In US crop and animal production from 2003 to 2007, about how many work deaths a year involved cattle as a primary or secondary cause: about 5, about 22, or about 100?
About 22. A CDC report counted 108 such deaths over those five years, an average of 21.6 a year.
Basis for every number below: CDC’s MMWR report “Fatalities Caused by Cattle, Four States, 2003 to 2008” (July 31, 2009; 58(29):800 to 804). Its national line (2,334 deaths in US crop and animal production in 2003 to 2007, 108 involving cattle) cites the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries, so these are work deaths. Its four-state review covers 21 occupational deaths in Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska. BLS Table A-1 for 2024 is used only as a separate industry snapshot: it counts all fatal work injuries in cattle ranching and farming, from any cause, and is not a count of deaths caused by cattle. “About 22 a year” is our arithmetic (108 / 5). We found no post-2008 national series of cattle-caused deaths. This page is not medical, legal or farm-safety advice.
A quiet barn aisle
Picture an empty barn aisle in soft light. An enamel milk pail sits on a wooden stool. It is the most peaceful object on the farm, and it has no opinion on the question. For that, you need a count, and a careful label on which count you are holding.
What CDC reported nationally
During 2003 to 2007, deaths in US crop and animal production totaled 2,334. Of those, 108, which the report prints as 5 percent, involved cattle as the primary or secondary cause. The report takes both figures from the federal Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries, so they are deaths at work, not every death involving cattle.
108 over five years is 21.6 a year, about 22. Unrounded, 108 of 2,334 is about 4.6 percent; the report rounds it to 5. The other 2,226 deaths in the same window did not involve cattle as a primary or secondary cause. That is an average for 2003 to 2007, not a claim about any later year. On a calendar, 21.6 a year works out to about one every 17 days in that window (365 / 21.6 = 16.9, our arithmetic).
Four Midwest states, closer up
Investigators reviewed every cattle-caused occupational death in Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska that two CDC-funded surveillance programs detected from 2003 to 2008, and found 21. Deaths in which a motor vehicle hit cattle on a road were excluded. This is a four-state case series, not a second national rate. Road deaths involving animals are counted separately in Splat: odds from the road kill database.
The 21 ranged in age from 8 to 86, with a median of 65 and a mean of 61. Twenty were male (95 percent), and 67 percent were aged 60 or older. Ten deaths involved an individual bull, six an individual cow, and five multiple cattle. The most common settings were working with cattle in enclosed areas such as pens and chutes (33 percent), moving or herding (24 percent), loading (14 percent), feeding (14 percent) and an open pasture (14 percent). In one third of the deaths, the animal was known to have shown aggression before.
The count is a floor. Outside Iowa, the review relied on newspaper reports, and checked against federal counts, the press-only states missed 5 of 15 cattle deaths. The report puts the sensitivity of press reports at 67 percent.
Why the 2024 industry total is a different measure
BLS counted 99 fatal work injuries in the cattle ranching and farming industry in 2024: 45 transportation incidents, 37 contact incidents, and 7 falls, slips or trips. That counts every fatal work injury in that industry that year, from any event, vehicle incidents and falls included. It does not say how many involved an animal. It is not “99 people killed by cows,” and it cannot be lined up against the 108 as a trend: one counts deaths that involved cattle across all crop and animal production over five years, the other counts deaths in one industry, from any cause, in one year.
For older context only: BLS reported that from 1992 to 1997, cattle accounted for over half of 186 job deaths from animal attacks.
What this page cannot say
We found no opened source for a national annual count of cattle-caused deaths after 2008, for cattle deaths outside work, or for a matched comparison with any other animal. So this page gives none of those. The carrying number stays about 22 a year, from 108 over 2003 to 2007. For injury odds from horseback riding and motorcycles, see horse and motorcycle accident odds.
The short version
A CDC report counted 108 US work deaths in crop and animal production that involved cattle as a primary or secondary cause in 2003 to 2007, about 22 a year (108 / 5 = 21.6). That was 5 percent of 2,334 such deaths. A four-state review found 21 cattle-caused work deaths in 2003 to 2008, mostly older men, with bulls in ten. BLS’s 99 deaths in cattle ranching and farming in 2024 count an industry, not an animal. About 22 a year is the answer for that window.
Last checked: 2026-10-19. This article was machine-checked against the sources below and has not been expert-reviewed. Spotted an error or a newer public figure? Please tell us on our contact page.
Sources
- CDC, MMWR, “Fatalities Caused by Cattle, Four States, 2003 to 2008,” July 31, 2009, Vol. 58, No. 29, https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5829a2.htm (accessed Oct 19, 2026). National 2003 to 2007 figures cite the BLS Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries.
- BLS, Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries, Table A-1, “Fatal occupational injuries by industry and event or exposure, all United States, 2024,” https://www.bls.gov/iif/fatal-injuries-tables/fatal-occupational-injuries-table-a-1-2024.htm (accessed Oct 19, 2026; last modified February 19, 2026).
- BLS, The Economics Daily, “Animal attacks and on-the-job fatalities,” January 25, 2001, https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2001/jan/wk4/art04.htm (accessed Oct 19, 2026).