.39
40
Tulsa, OK
2.39
124
104
0.29
41
Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD
2.37
338
286
0.32
42
El Paso, TX
2.33
102
124
-0.62
43
Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA
2.31
69
35
1.04
44
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX
2.27
907
718
0.31
45
Birmingham, AL
2.21
131
115
0.09
46
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD
2.18
683
593
0.23
47
Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN
2.17
231
170
0.49
48
Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA
2.15
60
44
0.5
49
Chattanooga, TN-GA
2.08
60
44
0.5
50
Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC
2.07
287
241
0.18
T-51
Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO
2.06
310
233
0.45
T-51
Richmond, VA
2.06
138
124
0.11
53
Wichita, KS
1.99
65
39
0.77
54
Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI
1.95
426
411
0.05
55
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA
1.94
191
189
0.04
56
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA
1.92
389
252
0.62
T-57
Scranton--Wilkes-Barre, PA
1.86
53
41
0.38
T-57
Winston-Salem, NC
1.86
64
55
0.21
59
Durham-Chapel Hill, NC
1.83
55
49
0.27
60
McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX
1.82
81
68
0.23
61
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV
1.8
569
426
0.43
62
Knoxville, TN
1.78
83
63
0.3
63
Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, AR
1.77
51
33
0.49
64
Raleigh-Cary, NC
1.76
131
103
0.21
65
San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA
1.73
401
391
0.07
66
Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT
1.67
96
81
0.33
67
Kansas City, MO-KS
1.66
184
150
0.25
68
Urban Honolulu, HI
1.62
81
96
-0.33
T-69
Colorado Springs, CO
1.61
62
48
0.28
T-69
Salt Lake City-Murray, UT
1.61
103
102
-0.09
71
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN
1.6
752
638
0.26
72
Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC
1.59
142
126
0.16
73
Columbus, OH
1.58
172
138
0.25
T-74
Rochester, NY
1.57
83
61
0.43
T-74
Dayton-Kettering-Beavercreek, OH
1.57
64
54
0.43
76
New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ
1.52
1509
1546
-0.08
T-77
Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA
1.5
63
53
0.25
T-77
Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI
1.5
118
109
0.12
79
Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY
1.46
66
61
0.07
80
Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood, MI
1.39
81
64
0.19
81
Syracuse, NY
1.37
45
54
-0.29
82
Kiryas Joel-Poughkeepsie-Newburgh, NY
1.33
47
34
0.32
83
Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN
1.31
149
126
0.17
84
Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY
1.26
73
58
0.23
T-85
Akron, OH
1.23
43
36
0.21
T-85
Toledo, OH
1.23
37
45
-0.17
87
Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ
1.21
53
42
0.21
88
Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, CT
1.19
57
71
-0.31
89
Cleveland, OH
1.12
122
104
0.11
90
Harrisburg-Carlisle, PA
1.09
33
49
-0.63
91
Boise City, ID
1.08
44
36
0.07
92
Providence-Warwick, RI-MA
1.06
89
92
-0.08
93
Omaha, NE-IA
1.02
50
50
-0.05
94
Ogden, UT
1.01
33
39
-0.17
95
Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA
0.98
36
26
0.22
96
Pittsburgh, PA
0.93
113
115
-0.06
97
Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH
0.92
228
234
-0.05
98
Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI
0.89
165
144
0.08
99
Worcester, MA
0.88
38
55
-0.29
100
Madison, WI
0.87
30
25
0.11
101
Provo-Orem-Lehi, UT
0.7
25
20
0.05
The most dangerous states
The deadliest states for people walking, ranked by average annual pedestrian fatality rate per 100,000 residents. Eighteen of this
year’s deadliest 20 states also appeared in the 2024 edition of Dangerous by Design.
Rank
▲State
▲Avg ped deaths/100k people per year (2020-2024)
▲Pedestrian deaths (2020-2024)
▲Pedestrian deaths (2015-2019)
▲Long term trend in fatality rate
▲1
New Mexico
4.42
469
369
0.89
2
Louisiana
3.53
813
630
0.83
3
Arizona
3.49
1288
1000
0.65
4
South Carolina
3.37
893
750
0.38
5
Florida
3.32
3726
3356
0.11
6
Mississippi
3.18
469
346
0.86
7
Nevada
2.88
458
378
0.34
8
California
2.82
5546
4681
0.44
9
Georgia
2.79
1527
1177
0.53
10
Delaware
2.74
140
151
-0.41
T-11
Tennessee
2.56
903
606
0.75
T-11
Texas
2.56
3865
3097
0.37
13
Arkansas
2.51
382
264
0.75
14
Alabama
2.34
594
563
0.03
15
North Carolina
2.3
1234
1025
0.3
16
Maryland
2.27
703
577
0.35
T-17
Oklahoma
2.24
452
382
0.3
T-17
Oregon
2.24
477
369
0.45
19
Kentucky
2.09
475
377
0.4
20
Missouri
2.06
637
500
0.42
21
New Jersey
2.02
943
863
0.08
22
Alaska
1.9
70
58
0.33
23
Hawaii
1.81
131
146
-0.24
24
Colorado
1.79
524
392
0.39
25
Washington
1.73
676
472
0.46
26
Michigan
1.67
841
768
0.13
27
Connecticut
1.6
290
267
0.11
28
Illinois
1.55
987
783
0.32
T-29
Indiana
1.51
518
471
0.1
T-29
Virginia
1.51
659
551
0.21
31
Montana
1.49
83
70
0.16
32
New York
1.41
1403
1406
-0.03
33
South Dakota
1.39
63
39
0.49
34
Wyoming
1.34
39
32
0.24
35
Pennsylvania
1.32
856
812
0.05
36
Kansas
1.31
193
142
0.33
37
West Virginia
1.29
115
122
-0.05
38
Ohio
1.28
754
643
0.18
39
Utah
1.19
201
198
-0.09
40
Maine
1.17
81
78
0
41
Massachusetts
1.03
363
383
-0.09
42
Vermont
1.02
33
26
0.19
43
Rhode Island
1
55
58
-0.19
T-44
Idaho
0.99
96
69
0.19
T-44
North Dakota
0.99
39
30
0.2
46
Wisconsin
0.97
287
279
0.01
47
New Hampshire
0.93
65
55
0.11
48
Nebraska
0.89
88
95
-0.1
T-49
Iowa
0.83
134
113
0.11
T-49
Minnesota
0.83
237
224
0.02
1350 I St NW Suite 425 Washington, DC 20005
[email protected]Livable places. Healthy people. Shared prosperity.
© 2026 Smart Growth America. All rights reserved
Site By3Lane Marketing
