Indiana's Rankings in the
29th Annual Highway Report
Indiana’s highway system ranks 18th in the nation in overall cost-effectiveness and condition.
According to the Annual Highway Report by Reason Foundation, this is a two-spot improvement from last year’s ranking of 20th.
In safety and condition categories, Indiana’s highways rank 38th in Rural Interstate Pavement Condition, 26th in Urban Interstate Pavement Condition, 4th in Rural Arterial Pavement Condition, 4th in Urban Arterial Pavement Condition, 21st in Structurally Deficient Bridges, 27th in Rural Fatality Rate, and 19th in Urban Fatality Rate. Indiana ranks 31st out of the 50 states in traffic congestion, and its drivers spend about 24 hours a year stuck in traffic congestion.
In spending and cost-effectiveness, Indiana ranks 46th in Capital and Bridge Disbursements, which are the costs of building new roads and bridges and widening existing ones. Indiana ranks 49th in Maintenance Disbursements, such as the costs of repaving roads and filling in potholes. Indiana’s Administrative Disbursements, including office spending that does not make its way to roads, rank 17th nationwide.
Compared to the previous report, the categories in which the state improved the most were Urban Fatality Rate (45th to 19th) and Capital and Bridge Disbursements (50th to 46th). Indiana worsened the most in Rural Fatality Rate (14th to 27th).
When compared to its neighboring states, Indiana’s overall highway performance is better than Michigan’s (23rd), Wisconsin’s (31st), and Illinois’ (37th), but worse than Ohio’s (5th) and Kentucky’s (15th).
Comparing its overall performance to similarly populated states, Indiana ranks worse than Missouri (9th) and Massachusetts (17th). “In terms of improving in the road condition and performance categories, Indiana should focus on reducing Maintenance Disbursements and Capital and Bridge Disbursements,” said Baruch Feigenbaum, lead author of the 29th Annual Highway Report and senior managing director of transportation policy at Reason Foundation. “While the state performs strongly in Rural and Urban Arterial Pavement Condition and Administrative Disbursements, its high maintenance and capital spending remains an area for improvement.”
Reason Foundation’s 29th Annual Highway Report evaluates the cost-effectiveness and performance of state-controlled highways across 13 categories, including pavement and bridge conditions, traffic fatalities, congestion, and spending. In the performance categories, a rank of 1 indicates the best outcome—for example, the lowest fatality rate or the best pavement quality—while a rank of 50 represents the worst outcomes. In the cost-effectiveness categories, a rank of 1 means the state spends the least, while a rank of 50 indicates the highest relative spending. The report’s data are primarily based on information each state submitted to the Federal Highway Administration for 2023, supplemented by deficient bridge data from Better Roads and Bridges and congestion data from INRIX. For full methodology and data sources, see the complete 29th Annual Highway Report.