Men are significantly more likely than women to die behind the wheel in the United States, but the size of that fatality gap changes considerably depending on where they drive.
A nationwide analysis from Levine And Wiss examined five years of federal crash data to identify the states where male drivers face the greatest fatality risk relative to women. The study found Wyoming has the highest Gender Crash Risk Index score in the country at 95.5, while Massachusetts sits at the opposite end of the ranking with a score of 15.8. New Mexico and Montana were also among the states with the highest male-driver risk.
The difference is part of a much larger national pattern. In 2024, 39,254 people died in motor vehicle crashes in the United States, according to finalized federal crash data. Levine And Wiss found that men accounted for 28,385 of those deaths, compared with 10,764 women. Among passenger-vehicle drivers specifically, men represented 72% of deaths.
The study’s population-adjusted figures make the divide even clearer: the male driver fatality rate reached 5.73 deaths per 100,000 residents, compared with 1.51 among women, making the male rate nearly four times higher.
Wyoming Has the Highest Overall Male Driver Risk
Levine And Wiss created a Gender Crash Risk Index to compare all 50 states without allowing more populous states to dominate the ranking simply because they record larger numbers of crashes.
The analysis incorporated male driver fatality rates, male fatal-crash involvement rates and the ratio between male and female driver fatalities, using federal data covering 2020 through 2024.
Wyoming emerged with the highest overall score at 95.5 out of 100. New Mexico and Montana were also identified among the states where male motorists face the greatest risk.
At the other end of the spectrum, Massachusetts recorded the lowest risk score, followed by New Jersey and Minnesota.
| Lower-Risk Rank | State | Gender Crash Risk Index | Male Fatality Rate per 100,000 | Male Fatal-Crash Involvement Rate |
| 1 | Massachusetts | 15.8 | 2.59 | 5.35 |
| 2 | New Jersey | 18.0 | 2.84 | 7.40 |
| 3 | Minnesota | 18.4 | 4.36 | 8.37 |
| 4 | Maryland | 19.5 | 3.97 | 9.51 |
| 5 | New York | 20.1 | 2.53 | 5.61 |
| 6 | Washington | 20.4 | 4.33 | 9.41 |
| 7 | Rhode Island | 20.8 | 1.80 | 4.05 |
| 8 | Illinois | 24.3 | 4.31 | 9.42 |
| 9 | Hawaii | 24.5 | 2.72 | 6.34 |
| 10 | Alaska | 26.7 | 4.21 | 10.18 |
Massachusetts’ male fatality rate of 2.59 per 100,000 was less than half the nationwide male rate used in the study. Rhode Island had an even lower individual fatality rate of 1.80, although its performance on the other index components placed it seventh overall among the lower-risk states.
The comparison illustrates why Levine And Wiss used several measures instead of simply ranking states by raw death counts.
Men Account for Nearly Three-Quarters of Passenger-Vehicle Driver Deaths
The state rankings sit within a persistent nationwide gender divide.
Insurance Institute for Highway Safety data show that 72% of passenger-vehicle drivers killed in 2024 were male, while males accounted for 66% of all passenger-vehicle occupant deaths.
That difference is not unique to one year. IIHS reports that passenger-vehicle occupant death rates per capita have generally been about twice as high for males as females over the period from 1975 through 2024.
Exposure accounts for part of the gap because men tend to drive more. IIHS analysis of 2022 travel data found men drove an average of 31 miles per day, compared with 26.2 for women.
Even after accounting for mileage, however, a sizable difference remained. Male drivers were involved in 2.8 fatal crashes per 100 million miles traveled, compared with 1.9 among women. That made the male fatal-crash involvement rate 48% higher per mile driven.
The data therefore suggest that additional driving exposure alone does not explain the entire disparity.
Young Men Show Some of the Largest Risk Differences
Age sharply changes the picture.
Among Americans ages 16 to 19 in 2024, males recorded a motor vehicle crash death rate of 19.6 per 100,000, compared with 7.3 for females of the same age. Among those ages 20 to 24, the overall motor vehicle death rate climbed to 26.2 per 100,000 men compared with 8.7 among women.
Levine And Wiss also found that males made up roughly three-quarters of the 2,899 teenagers who died in crashes during 2024.
Speeding is especially prominent among younger male drivers.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration:
- 39% of male drivers ages 15 to 20 involved in fatal crashes in 2024 were speeding.
- The share remained 34% among male drivers ages 21 to 24.
- Across all motorists, speeding contributed to 11,288 deaths, or 29% of U.S. traffic fatalities in 2024.
Higher speeds reduce the time drivers have to react and increase crash forces, making speeding particularly consequential when a collision does occur.
Alcohol Adds to the Male Fatality Gap
Impaired driving is another major difference identified in the Levine And Wiss analysis.
Among fatally injured male passenger-vehicle drivers, 34% had blood alcohol concentrations at or above 0.08%, compared with 24% of female drivers.
