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557 Texas Workers Died on the Job in 2024, the Most of Any State
The federal Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries counted 557 fatal work injuries in Texas in 2024, seven fewer than 2023 and again the highest total of any state.
The fatality rate was 3.9 per 100,000 full-time workers, against a national rate of 3.3.
Behind the total are trucking, construction, and the oilfield, the industries that run Texas and injure the people who run them.
This page presents the 2024 numbers with their sources, and what they mean legally for injured workers and surviving families.
All figures come from the BLS Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries as published by the Texas Division of Workers' Compensation in April 2026; the data is final.[1]
Questions about a specific work injury are free to ask: (888) 713-6653, any hour, in English or Spanish.
At-a-Glance: Texas Workplace Deaths, 2024
- 557 fatal work injuries in Texas in 2024, down from 564 in 2023 and 578 in 2022
- Texas's fatality rate of 3.9 per 100,000 full-time workers ran above the national rate of 3.3
- Construction deaths: 128, nearly one in four Texas workplace fatalities
- Transportation incidents caused 43 percent of all deaths, and truck drivers were the deadliest occupation at 124
- Hispanic or Latino workers suffered 253 of the 557 deaths, 45 percent of the total
- Falls killed 77 workers; contact incidents like falling objects and machinery killed 91
Where Texas Workers Died in 2024, Industry by Industry
Two sectors dominate the census. Trade, transportation, and utilities recorded 175 deaths, driven by transportation and warehousing at 114, with truck transportation alone at 76. Construction recorded 128, about 23 percent of the state total, with specialty trade contractors at 70 and heavy and civil engineering construction rising from 27 to 38.
| Industry | 2024 Deaths | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Trade, transportation, and utilities | 175 | Transportation and warehousing 114; truck transportation 76 |
| Construction | 128 | About 23% of all Texas workplace deaths; specialty trades 70 |
| Natural resources and mining | 62 | Includes oil and gas extraction (36) and well support activities (26) |
| Professional and business services | 58 | Includes landscaping services at 25 |
| Retail trade | 33 | Up 11 from 2023 |
| Manufacturing | 28 | Down from 32 in 2023 |
| Government (all levels) | 44 | Local government 29; up 16% from 2023 |
By occupation, driver/sales workers and truck drivers led the state at 124 deaths, 22 percent of the census. Construction laborers followed at 46, grounds maintenance workers at 27, and roofers at 18, up 64 percent in one year.
How Texas Workers Died: Events Behind the 557
| Event or Exposure | 2024 Deaths | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Transportation incidents | 242 | 43%, including 156 roadway crashes and 40 workers struck as pedestrians |
| Contact incidents | 91 | 16%, including 36 struck by falling objects and 22 caught in running equipment |
| Falls, slips, and trips | 77 | 14%, with 61 falls to a lower level |
| Violent acts | 75 | 14%, with 59 by another person |
| Harmful substances and environments | 62 | 11%, including 24 electrocutions and 8 temperature-extreme deaths |
| Explosions and fires | 10 | 2% |
Location tells the same story from another angle: 230 deaths on transportation infrastructure, 95 at industrial places and premises, and 80 on construction or maintenance sites.
The demographics are stark. Men accounted for 92 percent of the dead. Hispanic or Latino workers accounted for 253 deaths, 45 percent of the total, far above their share of the workforce, a gap that tracks the state's construction and outdoor labor force.
The Two Texas Workplace Death Datasets That Get Confused
Two federal datasets describe Texas workplace deaths, and mixing them produces wrong claims. The Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries, used throughout this page, counts all fatal work injuries: 557 in Texas for 2024. Separately, federal OSHA publishes counts of the workplace deaths its inspectors investigated, a much smaller number that excludes most roadway deaths and the self-employed. A widely-quoted figure of 58 Texas deaths in 2024 belongs to that OSHA-investigated dataset, not to the total. Any statistic on this subject should name its dataset, and this page does.
One more caution: CFOI counts exclude illness-related deaths unless caused by an injury event, so occupational disease sits outside these totals entirely.
What the 2024 Numbers Mean Legally for Texas Workers and Families
Texas is the only state where private employers can opt out of workers' compensation, so the legal aftermath of a workplace death or serious injury depends on facts the census does not show: who employed the worker, whether that employer subscribed, and which other companies' negligence contributed. An employer that opted out of workers' comp faces a negligence suit with its main defenses stripped, and third-party claims reach the contractors, drivers, and equipment makers behind many of the deaths counted above.
The transportation numbers deserve their own note: with 43 percent of workplace deaths on the road, many "workplace" cases are also trucking cases, governed by federal motor-carrier rules and Texas's bifurcated truck-trial procedure. And for the families behind the fatality counts, the civil side runs through the Texas wrongful death and survival statutes, carried by lawyers who handle Texas wrongful death claims.
Sorting which claims exist after a work injury is the routing question our guide to who can be sued for a Texas work injury walks in order. The consultation is free, and the routing usually takes one conversation.