Massachusetts's Rankings in the
29th Annual Highway Report
Massachusetts’ highway system ranks 17th in the nation in overall cost-effectiveness and condition.
According to the Annual Highway Report by Reason Foundation, this is a 23-spot improvement from last year’s ranking of 40th.
In safety and condition categories, Massachusetts’ highways rank 36th in Rural Interstate Pavement Condition, 20th in Urban Interstate Pavement Condition, 17th in Rural Arterial Pavement Condition, and 46th in Urban Arterial Pavement Condition, 38th in Structurally Deficient Bridges, 2nd in Rural Fatality Rate, and 3rd in Urban Fatality Rate. Massachusetts ranks 49th out of the 50 states in traffic congestion, and its drivers spend about 64 hours a year stuck in traffic congestion.
In spending and cost-effectiveness, Massachusetts ranks 6th in Capital and Bridge Disbursements, which are the costs of building new roads and bridges and widening existing ones. Massachusetts ranks 15th in Maintenance Disbursements, such as the costs of repaving roads and filling in potholes. Massachusetts’ Administrative Disbursements, including office spending that does not make its way to roads, rank 38th nationwide.
Compared to the previous report, the categories in which the state improved the most were Maintenance Disbursements (41st to 15th) and Rural Fatality Rate (24th to 2nd). Massachusetts worsened the most in Urban Other Principal Arterial Pavement Condition (41st to 46th).
When compared to its neighboring states, Massachusetts’ overall highway performance is better than Vermont’s (38th), Rhode Island’s (43rd), and New York’s (47th), but worse than Connecticut’s (7th) and Maine’s (16th).
Comparing its overall performance to similarly populated states, Massachusetts ranks worse than Tennessee (12th) but better than Indiana (18th). “In terms of improving in the road condition and performance categories, Massachusetts should focus on improving its Urban Arterial Pavement Condition and reducing Urbanized Area Congestion,” 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 fatality rates and spending efficiency, its poor rankings in congestion and urban pavement condition remain significant challenges.”
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.