Search for drunk driving statistics and you'll find no shortage of numbers. The problem is that many of them are old, unsourced, or copied from another blog that copied them from somewhere else. If you're doing research, writing a report, or just trying to understand how your state compares, you deserve figures that trace back to an actual federal dataset.

Every number on this page comes from two sources: the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), both built on the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS). The data year is stated next to each figure, because "latest available" means 2023 for state-level alcohol estimates and 2024 for overall state fatality counts.

Below you'll find the full state table, the highest and lowest states three different ways, a ten-year trend, and the demographic patterns behind the numbers.

How Many People Die From Drunk Driving Each Year?

An estimated 12,429 people were killed in alcohol-impaired driving crashes in the United States in 2023, according to the latest available federal data (2023) from NHTSA's Alcohol-Impaired Driving fact sheet. That works out to one death every 42 minutes, and it represents 30% of the 40,901 total traffic fatalities that year.

A few more national numbers from the same NHTSA report help frame the problem:

• Alcohol-impaired driving deaths fell 7.6% from 2022 to 2023, from 13,458 to 12,429.
• The fatality rate was 0.38 deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled in 2023, down from 0.42 in 2022.
• Among the 12,429 people killed, 60% were the alcohol-impaired drivers themselves. Another 13% were passengers riding with them, 16% were occupants of other vehicles, and 11% were people outside vehicles, such as pedestrians and cyclists.
• In 67% of those deaths, at least one driver had a BAC of .15 g/dL or higher. That is nearly twice the .08 threshold NHTSA uses to define impairment in this data.

One definition matters before you read the table. NHTSA counts a fatality as "alcohol-impaired" when at least one driver involved in the crash had a blood alcohol concentration of .08 g/dL or higher. It does not mean alcohol caused the crash, only that an impaired driver was involved. Keep that in mind whenever you compare states.

Drunk Driving Deaths by State: The Full 2023 Table

Texas recorded the most alcohol-impaired driving deaths of any state in 2023 with 1,699, while Alaska recorded the fewest with 15. As a share of each state's total traffic deaths, Hawaii ranked highest at 42% and Mississippi and Utah lowest at 21%.

The table below shows every state plus the District of Columbia. All figures come from NHTSA's State Alcohol-Impaired-Driving Estimates, the latest available federal data (2023). "Alcohol-impaired deaths" means fatalities in crashes where at least one driver had a BAC of .08 or higher.

State	Total traffic deaths (2023)	Alcohol-impaired deaths (2023)	Share of state's traffic deaths
Alabama	974	283	29%
Alaska	60	15	25%
Arizona	1,304	429	33%
Arkansas	596	157	26%
California	4,061	1,355	33%
Colorado	720	214	30%
Connecticut	308	113	37%
Delaware	135	39	29%
District of Columbia	44	14	32%
Florida	3,396	839	25%
Georgia	1,615	433	27%
Hawaii	93	39	42%
Idaho	275	60	22%
Illinois	1,241	399	32%
Indiana	898	251	28%
Iowa	377	141	37%
Kansas	387	125	32%
Kentucky	814	198	24%
Louisiana	811	232	29%
Maine	135	37	27%
Maryland	621	173	28%
Massachusetts	343	116	34%
Michigan	1,094	286	26%
Minnesota	409	100	24%
Mississippi	732	155	21%
Missouri	991	283	29%
Montana	208	71	34%
Nebraska	227	70	31%
Nevada	389	121	31%
New Hampshire	130	36	27%
New Jersey	606	142	23%
New Mexico	437	119	27%
New York	1,114	325	29%
North Carolina	1,561	415	27%
North Dakota	106	38	36%
Ohio	1,242	455	37%
Oklahoma	718	179	25%
Oregon	587	200	34%
Pennsylvania	1,211	321	27%
Rhode Island	71	24	33%
South Carolina	1,047	413	39%
South Dakota	140	38	27%
Tennessee	1,323	371	28%
Texas	4,291	1,699	40%
Utah	280	59	21%
Vermont	69	18	26%
Virginia	913	261	29%
Washington	810	294	36%
West Virginia	260	58	22%
Wisconsin	583	182	31%
Wyoming	144	36	25%
US total	40,901	12,429	30%

Source: NHTSA, State Alcohol-Impaired-Driving Estimates: 2023 Data (FARS 2023 Annual Report File). NHTSA estimates BACs where test results are missing, so treat state figures as estimates rather than exact counts.

The Highest and Lowest States, Three Different Ways

There is no single "worst state for drunk driving." The answer changes depending on whether you measure raw deaths, the share of traffic deaths involving alcohol, or deaths per mile driven. All three views below use the latest available federal data (2023 for alcohol measures, 2024 for overall fatality rates).

