The most deadly congressional districts

Dangerous by Design: Congressional Districts from Smart Growth America and the National Complete Streets Coalition

7,522 people were struck and killed while walking in 2022—a 40-year high with more than 20 people killed every day. This crisis has unfolded in part because our nation’s streets are dangerous by design, built primarily to move cars quickly at the expense of keeping everyone safe. Unfortunately, this crisis will continue to get worse until those in power finally make safety for all who use our roads a top priority.

While our first two 2024 Dangerous by Design releases showed the most deadly metro areas and states for people walking, Smart Growth America has also ranked all 435 congressional districts (plus one in the District of Columbia) to show which members of Congress represent the most deadly congressional districts in the US. Populations vary from district to district (House districts vary from just under 600,000 people up to a little under one million), so districts are ranked by their rate of death per 100,000 people.

While many of the most deadly U.S. House districts are found in the most deadly metro areas or states, there are some notable outliers. For instance, the #1 most deadly district in the country (AZ-3 with 243 deaths from 2018-2022) includes a large portion of the Phoenix metro area, which is only the 23rd most deadly metro area overall. And while metro Atlanta is outside of the top 20 most deadly metro areas (#29), the #2 most deadly district in the country (GA-5) includes most of the City of Atlanta and a sizable portion of the Atlanta metro area. Members of Congress must take action to protect the most vulnerable road users in their districts.

We will not solve this pedestrian safety crisis with single projects or limited policies. It requires an overhaul of how we evaluate, fund, and implement transportation across the entire system. Our current approach has been defined by attempting small, project-by-project, piecemeal changes. The scale of this approach is out of step with the scope of the crisis, and it has failed to stem the historic numbers of death and injuries for people walking.

We need a fundamentally new approach that prioritizes the safety of the most vulnerable people first. Our full recommendations detail a broad spectrum of actions that can be taken immediately or over a prolonged period for federal agencies and Congress, state DOTs, and local leaders and agencies who are serious about addressing this epidemic.

Find your congressional district in the table below. Unsure what your district is? Look it up here: https://www.house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative