Worst Roads in the United States

For the 18th year the Reason Foundation has released its ranking of the best and the worst roads in the United States. For the 10th year in a row, the state with the best roads in the country was North Dakota. One could argue the limited population allows their roads to remain in good condition, but the winter weather must also be taken into account. The entire upper mid-west ranked very high in the report. Montana came in at number 5, Wyoming at 6 South Dakota at 8 Nebraska a 7 and Kansas came in at 3rd place in the nation. Another concentrated area of good roads was in the southeast with the Carolinas doing very well, as did Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia.

The roads with the worst roads were spread across the country, but the west coast failed as a whole. California came in at 48th, Oregon at 22 and Washington State at 35. The other two west coast states were also among the worst. Hawaii was ranked at 46th while Alaska came in dead last, ranking 50th. Other states with failing grades included New York, coming in at 45, Florida ranked 40th. Louisiana at 43rd, Rhode Island at 49th, Maryland at 41st, and Illinois at 36th.

The top ten best roads;
1) North Dakota
2) New Mexico
3) Kansas
4) South Carolina
5) Montana
6) Wyoming
7) Nebraska
8) South Dakota
9) Georgia
10) Kentucky

States coming in with the worst roads;
41) Maryland
42) Vermont
43) Louisiana
44) Massachusetts
45) New York
46) Hawaii
47) New Jersey
48) California
49) Rhode Island
50) Alaska

Michigan had one of the most improved rankings moving up a full 12 slots from the previous year. Also showing good improvement was Utah, up 9 positions. The big declines came for Oregon, dropping 11 slots, Indiana fell 16 positions and Vermont fell 12 positions from the previous year.

All the rankings;
1) North Dakota
2) New Mexico
3) Kansas
4) South Carolina
5) Montana
6) Wyoming
7) Nebraska
8) South Dakota
9) Georgia
10) Kentucky
11) Delaware
12) Virginia
13) Ohio
14) Idaho
15) Minnesota
16) Utah
17) Texas
18) Nevada
19) Tennessee
20) North Carolina
21) Wisconsin
22) Oregon
23) Missouri
24) Arizona
25) Alabama
26) West Virginia
27) Mississippi
28) Maine
29) Iowa
30) Michigan
31) Indiana
32) Arkansas
33) Colorado
34) Oklahoma
35) Washington
36) Illinois
37) Connecticut
38) Pennsylvania
39) New Hampshire
40) Florida
41) Maryland
42) Vermont
43) Louisiana
44) Massachusetts
45) New York
46) Hawaii
47) New Jersey
48) California
49) Rhode Island
50) Alaska