KEY HIGHLIGHTS
- Maryland ranks #14 in the nation for pedestrian fatality rate at 2.44 per 100,000 residents — 20.8% above the national average of 2.02.
- A total of 755 pedestrians were killed in Maryland between 2020 and 2024, averaging one death every 2.4 days.
- Maryland’s deadliest year was 2023, with 169 fatalities — one year after the national peak — with raw fatalities rising 3.3% from 2020 to 2024.
Maryland’s roads carry a pedestrian risk noticeably above the national average. Over the five years from 2020 to 2024, 755 people lost their lives while walking in the state — an average of 151 deaths per year, or roughly one every 2.4 days. Adjusted for population, that translates to a fatality rate of 2.44 per 100,000 residents, placing Maryland 14th in the nation and 20.8% above the national average of 2.02.
An analysis by Wilk Law Personal Injury & Car Accident Lawyers shows that the gap between the safest and most dangerous states is not marginal but structural. The rankings are drawn from five years of data collected by the U.S. Department of Transportation Fatality Analysis Reporting System and adjusted for state population using U.S. Census Bureau State Population Data. The result is a per capita fatality rate that makes comparisons across states of very different sizes both meaningful and precise.
Maryland’s Rate of 2.44 per 100,000 Is 20.8% Above the National Average of 2.02
| Rank | State | Avg. Pedestrian Fatality Rate per 100,000 Residents |
| 1 | New Mexico | 4.55 |
| 2 | Arizona | 3.71 |
| 3 | Louisiana | 3.70 |
| 4 | Florida | 3.57 |
| 5 | South Carolina | 3.56 |
| 6 | Mississippi | 3.32 |
| 7 | Nevada | 3.05 |
| 8 | California | 3.03 |
| 9 | Delaware | 2.94 |
| 10 | Georgia | 2.92 |
| 11 | Texas | 2.75 |
| 12 | Tennessee | 2.72 |
| 13 | Arkansas | 2.62 |
| 14 | Maryland | 2.44 |
Maryland has the nation’s 14th-highest pedestrian fatality rate at 2.44 per 100,000 — 20.8% above the national average. With 1.85% of the U.S. population, the state accounts for 1.98% of all pedestrian deaths nationally over the study period — roughly proportional to its population share, though still above the national per capita norm. Maryland’s position reflects the particular dangers posed by high-volume arterial roads connecting its suburban communities to urban centres.
Commenting on the study, Tyler Wilk, Founding Attorney at Wilk Law Personal Injury & Car Accident Lawyers, stated:
“These numbers represent real people crossing actual streets. A fatality rate more than five times higher in some states than others is not a natural variation; it reflects policy decisions around road design, speed enforcement, and pedestrian protections that can and should change.”
Maryland’s Deadliest Year Was 2023, With 169 Fatalities — One Year After the National Peak
2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 151 134 145 169 156
Nationally, 2022 was the deadliest year for pedestrians, with 8,060 fatalities recorded across the U.S. Maryland’s worst year came a year later — 169 deaths in 2023, translating to an estimated per capita rate of 2.73 per 100,000. Fatalities then eased to 156 in 2024, though that figure is 3.3% above the 2020 starting point of 151. The pattern suggests that Maryland’s pedestrian safety challenges, while less acute than those of many Southern states, have not been structurally resolved.
Maryland Is 2.7 Times More Dangerous Than the Safest State, Minnesota
Rank State Avg. Pedestrian Fatality Rate per 100,000 Residents 41 Massachusetts 1.17 42 Nebraska 1.14 43 North Dakota 1.07 44 Rhode Island 1.06 45 Wisconsin 1.05 46 Vermont 1.02 47 Idaho 1.01 48 New Hampshire 0.98 49 Iowa 0.89 50 Minnesota 0.89
The ten safest states for pedestrians are concentrated in the Northeast and Midwest, with fatality rates well below the national average of 2.02. Minnesota, the safest state overall, records a rate of 0.89 per 100,000 residents, making it 2.7 times safer than Maryland. A pedestrian in Baltimore or Annapolis faces a risk nearly three times higher than someone walking in Minneapolis.
Maryland Is More Dangerous for Pedestrians Than the Majority of Its Neighbouring States
State Avg. Rate per 100,000 Times Safer Than This State Maryland (Rank #14) 2.44 — Virginia (Rank #30) 1.59 1.5× West Virginia (Rank #38) 1.33 1.8× Pennsylvania (Rank #34) 1.41 1.7× Delaware (Rank #9) 2.94 1.2× less safe
Maryland surpasses three of its four neighbours. Virginia records a rate of 1.59 per 100,000, 1.5 times safer. Pennsylvania posts 1.41 (1.7 times safer), and West Virginia records 1.33 (1.8 times safer). The sole neighbour that ranks more dangerous is Delaware, at 2.94 — the nation’s ninth-highest rate and 20.5% above Maryland’s figure.
Methodology
This study covers the five years from 2020 to 2024. The primary metric is the average annual number of pedestrian fatalities per 100,000 residents for each of the 50 U.S. states. The study sourced annual pedestrian fatality counts from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS). The U.S. Census Bureau provided state population estimates for per capita calculations. For each state, the five annual fatality totals were averaged and then divided by the state’s average population (and multiplied by 100,000) to produce a consistent per capita rate. We ranked states from the highest to the lowest fatality rate. Rank 1 represented the most dangerous state, and Rank 50 represented the least dangerous.
Data Sources
- U.S. Department of Transportation, Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS): https://cdan.dot.gov/query
- U.S. Census Bureau, State Population Data: https://data.census.gov/table?q=population+by+age+by+state
- Research Dataset: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1H3X6dB_NMCCP9E9GjsevEKJ8VB2ua8u9ZPHqA41AU_I/edit?gid=0#gid=0
- Research by: https://wilklawfirm.com/
About Wilk Law Personal Injury and Car Accident Lawyers
The study was conducted by Wilk Law Personal Injury & Car Accident Lawyers, a Pennsylvania-based firm that represents victims of negligence in cases involving vehicle collisions, medical malpractice, nursing home abuse, premises liability, and wrongful death.
Learn more at wilklawfirm.com.
