Recreational boating in the United States killed 556 people in 2024. That is the lowest annual count in twenty years of records, and it still means one death roughly every fifteen hours of the year.
Every number on this page comes from one document: the Coast Guard casualty report for 2024. We read the tables rather than the press release, so where the summary rounds a figure you get the underlying count as well.
The tables also answer the question most safety pages skip, which is not how many people die but what they were doing when it happened.
Table of contents
Key takeaways
- 3,887 reportable boating incidents in 2024 caused 556 deaths, 2,170 injuries and about 88 million dollars in property damage.
- 556 deaths is the lowest figure in the twenty year series that begins in 2005 with 697.
- The fatality rate fell to 4.8 per 100,000 registered vessels, down from a pandemic peak of 6.5 in 2020.
- Capsizings and falls overboard were 11 percent of incidents and 45 percent of deaths.
- Alcohol was the leading known contributing factor in deaths, present in 92 of them.
- Where instruction was known, 69 percent of deaths involved an operator with no boating safety education.
- Saturday and July are the two most dangerous entries on the calendar, with 159 and 115 deaths.
- Where length was known, four of every five drowning victims were aboard a vessel under 21 feet.
The national picture
3,887 boating incidents were reported in 2024
The Coast Guard logged 3,887 reportable recreational boating incidents in calendar year 2024. Those produced 556 deaths, 2,170 injuries and 88,319,135 dollars in damage to property, a figure the report gives to the cent.1
556 deaths is the lowest total in twenty years
The twenty year series that runs from 2005 to 2024 has never recorded a lower annual death toll. It opens at 697 in 2005, dips to 560 in 2013, spikes to 767 in the first pandemic summer of 2020, and lands at 556 in 2024.2
Deaths fell while incidents and injuries rose
Against 2023, deaths fell 1.4 percent, but incidents rose 1.1 percent and injuries rose 2.1 percent. More people are getting hurt on the water and fewer are dying there, which is the shape you would expect from better rescue and worse crowding rather than from fewer accidents.3
The fatality rate is 4.8 per 100,000 registered vessels
The headline rate for 2024 is 4.8 deaths per 100,000 registered recreational vessels, a 2 percent improvement on the 4.9 of 2023. Restricted to motorised vessels the rate is lower still at 3.5, because 382 deaths are set against 10,852,992 registered motorboats.4
The rate peaked at 6.5 in 2020
The pandemic year stands out in every column. 767 deaths against 11,838,188 registered vessels gave a rate of 6.5 per 100,000, the worst in the modern series. It has fallen every year since, and 2024 sits 26 percent below that peak.5
11.67 million recreational vessels are registered
Registrations stood at 11,674,073 at the end of 2024, up 1.1 percent on the year. That is still below the 12,942,414 of 2005, so the American recreational fleet is about a tenth smaller than it was two decades ago while the population has grown.6
Paddlecraft make up only 628,507 registrations
Of the registered fleet, 628,507 vessels are paddlecraft, 81,783 are sailboats and 36,290 are rowboats. Nearly everything else is motorised. Most canoes, kayaks and stand up paddleboards are registered nowhere at all, which is why per-vessel rates say little about them.7
How boating accidents happen
Hitting something fixed is the most common accident
Collision with a fixed object was the single most common incident type in 2024, with 929 incidents involving 1,430 vessels. It caused 69 deaths, 333 injuries and 15.2 million dollars in damage, more property loss than any category except grounding.8
Vessel on vessel collisions injure the most people
The 747 collisions between vessels involved 1,516 boats and produced 570 injuries, more than any other incident type. They caused 43 deaths, well under a tenth of the annual total, because these are usually survivable impacts rather than immersions.9
Falls overboard killed 138 people
Only 239 incidents were classed as a person falling overboard, but they caused 138 deaths, of which 106 were drownings. That is one death for every 1.7 incidents, the worst ratio of any category in the report.10
Capsizings killed 111 in 202 incidents
Capsizing produced 111 deaths from 202 incidents, 92 of them drownings, alongside 106 injuries and only 1.85 million dollars of damage. A capsizing costs lives rather than money, which is exactly why insurance figures are a poor guide to boating risk.11
Two categories cause 11 percent of accidents and 45 percent of deaths
Capsizings and falls overboard together account for 441 of the 3,887 incidents and 249 of the 556 deaths. Every safety intervention that works, from wearing a flotation device to staying seated in a small boat, is aimed at this pair.12
Groundings cost the most money
The 394 grounding incidents of 2024 caused 21.5 million dollars in damage, the largest property figure in the report, against 13 deaths and 223 injuries. Running aground is the expensive accident, not the fatal one.13
What causes them
Operation of the vessel is the primary factor in 2,385 incidents
