Title: Infrastructure Spending by State
Headings: Infrastructure Spending by State
The Balance SMB Industries
Infrastructure Spending by State
Best State Infrastructure
1. Nevada
2. Florida
3. Georgia
4. Minnesota
5. Kansas
Worst State Infrastructure
1. Rhode Island
2. Alaska
3. Hawaii
4. West Virginia
5. California
What Are Patterns in Infrastructure Condition?
Do States that Spend More Have Better Infrastructure?
Rural and Urban Roads
The Importance of Infrastructure

Content: One might guess that some recent splurges on road and driving infrastructure have been done by states with the worst roads—the money they spent hasn’t been enough to bring their previously crumbled infrastructure back up to comparatively-high quality. The other states may be spending less due to the fact that their roads and dams and sewage systems are in good shape. It seems to be the case that a big factor in condition is how much the state spends per driver. For example, California spent more on highways than any other state in 2016, yet has roads near the bottom of the list. But, at least according to 2015 numbers, the state spent just $269 per driver, the fourth lowest in the nation. Anyone who has ever braved some of the highways in Southern California knows that they are very congested with traffic. In other words, not all, say ten-mile stretches of highway are equal—one in California may service (as just a ballpark guess) dozens of thousands of cars in a day, while one in Kansas may be rolled upon by barely a hundred. Areas that have a throng of people using their roads will run into more problems with road conditions than lighter traffic areas. It may be the case that volume of use of roads is a bigger factor in their condition that conditions like freezing and thawing or rocks and mud wearing away at the concrete. Rural and Urban Roads
The discrepancy between roads in densely and less densely populated areas can account for why spending more doesn’t necessarily lead to the best roads, or that spending less doesn’t mean the worst roads.