KEY HIGHLIGHTS
Jacksonville ranks #1 out of the 100 largest U.S. metros for DUI-related fatalities per capita, with a rate of 2.21 deaths per 100,000 residents annually.
- Over five years (2019–2023), the city recorded 190 total DUI-related fatalities, averaging 38 deaths per year.
- Jacksonville’s rate is nearly 8x higher than Palm Bay (0.28), Florida’s second-highest metro, and more than 13x the statewide average across all other Florida metros combined.
JACKSONVILLE – While Florida is home to nine metros large enough to rank among the country’s top 100, one city stands entirely apart from the rest: Jacksonville. The city recorded the highest per capita rate of drunk-driving deaths of any major metro in the country, and its numbers are so far above both its Florida peers and national benchmarks that they make up a persistent public safety crisis.
An analysis by Stanley 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.
Jacksonville Tops All 100 U.S. Metros With a DUI Fatality Rate of 2.21 per 100K
Rank Metro State Population (2023) Avg. Annual DUI Fatalities Avg. Annual DUI Fatalities per 100K…