Grouped by primary contributing factor, operation of the vessel accounts for 2,385 incidents, 268 deaths and 1,540 injuries. Environment follows with 562 incidents but a disproportionate 120 deaths, and equipment failure with 384 incidents and only 18.14
The top five causes are all human
Ranked by incidents, the leading individual factors are operator inattention at 551, improper lookout at 464, operator inexperience at 436, machinery failure at 289 and navigation rules violations at 288. Four of the five describe the person, not the boat.15
Alcohol was involved in 92 deaths
Alcohol appeared as a contributing factor in 244 incidents, 92 deaths and 192 injuries. The Coast Guard names it the leading known contributing factor in fatal incidents, at 20 percent of deaths. Drug use is recorded separately and much smaller, at 7 incidents and 5 deaths.16
Weather and water killed 108 people
Hazardous waters contributed to 53 deaths from 172 incidents and weather to 55 deaths from 188. Both convert into fatalities at a far higher rate than mechanical problems, and both are knowable before you leave the dock.17
Speed injures, water kills
Excessive speed contributed to 279 incidents and 245 injuries but only 26 deaths. Force of wave or wake shows the same shape at 122 incidents, 80 injuries and 5 deaths. These are the categories where people get hurt and survive.18
Overloading is rare and lethal
Improper loading contributed to 54 incidents and 25 deaths, and overloading to 27 incidents and 10 deaths. Fewer than 1 in 45 incidents, but nearly 1 in 16 deaths. A boat loaded past its limit does not have a small accident.19
The report states that violations of the navigation rules were present in 55 percent of incidents, 34 percent of deaths and 63 percent of injuries. Collisions of any kind account for 56 percent of incidents, 24 percent of deaths and 54 percent of injuries.20
Who is at the helm
195 of 312 deaths involved an operator with no education
Where the operator instruction was recorded, 312 deaths in total, 195 involved someone who had taken no boating education of any kind. The Coast Guard prints this as 69 percent of deaths where instruction was known. In 270 further deaths the instruction was never established.21
Only 19 percent held a nationally approved certificate
The same summary states that just 19 percent of deaths where instruction was known involved an operator with a nationally approved boating safety certificate. State courses account for 48 of the deaths in that table, internet courses 13, informal tuition 13 and the US Power Squadrons two.22
Experienced operators appear in the most incidents
By hours at the helm, operators with 101 to 500 hours of experience were aboard 1,472 vessels involved in incidents, more than any other bracket, and 148 deaths. Operators with no experience at all appear in only 83 vessels. Exposure, not incompetence, drives the raw counts.23
Two age brackets carry two thirds of the deaths
Operators aged 36 to 55 were aboard 1,528 vessels with 183 deaths, and those over 55 aboard 1,339 vessels with 185 deaths. Together that is 368 of the 556 deaths. Operators aged 12 and under appear in 16 vessels and four deaths.24
When accidents happen, and on what
July is the deadliest month with 115 deaths
July produced 905 incidents, 115 deaths and 557 injuries, the worst month on every count. June follows with 78 deaths and August with 68. January is the quietest at 68 incidents and 12 deaths, and the five months from May to September carry 377 of the 556 deaths.25
Saturday alone accounts for 159 deaths
Saturday produced 1,171 incidents, 159 deaths and 717 injuries. Sunday adds 872 incidents and 135 deaths. The two weekend days carry 294 deaths, 53 percent of the annual total, on two sevenths of the calendar.26
The dangerous window is late afternoon
The two busiest time bands are 2:31 to 4:30 in the afternoon with 767 incidents and 108 deaths, and 4:31 to 6:30 with 768 incidents and 90 deaths. Together those four hours hold 40 percent of all incidents in the year.27
Open motorboats dominate both columns
Open motorboats were involved in 47 percent of reported incidents and 46 percent of deaths, 255 in absolute terms. Personal watercraft are second in incidents at 19 percent but produce only 38 deaths, because riders are thrown clear into water they can usually be pulled from.28
Small boats produce most of the drownings
Vessels under 16 feet accounted for 217 deaths, of which 164 were drownings, a share of 76 percent. Between 16 and 26 feet the figures are 238 deaths and 143 drownings. The report summarises it as four of every five drowning victims being aboard a vessel under 21 feet.29
Propellers caused 30 deaths and 158 injuries
There were 169 propeller strike incidents in 2024, causing 30 deaths and 158 injuries. It is a small share of the total and the one accident type where the boat itself, rather than the water, does the harm.30
Frequently asked questions
Use this data
Every figure on this page is free to reuse in articles, presentations and research, as long as you link back to this page. All of it is drawn from the U.S. Coast Guard casualty report for 2024, with the specific table named in the source list.
