Five states account for nearly half of the deaths
Florida, California, Texas, New York, and Louisiana recorded 541 cyclist deaths between them, 49% of the national total. Population explains part of that concentration: California, Texas, Florida, and New York are four of the country’s largest states. Louisiana is the exception in that group. With 44 deaths among roughly 4.6 million residents, it recorded the highest population-adjusted rate in the study.
Florida is the clearest outlier in raw numbers. Its 208 deaths were 45 more than California and more than twice the 79 recorded in Texas. Florida represented about 6.8% of the U.S. population used in this analysis but 18.9% of cyclist traffic fatalities. The data establish the size of that disparity; they do not, by themselves, identify whether road design, travel patterns, climate, exposure, or another factor is responsible.
The Southeast stands out, but not uniformly
Three Southern states appear among the highest population-adjusted results: Louisiana at 9.5 deaths per million residents, Florida at 8.9, and South Carolina at 6.2. Arizona follows at 5.8. Yet neighboring states do not necessarily resemble one another. Georgia recorded 2.1 deaths per million residents, while Tennessee recorded 1.2, showing why a broad regional label cannot replace state-level analysis.
The same contrast appears when cyclist deaths are measured as a share of all traffic deaths. Cyclists represented 6.6% of Florida’s traffic fatalities and 5.9% of Louisiana’s. In Rhode Island the share reached 9.6%, the highest in the table, but that percentage came from only five cyclist deaths out of 52 total traffic deaths. Small totals can produce large percentages, so both the numerator and the rate matter.
Small-state rankings can change quickly
Rhode Island, Hawaii, Delaware, Nevada, and Vermont all rank relatively high on at least one population-adjusted measure. Their raw totals range from two deaths in Vermont to 15 in Nevada. In a small state, one additional fatal crash can move the annual rate noticeably; in California or Texas, it would barely change the displayed figure.
That volatility is why this edition emphasizes the complete table rather than presenting the rank alone as a safety score. A multi-year version would smooth isolated annual changes and would be the better tool for identifying persistent patterns. The 2024 results remain valuable as a transparent snapshot of the latest finalized federal state data.
What this ranking can, and cannot, tell us
The rate per million residents makes states of different sizes easier to compare. It does not measure the risk of an individual bicycle trip. No nationwide source provides a reliable count of miles ridden in every state, and cycling frequency varies substantially. A state with more people riding may record more fatalities even if each trip is comparatively safer.
FARS is also a census of fatal traffic crashes, not every bicycle collision. It excludes crashes that do not involve a motor vehicle on a public trafficway and incidents where nobody dies within 30 days. The results should therefore be read as a map of recorded traffic deaths, not a complete inventory of cycling injuries.
Methodology
Claimelo extracted the number of people classified as pedalcyclists who were killed in each state and Washington, D.C., from the NHTSA Fatality Analysis Reporting System’s 2024 final state table. We excluded Puerto Rico to keep the geography consistent with the 50-state ranking, but included D.C.
We divided each state’s 2024 cyclist fatalities by its Census Bureau resident population estimate for July 1, 2024, then multiplied by one million. The traffic-death share divides cyclist fatalities by all traffic fatalities in that state. Calculations use unrounded source values; displayed rates are rounded to one decimal place. Ties are left in descending source-value order and should not be interpreted as meaningful differences.
The word “dangerous” in the headline refers specifically to fatality counts and population-adjusted fatality rates. The study does not rank road design, driver behavior, laws, nonfatal injury risk, or the quality of cycling infrastructure.
Sources and reproducibility
- NHTSA FARS Encyclopedia: persons killed by state and person type, 2024
- NHTSA description and inclusion criteria for FARS
- U.S. Census Bureau Vintage 2025 state population estimates
Journalists and researchers may quote these findings with attribution to Claimelo and a link to this page. For corrections or requests for the underlying state table, use the contact details on our About and Methodology page.