Use NHTSA and IIHS ratings together, not as competing versions of one scale. NHTSA assigns one-to-five stars for frontal crashes, side crashes and rollover resistance, while IIHS gives test-specific grades for crashworthiness and crash avoidance or mitigation. There is no valid star-to-letter conversion. To compare a car fairly, match the exact model year and body style, verify build-date, trim and equipment qualifications, then compare the individual tests that both agencies actually performed.
What is the difference between NHTSA stars and IIHS ratings?
NHTSA and IIHS answer related but different safety questions. NHTSA is a federal consumer-information program built around a five-star scale. IIHS is an independent testing organization whose vehicle pages combine crashworthiness results, crash-avoidance performance and equipment evaluations. A car can receive a high NHTSA score and still have a weaker IIHS result in a particular overlap test, or the reverse, because the agencies use different test designs, measurements and scoring rules.
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| Comparison point | NHTSA | IIHS | How to use the difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Headline scale | One to five stars, including component ratings and an Overall Vehicle Score | Category grades such as Good, Acceptable, Marginal and Poor; award labels are separate | Never convert a star count into an IIHS letter grade. |
| Main scope | Frontal and side crash protection, rollover resistance and listed driver-assistance recommendations; pedestrian assessments begin with some 2027 models | Crashworthiness plus crash avoidance and mitigation, with headlights, seat-belt reminders and child-seat-anchor usability shown where applicable | Read the named category, not just the badge or headline. |
| Test setup | Its own frontal, side, pole and rollover procedures and an overall-score calculation | Its own small-overlap, moderate-overlap, side and technology procedures | Different results can reflect different tests rather than an error. |
| Applicability | Check model year and configuration notes | Check model year, build date, trim, tested side and whether equipment is standard or optional | Match the rated configuration to the vehicle you are considering. |
| Cross-vehicle limits | Frontal and Overall Vehicle Score: same class and within 250 pounds; side and rollover can be compared across classes | Small- and moderate-overlap front results should be compared among vehicles of similar weight; other displayed ratings can be compared across categories | Apply the agency’s qualification beside every comparison. |
How do I compare NHTSA and IIHS ratings for the same car?
Begin with the exact vehicle, then record each agency’s results separately. Use the NHTSA Car Safety Ratings lookup and the IIHS vehicle-ratings lookup rather than relying on a dealer listing or a used-car advertisement. A related body style, a different production date or an option package can change which result applies.
- Identify the vehicle precisely. Write down model year, make, model and body style. Add build date, trim, powertrain and safety-equipment details whenever either agency shows a qualification. A sedan, hatchback, wagon, coupe or crossover sold under a similar name is not automatically covered by the same test result.
- Open both official vehicle pages. Search the exact year and version in NHTSA’s ratings portal and IIHS’s vehicle ratings. If a page covers a range of years, expand the applicability notes instead of assuming the newest result covers every earlier vehicle.
- Copy category-level findings. For NHTSA, record frontal, side, rollover and Overall Vehicle Score results, plus any warning symbol or unrated item. For IIHS, record every relevant crashworthiness grade, crash-prevention result, headlight result, seat-belt-reminder result and child-seat-anchor usability result.
- Read the qualifications next to each result. Note tested build dates, trim restrictions, the side of the vehicle tested and whether a crash-avoidance system is standard, optional or unavailable. An optional system’s performance does not describe a car sold without that system.
- Compare like with like. Apply NHTSA’s class and weight rule to frontal and overall comparisons. Apply IIHS’s similar-weight guidance to small-overlap and moderate-overlap front comparisons. Do not use a broad class label to erase a substantial weight difference.
- Check flags, missing data and award year. NHTSA says a safety-concern marker is not included in its Overall Vehicle Score. IIHS Top Safety Pick and Top Safety Pick+ requirements change by year, so record the award year and inspect the underlying grades.
- Recheck before buying or publishing. Coverage, equipment and award criteria change. Open the current vehicle page again, especially for a recently redesigned model or a model-year 2027 vehicle with the new pedestrian assessment.
How NHTSA’s five-star system works
Frontal crash protection
NHTSA’s current program describes a 35-mph frontal barrier test. The agency uses injury measurements from the test to estimate occupant-protection performance. The resulting frontal rating is one component of the vehicle’s safety profile; it is not a prediction that every real-world frontal crash will produce the same injuries or outcome.
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Side crash protection
NHTSA describes a 38.5-mph side-barrier test and a 20-mph side-pole test. Review the side component and the pole-related information on the vehicle page rather than treating “side” as a single generic event. The side procedures are different from IIHS’s side test, so a side-star result and an IIHS side grade should remain separate entries in your notes.