By share of traffic deaths involving an impaired driver (2023)

Hawaii had the highest share at 42%, followed by Texas at 40% and South Carolina at 39%. At the other end, Mississippi and Utah were lowest at 21%, with Idaho and West Virginia close behind at 22%. A high share doesn't automatically mean more dangerous roads. Hawaii had only 93 total traffic deaths in 2023, so a modest number of alcohol-involved crashes moves its percentage a lot.

By alcohol-impaired deaths per mile driven (2023)

Per 100 million vehicle miles traveled, the alcohol-impaired fatality rate ranged from 0.17 in Minnesota and Utah to 0.68 in South Carolina, against a national rate of 0.38, per NHTSA's 2023 state estimates. This measure adjusts for how much people actually drive, which makes it the fairest way to compare a huge driving state like Texas with a small one like Vermont.

By overall traffic fatality rate (2024)

Zooming out to all crash deaths, not just alcohol-involved ones: there were 39,254 motor vehicle crash deaths in the US in 2024, per IIHS state-by-state fatality data, the latest available federal data (2024). The death rate per 100,000 people ranged from 4.7 in Rhode Island to 25.6 in Mississippi. IIHS also estimates that 31% of fatally injured passenger vehicle drivers nationwide in 2024 had BACs of .08 or higher. Among states that reported BAC results for at least 70% of killed drivers, Hawaii had the highest estimated share at 49%, while Kentucky and Minnesota had the lowest at 23%.

Ten Years of Drunk Driving Deaths

Drunk driving deaths climbed sharply during the pandemic years and have only partly come back down. NHTSA's 2023 fact sheet charts the decade like this:

Year	Alcohol-impaired driving deaths	Rate per 100 million miles
2014	9,943	0.33
2015	10,280	0.33
2016	10,967	0.35
2017	10,880	0.34
2018	10,710	0.33
2019	10,196	0.31
2020	11,727	0.40
2021	13,599	0.43
2022	13,458	0.42
2023	12,429	0.38

Source: NHTSA, Alcohol-Impaired Driving: 2023 Data (FARS 2014 to 2022 Final Files; 2023 Annual Report File).

Two things stand out. First, 2023's total is still about 2,200 deaths higher than 2019's, so the pandemic-era spike hasn't fully unwound. Second, the percentage of all traffic deaths involving an impaired driver has barely moved: it was 30% in 2014 and 30% in 2023. The country builds safer cars and safer roads, and drunk driving keeps claiming the same share.

Who Drives Drunk? Age, Sex, and Vehicle Trends

Young men on motorcycles and in passenger cars, disproportionately at night. That's the short version of NHTSA's 2023 demographic data. The longer version:

• Age. Drivers 21 to 24 had the highest rate of alcohol impairment among drivers in fatal crashes at 28%, followed by drivers 25 to 34 at 26%. The rate falls steadily with age, down to 8% for drivers 75 and older.
• Sex. 22% of male drivers in fatal crashes were alcohol-impaired versus 16% of female drivers. In raw numbers the gap is wider: 9,155 male impaired drivers against 2,339 female, almost four to one.
• Vehicle type. Motorcycle riders had the highest impairment rate at 26%, ahead of passenger car drivers at 24%, light truck drivers at 20%, and large truck drivers at 4%.
• Time of day. The rate of alcohol impairment among drivers in fatal crashes was three times higher at night than during the day in 2023.
• Children. Of the 1,019 traffic deaths among children 14 and younger in 2023, 25% occurred in alcohol-impaired driving crashes.

The money side is grim too. NHTSA's most recent cost study puts the economic toll of all US traffic crashes at $340 billion for 2019, with $58 billion of that from alcohol-impaired driving crashes. Add quality-of-life valuations and the societal harm from impaired-driving crashes reaches $296 billion.

If you want the practical background behind these numbers, this plain-English rundown of drinking and driving facts covers how impairment actually works behind the wheel.

What the Numbers Mean If You're the One Facing a DUI

Statistics feel abstract until you become one. If you've been arrested for DUI, the data above explains why courts across the country lean so heavily on ignition interlock devices: most alcohol-impaired deaths involve drivers well past the .08 line, and repeat exposure at night is where the risk concentrates.

A few practical notes, no lecture attached:

• Body weight, food, and timing all change how fast BAC climbs. If you've ever wondered how many drinks it takes to reach .08 BAC, the honest answer is fewer than most people guess.
• Breath testing is its own science. The difference between blood alcohol and breath alcohol matters for anyone dealing with a breathalyzer or an interlock device.
• If a court or DMV has ordered an interlock, the cost question comes first for most people. Here's a realistic breakdown of how much interlock devices cost so you know what's typical before anyone quotes you a price.

Interlock requirements vary by state and by case, so confirm the specifics with your court or DMV rather than a national article.