Cite this report
Copy one of the citations below.
Sources
- U.S. Coast Guard, Recreational Boating Statistics 2024, Executive Summary (uscgboating.org)
- U.S. Coast Guard, Recreational Boating Statistics 2024, Table 29 (uscgboating.org)
- U.S. Coast Guard, Recreational Boating Statistics 2024, Executive Summary (uscgboating.org)
- U.S. Coast Guard, Recreational Boating Statistics 2024, Table 31 (uscgboating.org)
- U.S. Coast Guard, Recreational Boating Statistics 2024, Table 31 (uscgboating.org)
- U.S. Coast Guard, Recreational Boating Statistics 2024, Table 36 (uscgboating.org)
- U.S. Coast Guard, Recreational Boating Statistics 2024, Table 37 (uscgboating.org)
- U.S. Coast Guard, Recreational Boating Statistics 2024, Table 16 (uscgboating.org)
- U.S. Coast Guard, Recreational Boating Statistics 2024, Table 16 (uscgboating.org)
- U.S. Coast Guard, Recreational Boating Statistics 2024, Table 16 (uscgboating.org)
- U.S. Coast Guard, Recreational Boating Statistics 2024, Table 16 (uscgboating.org)
- U.S. Coast Guard, Recreational Boating Statistics 2024, Tables 16 and 29 (uscgboating.org)
- U.S. Coast Guard, Recreational Boating Statistics 2024, Table 16 (uscgboating.org)
- U.S. Coast Guard, Recreational Boating Statistics 2024, Table 5 (uscgboating.org)
- U.S. Coast Guard, Recreational Boating Statistics 2024, Table 5 (uscgboating.org)
- U.S. Coast Guard, Recreational Boating Statistics 2024, Table 5 and Executive Summary (uscgboating.org)
- U.S. Coast Guard, Recreational Boating Statistics 2024, Table 5 (uscgboating.org)
- U.S. Coast Guard, Recreational Boating Statistics 2024, Table 5 (uscgboating.org)
- U.S. Coast Guard, Recreational Boating Statistics 2024, Table 5 (uscgboating.org)
- U.S. Coast Guard, Recreational Boating Statistics 2024, Executive Summary (uscgboating.org)
- U.S. Coast Guard, Recreational Boating Statistics 2024, Table 23 (uscgboating.org)
- U.S. Coast Guard, Recreational Boating Statistics 2024, Table 23 and Executive Summary (uscgboating.org)
- U.S. Coast Guard, Recreational Boating Statistics 2024, Table 22 (uscgboating.org)
- U.S. Coast Guard, Recreational Boating Statistics 2024, Table 22 (uscgboating.org)
- U.S. Coast Guard, Recreational Boating Statistics 2024, Table 12 (uscgboating.org)
- U.S. Coast Guard, Recreational Boating Statistics 2024, Table 12 (uscgboating.org)
- U.S. Coast Guard, Recreational Boating Statistics 2024, Table 12 (uscgboating.org)
- U.S. Coast Guard, Recreational Boating Statistics 2024, Executive Summary (uscgboating.org)
- U.S. Coast Guard, Recreational Boating Statistics 2024, Table 15 (uscgboating.org)
- U.S. Coast Guard, Recreational Boating Statistics 2024, Executive Summary (uscgboating.org)
