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Most Dangerous Cities to Drive In — Montana

Ranked by NHTSA fatal-crash data (5-year window)

Quick answer

According to crimebycity.com's analysis of NHTSA data, the most dangerous city to drive in in Montana is Billings, MT with 9.5 traffic deaths per 100,000 residents per year (Road Danger Score 61/100), vs a US average of 12.3.

Highest Traffic-Fatality Rates in Montana

Cities ranked by Road Danger Score — 5-year traffic deaths per 100,000 residents from NHTSA FARS.

# City Danger Score Deaths per 100K/yr Deaths (5-Yr) Alcohol % Speeding %
1 Billings 61/100 9.5 58 43% 59%
2 Missoula 48/100 7.6 30 14% 18%
3 Great Falls 29/100 5.3 16 25% 44%
4 Helena 27/100 5.1 9 33% 22%
5 Kalispell 22/100 4.4 7 14% 14%
6 Bozeman 12/100 3.1 9 13% 38%

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the most dangerous city to drive in in Montana?

Billings, MT has the highest traffic-fatality rate in Montana: 9.5 deaths per 100,000 residents per year (most recent five-year period, NHTSA FARS), a Road Danger Score of 61/100.

What causes traffic deaths in these cities?

Across these 6 cities, an average of 24% of fatal crashes involved a drinking driver and 32% involved speeding (NHTSA FARS, most recent five-year period). These shares run higher than the safest-city list, alongside structural factors like road type and speed limits.

How is the Road Danger Score calculated?

The Road Danger Score is a percentile ranking from 1 to 100 based on each city's five-year traffic-fatality rate (deaths per 100,000 residents per year) from NHTSA FARS data: 100 = most dangerous to drive in, 1 = safest. See the methodology page for the full formula.

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