The percentage among men rose further on weekends, when 43% of fatally injured male passenger-vehicle drivers had BAC levels of at least 0.08%.
Speed and alcohol can also overlap. NHTSA reports that in 2024, speeding drivers involved in fatal crashes were more than twice as likely as non-speeding drivers to have BAC levels of 0.08% or greater, at 37% compared with 17%.
The figures do not mean that every male fatality involves speeding or alcohol. They do show, however, that behaviors associated with severe crashes appear disproportionately among groups already experiencing higher fatality rates.
Men Also Dominate Distracted-Driving Fatal Crashes
Distraction adds another factor.
Levine And Wiss found that 73% of distracted drivers involved in fatal crashes in 2024 were men. Nationally, distracted-driving crashes killed 3,208 people and injured an estimated 315,167 during the year.
Distraction includes more than mobile phone use. NHTSA defines it as any activity that diverts attention from driving, including eating, adjusting entertainment or navigation systems and interacting with passengers.
Still, texting is particularly dangerous because it can combine visual, manual and cognitive distraction. Reading or sending a message can take a driver’s eyes from the road for several seconds.
Taken alongside the speeding and alcohol figures, distracted driving adds to a pattern in which male motorists are more heavily represented in several behaviors associated with fatal collisions.
Pickups, Large Trucks and Single-Vehicle Crashes Show Additional Differences
Vehicle type also reveals notable patterns.
In 2024, 38% of pickup occupant deaths involved a rollover, compared with 33% of SUV occupant deaths and 20% of deaths among car occupants. Pickups were also involved disproportionately in single-vehicle fatalities: 54% of pickup occupant deaths occurred in single-vehicle crashes.
Levine And Wiss found that 66% of pickup occupant deaths occurred on rural roads.
The male share becomes even more pronounced when looking at commercial trucks. Men represented 750 of the 780 large-truck driver deaths recorded in 2024, or approximately 96%.
The dominance of men in some transportation occupations is relevant when interpreting those figures, meaning the statistics should not be read as evidence that sex alone determines crash risk.
Still, the broader fatality data consistently show a higher male representation across passenger vehicles, commercial vehicles and several high-risk crash categories.
Nighttime Driving Adds Another Layer of Risk
Time of day also matters.
Levine And Wiss identified 20,528 male-driver involvements in fatal crashes at night, compared with 19,931 during daytime hours. Men also represented 75.16% of drivers of known sex involved in fatal crashes overall.
The combination of darkness, impaired driving, fatigue and higher speeds can increase risks during nighttime travel, although the contribution of each factor varies from crash to crash.
Holiday periods provide another snapshot of male-driver involvement. Among four major 2024 travel periods examined by Levine And Wiss:
| Holiday Period | Male Drivers Involved in Fatal Crashes |
| Independence Day | 572 |
| Labor Day | 499 |
| Thanksgiving | 462 |
| Memorial Day | 435 |
Independence Day produced the largest male-driver involvement total among the four periods.
New York Data Shows the Gender Divide Even in a Lower-Risk State
New York provides an important example of how the national pattern can persist even in a state ranking relatively well overall.
The state placed fifth among the lower-risk states in the Gender Crash Risk Index, with a score of 20.1 and a male driver fatality rate of 2.53 per 100,000.
Yet among New York drivers ages 16 to 24, men were involved in 58,182 crashes in 2024, compared with 35,494 involving women in the same age group.
That means a relatively low statewide risk ranking does not eliminate the gender difference. Instead, it indicates that the absolute level of male-driver risk is lower relative to many other states.
How Levine And Wiss Built the Gender Crash Risk Index
Levine And Wiss analyzed crash data from 2020 through 2024, drawing primarily from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System and Insurance Institute for Highway Safety data.
The ranking focuses on three rate-based measures:
| Index Measure | What It Captures |
| Male driver fatality rate | Male driver deaths relative to population |
| Male fatal-crash involvement rate | How frequently male drivers are involved in fatal crashes relative to population |
| Male-to-female driver fatality ratio | The size of each state’s gender gap |
Using rates rather than raw totals prevents states with larger populations from automatically ranking as more dangerous simply because more people live and drive there.
The index should therefore be interpreted as a comparison of state-level male crash risk rather than a prediction that an individual man is likely to be involved in a fatal collision.
Still, the national pattern is difficult to miss. Men accounted for 72% of passenger-vehicle driver deaths in 2024, and their driver fatality rate was nearly four times the female rate used in the Levine And Wiss analysis.
The data also show that geography, age, exposure and driving behavior intersect. Wyoming sits at the top of the state risk ranking, while Massachusetts records the lowest overall score. Younger men face especially high fatality and speeding rates, and males remain disproportionately represented in impaired-driving, distracted-driving and large-truck fatalities.
Taken together, the Levine And Wiss findings show that the gender gap in U.S. road deaths is not confined to one state, one age group or one type of crash. It is a nationwide pattern, but its severity changes substantially depending on where, when and how men drive.