Used car safety, rank #188 of 188
Kia Rio Safety Rating (2020-23)
Real IIHS driver death rates for the 2020-23 Kia Rio, a mini car, compared with its class and with the current model.
IIHS 2026 edition Β· 2021β2024 crashes. Results apply only to the model years and drivetrain shown. Read the new release and its limits Β· Browse the older edition. Prices and reliability from older model years have not been carried forward.
The 2020-23 Kia Rio has an IIHS driver death rate of 170 per million registered vehicle years against a mini cars average of 158, which is 8% above the class average. That places it #188 of 188 used vehicles with a safety score of 0.0/100.
What the Kia Rio death rate means
At 170 driver deaths per million registered vehicle years, the Kia Rio is 8% worse than the mini cars average of 158. The 95% confidence interval is 104 to 236, which overlaps the class average, so some of the gap may be chance.
The other-driver death rate of 54 measures the opposite risk: how many drivers of other vehicles died in crashes with a Kia Rio. Its 95% confidence interval is 20β87. It is no higher than the Kia Rio's own driver death rate. Remember that death rates describe vehicles and their drivers together: IIHS adjusts for driver age and gender, but not for where or how carefully people drive. Our score weights this model's own rate at 70% and its class at 30%; see how we rank used cars.
Compared with similar used cars
The safest mini cars in the IIHS study, by our score, with the Kia Rio highlighted. It ranks 1 of the 1 shown.
| Vehicle | Years | Death rate | Score | Reliability | Used price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kia Rio (this page) | 2020-23 | 170 (104 to 236) | 0.0 | n/a | n/a |
Class average for mini cars: 158 driver deaths per million registered vehicle years.
Safety recalls for the Kia Rio
We do not have a verified NHTSA recall lookup for this nameplate and model year. Check by VIN rather than treating that as a clean record.
Recall campaigns from the NHTSA recalls database, retrieved 2026-09-16. A campaign covers a range of build dates, not every car of the model year, and IIHS reports this nameplate across several years while these results are for one year. Confirm against the VIN. Recalls do not affect the death rate on this page.
Kia Rio: Common Questions
Is the Kia Rio a safe car?
Not on this measure: its drivers died at a higher rate than its class average. IIHS recorded a driver death rate of 170 per million registered vehicle years for the 2020-23 Kia Rio, 8% above the class average (158 for mini cars). That earns a used-car safety score of 0.0 out of 100 and rank #188 of 188 used vehicles.
What is the Kia Rio driver death rate?
170 driver deaths per million registered vehicle years, with a 95% confidence interval of 104 to 236. Drivers of other vehicles that collided with a Kia Rio died at a rate of 54 per million. Source: IIHS driver death rates by make and model, covering 2020-23 models.
How does the Kia Rio compare with other mini cars?
The mini cars class averages 158 driver deaths per million; the Kia Rio sits at 170. Among the 1 mini cars compared above it ranks 1 by safety score.