Top 5 Most Likely States for Deer Collisions

State Farm, using its claims data and state licensed-driver counts from the Federal Highway Administration, says the chances of any single American motorist colliding with a deer over the next 12 months is 1 in 174, down from 1 in 167 the year before. State Farm spokesperson Arlene Lester says the reason for the decline is simple: there are more cars on the road now compared to last year, and as the number of registrations goes up, the likelihood of any one driver hitting a deer goes down. “The deer aren’t doing anything differently,” she jokes.

The total number of deer collisions between July 1, 2012 and June 30, 2013 was 1.22 million, which State Farm says is down by 3.5 percent compared to the year before. The average property damage cost of these incidents was $3,414, up 3.3 percent from the year before, State Farm says. 

While total collisions were down this past year, State Farm notes that, over the past five years, the total number of deer collisions has actually increased by 2 percent. Still, the likelihood of any one driver being involved in such a collision is down by 2.5 percent over that time due, again, to the higher number of drivers on the road.

Following are the top five states where you are most likely to hit a deer, as well as some additional information in the survey.