Rollover resistance
NHTSA assesses rollover resistance using static stability and a driving maneuver. This is a vehicle-level resistance assessment, not a guarantee that a particular crash cannot roll over. It belongs beside, rather than inside, your review of frontal and side occupant protection.
Overall Vehicle Score
NHTSA’s Overall Vehicle Score combines weighted injury probabilities from frontal and side crashes with a projected injury probability based on rollover resistance. Because it is a calculation, two vehicles with similar component stars can have different overall results. Conversely, the overall number can hide an important weakness in one component.
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NHTSA states that an identified safety concern is not included in the Overall Vehicle Score calculation. Treat the warning as a separate decision point. Do not describe an overall score as a complete summary when the page also identifies a concern, and do not treat an absent component rating as a passing result.
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How IIHS grades the same car
Crashworthiness
IIHS uses crashworthiness ratings to describe how well a vehicle protects occupants in specified crashes. Its current display uses Good, Acceptable, Marginal and Poor grades where a category applies. Read the detailed result for each test, including the injury measures, restraint performance and structural observations presented on the vehicle page.
Crash avoidance and mitigation
IIHS separately evaluates technology intended to prevent a crash or reduce its severity. Front crash prevention, headlights and other equipment categories can therefore appear beside crash-test grades. A strong crashworthiness grade does not prove that an automatic-braking system works well, and a strong prevention result does not replace the structural crashworthiness tests.
Small-overlap and moderate-overlap frontal tests
The 2026 IIHS large-car class page describes a small-overlap test at 40 mph in which 25 percent of the vehicle’s width strikes a rigid barrier. Its moderate-overlap test uses 40 mph and 40 percent of the vehicle’s width striking a deformable barrier. These impact locations and barrier designs differ from NHTSA’s frontal procedure, which is why the two agencies’ frontal results cannot be merged into one score.
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Side test
IIHS describes a side test in which an SUV-like rig strikes the driver’s side at 37 mph. The rig, speed and evaluation method are distinct from NHTSA’s side-barrier and side-pole procedures. When a vehicle has different left- and right-side equipment or a qualification for the tested side, preserve that note in your comparison.
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Equipment and usability categories
IIHS pages can show headlight performance, seat-belt-reminder results and child-seat-anchor ease of use in addition to crash tests. These are practical ownership considerations, but they are not interchangeable with a structural crash grade. Record them as their own rows in a worksheet and note whether the equipment is standard across the trim range.
Are IIHS ratings better than NHTSA ratings?
Neither system is universally “better.” The agencies measure different things with different procedures, and no independent comparative statistic establishes that one system is always more predictive or superior. NHTSA supplies a consistent star-based summary that includes rollover resistance and an overall calculation. IIHS supplies more granular test and technology grades, including overlap tests and equipment performance. Using both gives you more information than choosing one winner.
When someone asks which agency to trust, the useful answer is to ask which question they need answered. For a broad federal star summary, start with NHTSA. For detailed differences in overlap protection, headlights or crash-prevention systems, inspect IIHS. For a purchase decision, combine the results only after confirming that the same model year and equipment are covered.
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NHTSA frontal and overall comparisons
NHTSA says frontal ratings and Overall Vehicle Scores should be compared only among vehicles in the same class and weighing within plus or minus 250 pounds. If either condition fails, present the figures as separate facts rather than ranking one vehicle against the other. A heavier vehicle can interact differently with the test barrier and with another vehicle in a real crash, so a simple star-count ranking is misleading outside the stated limits.
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NHTSA side and rollover comparisons
NHTSA permits side and rollover ratings to be compared across vehicle classes. That permission does not remove the need to check model year and configuration. A side rating from one production version should not be substituted for a different version merely because both vehicles share a nameplate.
IIHS frontal comparisons
IIHS advises comparing small-overlap and moderate-overlap front ratings among vehicles of similar weight. Keep that qualification next to any chart or shopping-list comparison. Other ratings displayed in an IIHS class summary can be compared across categories, but you should still verify that the same test year and equipment apply.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Why does my car have different NHTSA and IIHS ratings?
Different ratings are expected when the tests, speeds, barriers, impact overlap or scoring rules differ. NHTSA’s 35-mph frontal barrier test is not the same event as IIHS’s 40-mph small-overlap or moderate-overlap test. NHTSA’s side procedures also differ from IIHS’s 37-mph SUV-like side impact. The agencies may therefore expose different strengths or weaknesses without either result being invalid.
Configuration is another common explanation. A mid-year engineering change, a new trim, a different build date or an optional automatic-braking system can make one result apply only to part of the model range. Read the applicability text before concluding that the agencies disagree about the same physical vehicle.
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How to handle awards and headline labels
IIHS Top Safety Pick and Top Safety Pick+ are award labels governed by that year’s published requirements. For 2026, the cited large-car class page lists required crash-test grades, headlight requirements and front-crash-prevention performance for each award level. Because the criteria are annual, an award from one year is not a permanent specification for every model year.
