AZ Law Now · Data Report · America's biggest counties, 2020-2024
Phoenix's Motorcycle Toll
We ranked America's 12 most populous counties by how fast they lose motorcyclists. Maricopa County, the heart of metro Phoenix, came out first, ahead of Las Vegas and more than three times Chicago. Here is the rate, how it has climbed, and where the crashes fall across the valley.
motorcyclists killed in Maricopa County, 2020 to 2024.
#1 of America's 12 most populous counties · 12.48 deaths per 100,000
Among the biggest counties in the country, none is deadlier to ride a motorcycle than metro Phoenix. We measured it ourselves, from the federal fatality record, finding by finding, with every number you can copy and use.
Computed · per-capita rate
No big county loses riders faster, not even Las Vegas
12.48 motorcyclist deaths per 100,000 residents, the highest of America’s 12 most populous counties
We ranked America's 12 most populous counties by their motorcyclist death rate over five years. Maricopa County, the heart of metro Phoenix, came out first.
From 2020 through 2024, 569 motorcyclists were killed here, a rate of 12.48 deaths per 100,000 residents. That edges Las Vegas, at 11.68, and runs more than three times the rate in Chicago.
Los Angeles recorded more motorcyclist deaths in raw numbers, 580. But it ranks tenth here, at 5.91, because its population is more than twice as large.
The universe is stated on purpose. "The 12 most populous counties" is a transparent, rule-based set, drawn straight from Census population, not a list we hand-picked to put Phoenix on top.
The finding does not depend on where we drew the line. Widen the field to every US county above 1.5 million residents and Maricopa is still first, with Tampa's Hillsborough County the closest challenger.
Two honest caveats travel with the number. This is Maricopa County, a stand-in for the Phoenix metro, not the city limits. And the rate is a five-year cumulative count, so it reads about five times higher than a single-year rate would.
Computed · rate by 5-year window
And the toll is climbing
+41% rise in Maricopa’s motorcyclist death rate across the decade, 8.86 to 12.48 per 100,000
This is not a flat line that Phoenix happens to sit on top of. Maricopa's motorcyclist death rate has climbed across the decade, from 8.86 per 100,000 in 2010-2014, to 9.89 in 2015-2019, to 12.48 in 2020-2024, a 41 percent rise.
The yearly counts tell the same story. They climbed from 49 motorcyclists killed in 2010 to a peak of 153 in 2023.
It echoes a pattern we found on foot. Our 25-year pedestrian analysis shows Arizona's pedestrian toll bending sharply upward after 2014, and the motorcyclist line bends the same way over the same years.
Whatever changed on these roads in the last decade, the people most exposed to it, on two wheels or on foot, are the ones paying.
Computed · crash locations
The danger is everywhere, not one corner
552 fatal motorcycle crash sites mapped across metro Phoenix, 2020 to 2024
Some road dangers concentrate. Our pedestrian work found a single corridor, Indian School Road, that outranked every other road in the county for people killed on foot.
Motorcyclist deaths do not concentrate like that. Map the 552 fatal crash sites from 2020 to 2024 and they spread across the entire valley, on the freeways and the wide arterials alike, from Surprise in the northwest to Chandler in the southeast.
That spread is the finding. There is no single killer intersection to fix. The risk follows the rider across the whole metro, which is why the rate, not any one location, is the story.
The receipts
Sources and method
Every count, rate, ranking, and trend figure on this page is computed by AZ Law Now from two named federal primary sources. Deaths come from the NHTSA Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), the federal record of every traffic death; a motorcyclist death is a person who died (fatal injury) on a motorcycle body type, counted at the person level. The population denominators are the US Census Bureau's county population estimates (Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2024). Rates are a five-year cumulative death count over the five-year-average resident population, expressed per 100,000; because the count spans five years, the rate reads about five times higher than a single-year rate would, and the same construction is applied identically to every county. The comparison universe is the 12 most populous US counties by that same Census population, a transparent rule, not a hand-picked set; all 12 are shown in the ranking. We re-tested the #1 rank against larger and higher-rate counties left out of the top 12 and it holds down to any county above 1.5 million residents. "Phoenix" here means Maricopa County, the core county of the metro, not the city limits. These are computed per-capita figures, not NHTSA-published statistics. The analysis reproduces from a single script over the federal files, so any figure can be rebuilt from the raw record.
- National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. (2025). Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), 2010 to 2024 national file [Data set]. U.S. Department of Transportation. www-fars.nhtsa.dot.gov
- U.S. Census Bureau. (2025). County Population Totals and Components of Change, 2020 to 2024 (Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2024). census.gov/programs-surveys/popest.html
Questions, answered
Frequently asked
Is Phoenix the most dangerous big city to ride a motorcycle?
By the data, yes, among America's largest counties. Maricopa County, the core of metro Phoenix, has the highest motorcyclist death rate of the 12 most populous US counties: 12.48 deaths per 100,000 residents from 2020 to 2024, based on 569 motorcyclists killed. That is higher than Las Vegas (Clark County, 11.68) and more than three times Chicago (Cook County, 3.69). The figure is a computed per-capita rate from NHTSA FARS and US Census data, not an NHTSA-published statistic.
How many motorcyclists die in Maricopa County each year?
569 motorcyclists were killed in Maricopa County from 2020 through 2024, an average of about 114 a year. The yearly count has climbed over the decade, from 49 in 2010 to a peak of 153 in 2023. Figures are computed from the NHTSA Fatality Analysis Reporting System.
Are motorcycle deaths in Phoenix getting worse?
Yes. Maricopa County's motorcyclist death rate rose 41 percent across the decade, from 8.86 per 100,000 residents in the 2010 to 2014 window to 12.48 in 2020 to 2024. The single-year death count climbed from 49 in 2010 to 153 in 2023.
Does Arizona have a helmet law for motorcycles?
Arizona does not require adult motorcyclists to wear a helmet. Under ARS 28-964, only riders under 18 must wear one. For how the helmet law and Arizona's comparative-fault rule affect a motorcycle injury claim, see our Arizona motorcycle law guide. This data report stays on the public-safety numbers; the legal questions live on their own pages.
Where is this motorcycle death data from?
Every figure on this page is computed by AZ Law Now from two named federal primary sources: the NHTSA Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), the federal record of every traffic death, for 2010 to 2024, and the US Census Bureau's county population estimates for the denominators. A motorcyclist death is a person killed (fatal injury) on a motorcycle body type. The per-capita rates and the county ranking are ours; they are not NHTSA-published statistics.
Hurt in a motorcycle crash in Arizona?
A road's documented crash history can be part of your case. Our Arizona motorcycle crash guide breaks down your rights, the deadlines, and what to do next.
Read the Arizona motorcycle crash guide