FARS2024PuertoRicoCSV.zip

File Identity

FARS2024PuertoRicoCSV.zip is the 2024 CSV package for the NHTSA Fatality Analysis Reporting System covering the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. NHTSA publishes Puerto Rico fatal crash data in a separate ZIP from the national (50-state plus D.C.) package. The CSV tables share the same structure and coding as the national package but are limited to crashes on public roadways in Puerto Rico during calendar year 2024.^1,2,3

What the Package Contains

The ZIP mirrors the structure of the national CSV package: crash-level, person-level, vehicle-level, and factor-level tables. The core tables used for most Puerto Rico crash analysis are accident.csv for crash records and person.csv for fatality details. Geographic breakdowns use municipio codes corresponding to Puerto Rico's 78 municipalities.^3,4

The full file list in the package mirrors the national CSV release. Consult the FARS analytical reference guide for a complete table-level description of every CSV included in the 2024 release.⁴

Why Puerto Rico Is a Separate Package

NHTSA has collected fatal crash data for Puerto Rico since the early years of the FARS program. Puerto Rico is a U.S. territory, not a state, so NHTSA publishes its crash records in a separate package distinct from the 50-state national CSV. Researchers building a complete U.S. picture must download both packages and clearly document which geographic scope each reported figure covers.^1,2

Geographic detail in the Puerto Rico package uses municipio codes for Puerto Rico's 78 municipalities. FIPS code 72 identifies Puerto Rico in the territory-level field. This differs from the STATE field in the national package, which uses the 50 states plus D.C. FIPS codes (01–56, excluding 03, 07, 14, 43, and 52).^3,4

Population denominators for Puerto Rico per-capita rates come from the same Census Vintage 2024 file used for state rates (NST-EST2024-ALLDATA.csv), which includes a Puerto Rico row at FIPS 72. Filter for SUMLEV = 040 and STATE = 72 to isolate the territory-level estimate.⁶

How Daily Driver Advocate Uses It

The 50-state national statistics pages on this site use FARS2024NationalCSV.zip, not the Puerto Rico package. The Puerto Rico package is documented here as a companion source for researchers who need a complete picture of NHTSA fatal crash data across all U.S. jurisdictions covered by FARS, or who are specifically studying Puerto Rico traffic safety trends.^1,3,5

Common Research Uses

This file is useful when a researcher needs official federal crash records for Puerto Rico rather than a secondary summary, or when building a complete NHTSA FARS dataset that includes U.S. territories alongside the 50 states and D.C.^1,3,4

Important Limitations

• Puerto Rico is a U.S. territory, not a state. This package is separate from FARS2024NationalCSV.zip, which covers the 50 states and D.C. only.
• FARS covers fatal crashes only. It is not a count of all crashes, injury-only crashes, property-damage claims, or insurance losses.
• A crash must involve a motor vehicle on a public trafficway and result in a death within 30 days to be included.
• Population-adjusted rates for Puerto Rico require a separate Census denominator. Use the SUMLEV 040 row for Puerto Rico (FIPS 72) from NST-EST2024-ALLDATA.csv.
• Geographic detail uses municipio codes, not state FIPS codes. Researchers joining this data to mainland state tables must account for the different geographic unit.
• Long-run historical comparisons using Puerto Rico data require checking each FARS vintage year separately, as Puerto Rico is excluded from the stitched 1975-2024 state population series used for the 50-state trend reports.

Suggested Citation

For the raw dataset, cite NHTSA as the issuing agency and link to the official file. For this explanatory card, cite Daily Driver Advocate as the independent research project that documented the source.