19 Texas Cities Rank Among the Worst in the U.S. for Drunk Driving Deaths Per Capita

New analysis of 2020–2024 NHTSA data: Odessa ranks #2 nationally by rate, and 3 of the 10 worst U.S. cities are in Texas.

FORT WORTH, TX, UNITED STATES, June 2, 2026 /⁨EINPresswire.com⁩/ – Texas has more cities among the nation’s worst for alcohol-impaired driving deaths, on a per-capita basis, than any other state, according to a new analysis of federal crash data released today by Patterson Law Group, a Texas personal injury firm.

Using the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) for 2020 through 2024 — the most recent five-year data, released by NHTSA in April 2026 — the firm reviewed the 300 largest U.S. cities and ranked the 100 with the highest rate of people killed in crashes involving an alcohol-impaired driver (a driver at a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08 or higher), measured per 100,000 residents — the same definition NHTSA uses for its national “alcohol-impaired driving fatalities” figure. Because the rankings are adjusted for population, smaller cities with repeated impaired-driving deaths — not only the largest metros — rise to the top.

Key findings (per-capita death rates, per 100,000 residents, among the 300 largest U.S. cities):

• 19 Texas cities rank in the national Top 100 — more than any other state.
• Three of the ten worst U.S. cities are in Texas: Odessa (#2), Beaumont (#5), and Dallas (#8).
• Odessa ranks second at 53.0 alcohol-impaired driving deaths per 100,000 residents.
• In Midland, Odessa, Corpus Christi, and San Antonio, roughly 72–82% of those deaths involved a driver at 0.15 or higher — nearly twice the legal limit.
• As a validation check, the analysis reproduces NHTSA’s published national figure of 11,904 alcohol-impaired driving deaths for 2024 exactly.

“We see the human side of these numbers every week, so the rankings didn’t surprise us,” said Travis Patterson, Managing Partner of Patterson Law Group. “What still gets me is the severity — in a lot of these Texas cities, most of these deaths involved a driver at nearly twice the legal limit. That’s not a one-off. That’s a habitual problem, and it deserves a real public conversation.”

“Behind every one of these numbers is a Texas family that got the worst phone call of their life,” Patterson added. “The hard part is how preventable it is — a planned ride home, an interlock on a repeat offender’s car, more patrols when the bars let out. We’re putting this out so people can see exactly where the problem is concentrated, because that’s where the effort needs to go.”

What drivers can do: plan a sober ride before going out, use a designated driver or rideshare, support ignition-interlock requirements for repeat offenders, and back high-visibility enforcement during the late-night and weekend hours when impaired driving peaks.

The full analysis — including every Texas city in the Top 100, the per-capita death rates, and the methodology — is available from Patterson Law Group, with related coverage on the firm’s Drunk Driving blog hub.

About Patterson Law Group: Patterson Law Group is a Texas personal injury firm with offices in Fort Worth, Arlington, and San Antonio. The firm has represented injured Texans and their families for more than 30 years and works on a contingency-fee basis.

Travis Patterson Patterson Law Group +1 817-784-2000