Data & Research / County comparisons
Which Arizona Counties Have the Most Alcohol-Related Crashes?
Maricopa has by far the most crashes in raw numbers. But compare crashes with county population, and a different geographic pattern emerges.
Alcohol-related crashes relative to population
Average annual reported crashes per 100,000 county residents · 2019–2024 crashes, 2024 population benchmark
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Color represents the population-adjusted comparison, not total crashes. Smaller counties and counties with substantial visitor or interstate traffic can appear disproportionately high.
County comparison
The map uses the same verified figures as this table. Hover over a county or table row to preview its figures; click or tap to select on touch devices.
| County | 2019–2024 crashes | 2024 population | Annual crashes per 100,000 residents |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1,166 | 149,875 | 129.7 | |
| 129 | 17,128 | 125.5 | |
| 390 | 54,006 | 120.4 | |
| 1,265 | 228,107 | 92.4 | |
| 1,275 | 251,768 | 84.4 | |
| 518 | 110,846 | 77.9 | |
| 20,326 | 4,726,247 | 71.7 | |
| 167 | 40,107 | 69.4 | |
| 40 | 9,673 | 68.9 | |
| 817 | 217,978 | 62.5 | |
| 1,587 | 483,944 | 54.7 | |
| 3,550 | 1,086,634 | 54.4 | |
| 195 | 66,557 | 48.8 | |
| 277 | 128,253 | 36.0 | |
| 101 | 50,580 | 33.3 |
How to read these numbers
Population changes the comparison. Maricopa County recorded 20,326 alcohol-related crashes over six years, far more than any other county, but its annualized count relative to its 2024 population is 71.7 per 100,000 residents.
Counties with major tourist travel deserve caution. Coconino, La Paz and Gila rank highest relative to their resident populations. These counties receive visitors and through traffic, so the denominator does not represent everyone driving there. This measure should not be described as a driver's probability of crashing.
Small populations make rates volatile. An increase of only a few crashes can materially change the per-resident comparison in Greenlee or La Paz. We show counts alongside the normalized values to keep the scale visible.
For genuine risk analysis, vehicle-miles traveled would be a stronger denominator if comparable county-level estimates were available. The current map is best read as geographic context for reporting, not a judgment about county driving safety.
Data, definitions and methodology
Crash counts: Arizona Department of Transportation, Arizona Motor Vehicle Crash Facts, Table 6-13 for each year 2019–2024. All 15 counties sum to the reported state total in each year, and 31,803 across the six years.
Population: Arizona Office of Economic Opportunity, July 1, 2024 county population estimates (Workforce Summit 2025 briefing). A single 2024 population benchmark is used for comparability; it does not account for population changes between 2019 and 2024.
Calculation: (2019–2024 county alcohol-related crashes ÷ 6 years) ÷ 2024 resident population × 100,000. Figures are rounded to one decimal place. This is an annualized population-based comparison, not a vehicle-miles-traveled rate or a measure of driver risk. Alcohol-related does not imply a conviction for DUI.
GIS geometry: Arizona county polygons served by the Arizona Department of Health Services county boundaries GIS layer using its public GeoJSON interface. Map data are fetched in your browser. The county table remains available if the GIS service is temporarily unavailable.
Download county-year crash counts and 2024 population data (CSV)