Title: Study Ranks Every State's Highway System, Finds Road Conditions Worsening In Important Categories - Reason Foundation
Headings: Study Ranks Every State’s Highway System, Finds Road Conditions Worsening In Important Categories
Policy Study
Study Ranks Every State’s Highway System, Finds Road Conditions Worsening In Important Categories
North Dakota, Virginia and Missouri have the best performing, most cost-efficient state highway systems, while New Jersey, Rhode Island and Hawaii have the worst.
View national trends and state-by-state performances by category:
Overall Performance and Cost-Effectiveness Rankings
24th Annual Highway Report (PDF)
Each State’s Highway Performance Rankings in Each Category

Content: Examining the 10-year average of state overall performance data indicates that the national system performance problems are largely concentrated in the bottom 10 states,” Feigenbaum says. “ Towards the bottom of the rankings, you have highly populated states, like last-place New Jersey, along with Massachusetts, New York, and California to a lesser extent, that are spending a lot but often failing to keep up with traffic congestion and road maintenance. There are also a few very problematic low-population states like Rhode Island, Delaware, Hawaii and Alaska, which contribute an outsized share of the nation’s structurally deficient bridges, poor pavement conditions, and high administrative costs—money that doesn’t make it to roads.” New Jersey, Florida, Massachusetts, New York and Connecticut spent the most on their highways on a per-mile basis, with each state spending more than $200,000 per mile of highway it controls. In contrast, Missouri, which ranks third overall in performance and cost-effectiveness, did so while spending just $23,534 per mile of highway it controls. Massachusetts ranks low in the overall rankings but shows the nation’s lowest traffic fatality rate, while South Carolina reports the highest. View national trends and state-by-state performances by category: overall
Overall
total-disbursements-per-mile
Total Disbursements Per Mile
capital-bridge-disbursements-per-mile
Capital & Bridge Disbursements Per Mile
maintenance-disbursements-per-mile
Maintenance Disbursements Per Mile
administrative-disbursements-per-mile
Administrative Disbursements Per Mile
rural-interstate-percent-poor-condition
Rural Interstate Pavement Condition
rural-other-principal-arterial-percent-narrow-lanes
Rural Arterial Pavement Condition
urban-interstate-percent-poor-condition
Urban Interstate Pavement Condition
urbanized-area-congestion-peak-hours-spent-in-congestion-per-auto-commuter
Urbanized Area Congestion
bridges-percent-deficient
Structurally Deficient Bridges
fatality-rate-per-100-million-vehicle-miles-of-travel
Overall Fatality Rate
fatality-rate-per-100-million-vehicle-miles-of-travel
Rural Fatality Rate
fatality-rate-per-100-million-vehicle-miles-of-travel
Urban Fatality Rate
Executive Summary From 24th Annual Highway Report
Full Study: 24th Annual Highway Report
24th Annual Highway Report’s State-by-State Summaries
Previous Editions of the Annual Highway Report
Overall Performance and Cost-Effectiveness Rankings
24th Annual Highway Report (PDF)
Click a state name for detailed information about its results. Overall
State
1
North Dakota
2
Virginia
3
Missouri
4
Maine
5
Kentucky
6
Kansas
7
Tennessee
8
Montana
9
Utah
10
Alabama
11
Wyoming
12
Oregon
13
Idaho
14
South Dakota
15
Nebraska
16
West Virginia
17
North Carolina
18
Ohio
19
Vermont
20
South Carolina
21
New Mexico
22
Minnesota
23
Texas
24
New Hampshire
25
Mississippi
26
Georgia
27
Nevada
28
Illinois
29
Arizona
30
Michigan
31
Iowa
32
Arkansas
33
Indiana
34
Louisiana
35
Pennsylvania
36
Colorado
37
Washington
38
Wisconsin
39
Maryland
40
Florida
41
Oklahoma
42
Delaware
43
California
44
Connecticut
45
New York
46
Massachusetts
47
Hawaii
48
Rhode Island
49
Alaska
50
New Jersey
Each State’s Highway Performance Rankings in Each Category
State
Overall
Total Disbursements per Mile
Capital & Bridge Disbursements per Mile
Maintenance Disbursements Per Mile
Admin Disbursements per Mile
Rural Interstate Pavement Condition
Urban Interstate Pavement Candition
Rural Arterial Pavement Condition
Urban Arterial Pavement Condition
Urbanized Area Congestion
Structurally Deficient Bridges
Overall Fatality Rate
Rural Fatality Rate
Urban Fatality Rate
Alabama
10
16
16
2
35
16
30
12
2
18
22
43
40
36
Alaska
49
29
41
30
32
48
19
50
19
6
36
47
37
41
Arizona
29
32
35
14
42
29
6
17
17
36
4
40
36
49
Arkansas
32
10
12
11
3
40
44
44
38
13
17
45
39
46
California
43
40
30
44
44
45
47
35
49
48
19
18
47
21
Colorado
36
33
34
32
27
47
28
27
33
37
13
23
33
32
Connecticut
44
46
47
33
50
42
18
34
22
30
24
11
4
26
Delaware
42
43
28
49
49
NA
48
1
13
38
6
24
19
29
Florida
40
49
49
41
37
6
5
2
1
40
3
42
48
47
Georgia
26
22
30
15
41
30
21
14
4
47
7
31
28
35
Hawaii
47
41
42
39
34
NA
50
48
39
19
15
21
50
48
Idaho
13
23
11
17
13
26
14
20
25
11
28
41
41
24
Illinois
28
42
46
35
22
8
4
3
16
45
26
16
15
27
Indiana
33
30
36
42
21
43
43
32
21
27
21
14
29
18
Iowa
31
20
29
19
15
33
36
43
30
3
49
27
21
16
Kansas
6
19
24
10
16
7
9
4
7
16
25
33
44
37
Kentucky
5
18
18
16
1
12
16
10
8
25
23
48
23
45
Louisiana
34
17
21
24
6
39
49
38
37
29
44
46
16
43
Maine
4
15
10
28
5
1
26
7
27
7
41
20
11
10
Maryland
39
44
44
45
36
27
39
21
34
44
14
7
3
23
Massachusetts
46
48
45
43
48
37
31
47
48
46
30
1
1
12
Michigan
30
38
27
27
25
34
42
19
41
34
35
19
7
30
Minnesota
22
25
31
29
23
35
40
25
6
41
11
3
6
4
Mississippi
25
9
15
4
14
38
37
24
29
12
39
49
46
1
Missouri
3
3
2
12
4
17
17
5
14
24
40
32
24
33
Montana
8
7
8
8
12
19
13
31
32
5
31
44
35
11
Nebraska
15
13
14
23
2
18
24
29
45
8
45
17
25
8
Nevada
27
34
32
22
45
13
25
26
5
33
2
29
32
38
New Hampshire
24
24
22
37
26
1
7
36
23
26
38
15
18
25
New Jersey
50
50
50
50
46
1
45
46
46
50
29
4
10
22
New Mexico
21
6
4
1
39
25
3
22
20
14
20
39
34
50
New York
45
47
48
47
43
41
46
30
44
49
37
5
45
5
North Carolina
17
5
6
9
10
20
15
23
18
23
34
30
49
13
North Dakota