KEY HIGHLIGHTS
- Fresno ranks #4 out of the 100 largest U.S. metros for DUI-related fatalities per capita, with a rate of 1.79 deaths per 100,000 residents annually.
- Over five years (2019–2023), the city recorded 106 total DUI-related fatalities, averaging 21.2 deaths per year.
- Fresno’s rate is more than 7x higher than Los Angeles (0.25) and over 2.5x the average rate across all other California metros in the dataset.
California is home to ten metros in the national top 100, more than any other state, yet one city stands far above all others for per capita drunk driving deaths: Fresno. An analysis of DUI-related traffic fatalities across the 100 largest U.S. metropolitan areas places Fresno fourth in the nation, above the vast majority of American cities, including every other major metro in the state.
An analysis byStanley Law Offices ranked the 100 largest U.S. metropolitan areas by their average annual DUI-related fatality rate per 100,000 residents, using five-year averages from 2019 through 2023. Fatal crash data were drawn from the NHTSA Fatality Analysis Reporting System via the CDAN Query Tool; population figures are from the U.S. Census Bureau metropolitan statistical area estimates.
Fresno Ranks #4 in the Nation With a DUI Fatality Rate of 1.79 per 100K
| Rank | Metro | State | Population (2023) | Avg. Annual DUI Fatalities | Avg. Annual DUI Fatalities per 100K |
| 1 | Jacksonville | FL | 1,723,198 | 38.0 | 2.21 |
| 2 | Colorado Springs | CO | 771,645 | 16.6 | 2.15 |
| 3 | Tucson | AZ | 1,068,579 | 19.2 | 1.80 |
| 4 | Fresno | CA | 1,183,301 | 21.2 | 1.79 |
| 5 | El Paso | TX | 878,319 | 13.4 | 1.53 |
| 6 | Louisville | KY | 1,377,729 | 18.0 | 1.31 |
| 7 | Bakersfield | CA | 916,646 | 11.8 | 1.29 |
| 8 | Stockton | CA | 805,909 | 9.8 | 1.22 |
| 9 | Memphis | TN | 1,340,448 | 16.2 | 1.21 |
| 10 | San Antonio | TX | 2,715,709 | 31.8 | 1.17 |
Fresno’s rate of 1.79 DUI-related fatalities per 100,000 residents annually places it fourth in the national ranking, separated from third-place Tucson (1.80) by just 0.01 per 100K. The gap between Fresno and the 10th-ranked city, San Antonio (1.17), shows that Fresno belongs to a small, high-risk group at the very top of the national distribution. Only five metros in the entire country record rates above 1.50 per 100K, and Fresno is one of them…