Use an award as an index to the detailed page, not as a replacement for it. Check which trims were tested, whether the qualifying prevention system was standard, and whether any individual category is missing or weaker than the award headline suggests. NHTSA’s Overall Vehicle Score should be treated similarly: it is useful context, but a warning marker or component result can change the decision.
What changed for model-year 2027 pedestrian protection?
On September 18, 2026, NHTSA announced its first pedestrian-protection assessments for model-year 2027 vehicles. The announcement said 102 vehicle models from 10 manufacturers met the new performance criteria. This is a model-year-specific addition; do not assume that a 2027 pedestrian result exists for an earlier vehicle.
The assessment covers three impact scenarios:
- Child and adult headform impacts to hood and windshield areas.
- Upper-leg impacts to the leading edge of the hood.
- Lower-limb impacts to the bumper.
NHTSA says the vehicle rating page uses a yellow box to show whether the result is pass, fail, pending or not submitted. Check that box on the individual model page. A pending or not-submitted status is not a passing score, and the new pedestrian assessment does not replace the existing crashworthiness and driver-assistance information.
A practical worksheet for one vehicle
Make a two-column record before comparing the car with another model. Keeping the agencies separate prevents accidental star-to-grade conversions.
| Item to record | What to write down |
|---|---|
| Vehicle identity | Model year, body style, trim, powertrain, build date and vehicle identification details available on the rating pages |
| NHTSA frontal | Frontal star result and any qualification |
| NHTSA side | Side star result, including the relevant barrier or pole information |
| NHTSA rollover | Rollover-resistance result and the test or calculation note |
| NHTSA overall | Overall Vehicle Score, plus any safety-concern symbol |
| NHTSA pedestrian | For applicable 2027 models, yellow-box status: pass, fail, pending or not submitted |
| IIHS crashworthiness | Small-overlap, moderate-overlap, side and any other listed structural grades |
| IIHS avoidance | Front-crash-prevention result and whether the system is standard or optional |
| IIHS equipment | Headlights, seat-belt reminder and child-seat-anchor usability results |
| IIHS award | Award name and award year, if shown |
Once the worksheet is complete, compare only rows that describe the same type of evidence. For example, use NHTSA’s rollover row to compare rollover ratings, not to decide that a Good IIHS small-overlap grade is equivalent to a particular number of stars.
Common comparison mistakes and their fixes
- Converting stars to letters. There is no official conversion. Keep the scales in separate columns.
- Using a neighboring model year. A redesign, software revision or equipment change can alter a result. Select the exact year.
- Ignoring build-date notes. IIHS can limit a result to vehicles built after or before a stated date. Match the vehicle’s production information.
- Assuming an optional system is installed. Confirm the trim’s standard equipment before using an IIHS prevention result.
- Ranking overall scores across unrelated sizes. Apply NHTSA’s same-class and plus-or-minus-250-pound rule for frontal and overall comparisons.
- Comparing overlap tests without considering weight. Follow IIHS’s similar-weight guidance for small-overlap and moderate-overlap front results.
- Treating an award as every category’s result. Open the award-year page and inspect each required and non-required category.
- Calling missing data “good.” An unrated, pending or not-submitted category is unknown, not a positive grade.
- Overlooking NHTSA’s concern marker. Because the concern is outside the Overall Vehicle Score calculation, report it separately.
- Assuming a test predicts every crash. Ratings describe defined laboratory procedures and calculated risks; they cannot cover every collision configuration.
A decision framework for buyers
- Filter for applicability. Eliminate any result that does not cover the model year, body style, build date or equipment you will actually buy.
- Check severe weaknesses first. Look for a Poor or Marginal IIHS category, a low NHTSA component rating, a safety-concern marker or an unavailable crash-prevention system before focusing on headline awards.
- Separate passive and active protection. Review crashworthiness and rollover information for protection during a collision, then review front-crash prevention, headlights and reminders for systems that may help avoid or mitigate one.
- Use comparison limits honestly. If two vehicles fall outside an agency’s stated class or weight boundary, present their results side by side without declaring a direct winner on that basis.
- Confirm the vehicle on the lot. Match the trim, options and production date to the page you used. If the seller cannot establish that match, treat the result as uncertain.
Bottom line: use both systems without merging them
NHTSA stars and IIHS grades are complementary evidence, not rival scores on one ladder. Start with the exact vehicle identity, read NHTSA’s component ratings and warning markers, inspect IIHS’s individual crash and technology categories, and apply each agency’s own weight, class and configuration limits. The result is a defensible comparison that explains why two ratings differ instead of hiding the difference behind an invented conversion.
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