Deer Crash Season: How Likely Is an Animal Collision in Your State?

Quick answer: State Farm estimates there were more than 1.6 million animal-vehicle collision claims in the United States between July 1, 2025, and June 30, 2026, and State Farm alone paid $1.9 billion in claim costs in that period. Nationally, the odds of a driver filing an animal-collision claim were 1 in 145, a slight improvement on 1 in 139 the year before. The risk is highest in late autumn: November, October and December, in that order, are the months when drivers are most likely to hit a large animal.

Why this is the riskiest time of year

Deer become much more active in autumn, during the mating season known as the rut, and they move more at dawn, at dusk and after dark, when visibility is lower. Shorter days also push more evening journeys into darkness. State Farm's annual analysis, published on September 15, 2026, is based on comprehensive and collision claims involving animals in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, with industry totals estimated from State Farm's market share in each state and state likelihoods calculated using licensed-driver data from the Federal Highway Administration.

That method matters for how the numbers should be read. These are insurance claims, not a count of every animal struck on the road, and most claims involve vehicle damage rather than injury. Deer are by far the most frequently struck animal, but the claims also cover cattle, raccoons, dogs, cats, coyotes, rodents, turkeys, hogs and bears. A claim in this dataset therefore does not always mean a deer, and it does not always mean a crash that injured anyone.

Where the risk is highest

West Virginia has held the top spot for more than a decade, and it leads again in the July 2025 to June 2026 figures:

• West Virginia: 1 in 46
• Montana: 1 in 54
• Wisconsin: 1 in 62
• Pennsylvania: 1 in 64
• Michigan: 1 in 68

Fifteen states remained at high risk, with odds of 1 in less than 100. Pennsylvania ranked fourth for likelihood but recorded the most estimated insurance claims of any state, at about 141,000, which reflects its larger driving population rather than the highest individual risk. West Virginia's odds are more than three times the national figure, so where you drive changes the picture far more than the national average suggests.

For wider context on American road deaths overall, see how many people die on US roads each year and the site's statistics pages.

Claims are not the same as deaths

Animal collisions can be deadly, but deaths follow a different pattern from claims. According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), 210 people died in motor vehicle crashes involving animals in 2024, up from 89 deaths in 1975. In 2024, the animal strike itself was the most harmful event in 63% of those deaths, at 133 deaths, while the remainder involved a rollover, a collision with another vehicle or a fixed object, or fire.

The timing differs too. While State Farm's claims peak in November, October and December, IIHS reports that the highest number of animal-collision deaths in 2024 occurred from July through September. The two datasets are measuring different things: claims capture the far larger number of non-fatal strikes, most of which damage a vehicle, while the fatality data capture the much smaller number of crashes in which someone died. Texas recorded the most animal-collision deaths of any state over the past decade, according to IIHS, which reflects its size and driving population rather than the highest individual claim odds.

How to lower the risk this autumn

The defensive driving advice published with the State Farm analysis and by the Insurance Information Institute is consistent, and it is built around the times and places where animals are most active:

• Be especially alert from dusk till dawn, when animals are more likely to be active.
• Use extra caution in animal-crossing zones, and in places where roads divide agricultural fields from forestland or where deer populations are known to be large.
• Use high beams when there is no oncoming traffic, so animals and their eyes are visible sooner.
• If one deer crosses, slow down and watch for more, because deer often travel in groups.
• Do not swerve to avoid an animal if a collision looks unavoidable, because swerving at speed can send a vehicle into oncoming traffic, a guardrail, a tree or a rollover, which is where the most serious injuries occur.

Slowing down gives a driver more time to brake in a straight line, which is safer than a sudden swerve. None of this removes the risk in the highest-risk states, but it addresses the pattern the data show: animals appearing suddenly, in low light, on rural and wooded roads. For today's picture across the country, see today's accident reports.

How these numbers were counted

The claim figures come from State Farm's annual animal-collision analysis, published September 15, 2026, covering claims between July 1, 2025, and June 30, 2026. State Farm estimated industry-wide totals from its own claims and market penetration in each state, and calculated each state's likelihood using licensed-driver data from the Federal Highway Administration. The national odds of 1 in 145 and the state odds are therefore odds of a claim, not odds of a crash or a death, and they can be revised if the underlying claims data change.

The death figures come from IIHS analysis of federal crash data, counting crashes in which a collision with an animal was the first event. The 2024 figure of 210 deaths is a count of people killed, not a count of animals struck, and it is not directly comparable with the claim totals. The latest year in either dataset can be revised as reports are finalised.