Where This Data Comes From

Every figure above comes from one of three federal or federally sourced publications, all reviewed for this article:

• NHTSA, Alcohol-Impaired Driving: 2023 Data. The national fact sheet. Fatality totals, trends, demographics, and costs.
• NHTSA, State Alcohol-Impaired-Driving Estimates: 2023 Data. The source of the full state table, built on the FARS 2023 Annual Report File.
• IIHS, Fatality Facts: State by State (2024 data). Overall state fatality counts and rates, plus estimated BAC levels of fatally injured drivers.

One honest caveat: BAC test results are missing for many drivers in fatal crashes, so NHTSA fills the gaps with a statistical imputation model. States also vary widely in how often they test. In 2024, BAC reporting for fatally injured drivers ranged from 97% in Vermont to 9% in Mississippi, per IIHS. Estimates for low-reporting states carry more uncertainty, which is one more reason to read any state ranking, including this one, with some care.

This article doesn't include state-by-state arrest counts because no single federal source publishes complete, current arrest data for every state. Fewer numbers, but numbers you can trust.

Frequently Asked Questions About Drunk Driving Statistics

How many people die from drunk driving each year in the US?

An estimated 12,429 people were killed in alcohol-impaired driving crashes in 2023, the latest available federal data year. That is 30% of all US traffic deaths and averages one death every 42 minutes, according to NHTSA's Alcohol-Impaired Driving fact sheet.

Which state has the most drunk driving deaths?

Texas, by raw count: 1,699 alcohol-impaired driving deaths in 2023, per NHTSA. California was second with 1,355. By share of total traffic deaths, Hawaii ranked highest at 42%, with Texas next at 40%. Raw counts track population and miles driven, so big states usually top this list.

Which state has the fewest drunk driving deaths?

Alaska recorded the fewest alcohol-impaired driving deaths in 2023 with 15, per NHTSA's state estimates. Vermont had 18 and Rhode Island 24. As a percentage of each state's traffic deaths, Mississippi and Utah were lowest at 21%.

What percentage of traffic deaths involve alcohol?

30% of US traffic fatalities in 2023 occurred in crashes where at least one driver had a BAC of .08 or higher, per NHTSA. Another 5% of fatalities involved a driver with a BAC between .01 and .07, below the impairment threshold NHTSA uses for this data.

Are drunk driving deaths increasing or decreasing?

Decreasing recently, but still high by historical standards. Deaths fell 7.6% from 2022 to 2023, from 13,458 to 12,429, per NHTSA. They remain well above the 10,196 recorded in 2019, before the pandemic-era spike pushed totals to 13,599 in 2021.

How does NHTSA define an alcohol-impaired driving death?

Any fatality in a crash where at least one driver had a blood alcohol concentration of .08 g/dL or higher. The definition doesn't claim alcohol caused the crash, only that an impaired driver was involved. NHTSA estimates missing BAC values with a statistical model, so state figures are estimates.

When do most drunk driving crashes happen?

At night. The rate of alcohol impairment among drivers in fatal crashes in 2023 was three times higher at night than during the day, per NHTSA. Weekend and late-night hours concentrate the risk, which is why interlock programs emphasize every-start testing rather than trusting the clock.

How much does drunk driving cost the country?

$58 billion per year in direct economic costs, based on NHTSA's most recent cost study (2019 data), out of $340 billion for all crashes. When lost quality of life is factored in, the societal harm from alcohol-impaired driving crashes rises to $296 billion.

How common is extreme drunk driving in fatal crashes?

Very common. In 67% of the 12,429 alcohol-impaired driving deaths in 2023, at least one driver had a BAC of .15 or higher, nearly double the .08 impairment threshold, per NHTSA. Fatal drunk driving crashes are rarely borderline cases.

The Bottom Line

Drunk driving still accounts for three of every ten traffic deaths in America, and your state's numbers are one table scroll away. If those numbers just became personal because a court ordered you to install an interlock device, the next step doesn't have to be expensive or complicated. Low Cost Interlock backs its transparent pricing with a Price Match Guarantee, and you can get an ignition interlock quote in about 60 seconds.

Disclaimer: This article is provided by Low Cost Interlock for general informational purposes only and is not legal, financial, or medical advice. DUI and ignition interlock laws, penalties, fees, and program requirements vary by state, county, and individual circumstances, and they change over time. Any costs, timelines, or figures mentioned are general estimates, not quotes or guarantees. Nothing here should be relied on as a statement of the law in your jurisdiction. Always confirm current requirements with your state DMV, the court handling your case, a licensed attorney, or Low Cost Interlock directly before making decisions. Product features, pricing, availability, and promotions referenced are subject to change and may not be available in every state Low Cost Interlock serves.