New Study Ranks States With Best And Worst Roads

Minnesota and Delaware have the best roads in America, while New Mexico and Louisiana have the worst ones, a new study says.

Minnesota ranks No. 1, because it has a low fatality rate per miles driven, well-maintained urban and rural roads and “efficient spending” to maintain them, according to the study by the Atlanta personal injury law firm John Foy & Associates.

The study ranks the road quality in all 50 states based on fatality rates, road conditions and government spending to maintain the roads. The study excludes factors such as traffic congestion and weather conditions, so it provides “a focused but limited view of road quality nationwide,” the law firm says.

Delaware ranks No. 2 in road quality with smooth rural roads, and it “invests heavily” in maintaining roads, the study says. The state, though, needs improvement in the quality of urban roads, according to the study.

Finishing in the Top 10 are No. 3 Utah, followed, consecutively, by Indiana, New Jersey, Wyoming, Maryland, North Dakota, Vermont and New Hampshire.

The study finds that New Mexico has the worst roads in the nation because of a high fatality rate, “substantial rough road percentages” and low maintenance spending.

Louisiana has the country’s second-worst roads, and roads in Mississippi, California and Arizona also rank poorly.

California spends a lot of money on road maintenance, but “it grapples with urban road conditions and post-wildfires rural road maintenance,” the study says.

John Foy & Associates says its study reveals “a surprising disconnect between spending and performance.” Wyoming, for example, boasts the nation’s highest highway spending per capita to maintain roads but ranks 6th overall in road quality. Indiana spends much less per capita and ranks in the Top 5.

Rhode Island has the lowest road fatality rate but ranks No. 43 in road quality. Nearly 23% of its rural roads are categorized as poor or very poor, according to the study.

Florida has the lowest percentage of poor or very poor rural roads, which, the study says, indicates “a strong commitment to maintaining high-quality infrastructure, even in less densely populated areas.”

South Carolina’s fatality rate — 1.85 deaths per 100 million miles driven — is the nation’s highest, according to the study. “This alarming statistic and the fact that 3.17% of its rural roads are classified as poor or very poor emphasizes the urgent need for enhanced safety measures and infrastructure investment,” the study concludes.