Michigan's Rankings in the
29th Annual Highway Report
Michigan’s highway system ranks 23rd in the nation in overall cost-effectiveness and condition.
According to the Annual Highway Report by Reason Foundation, this is the same as last year’s ranking.
In safety and condition categories, Michigan’s highways rank 39th in Rural Interstate Pavement Condition, 41st in Urban Interstate Pavement Condition, 16th in Rural Arterial Pavement Condition, 34th in Urban Arterial Pavement Condition, 43rd in Structurally Deficient Bridges, 7th in Rural Fatality Rate, and 22nd in Urban Fatality Rate. Michigan ranks 15th out of the 50 states in traffic congestion, and its drivers spend about 15 hours a year stuck in traffic congestion.
In spending and cost-effectiveness, Michigan ranks 39th in Capital and Bridge Disbursements, which are the costs of building new roads and bridges and widening existing ones. Michigan ranks 19th in Maintenance Disbursements, such as the costs of repaving roads and filling in potholes. Michigan’s Administrative Disbursements, including office spending that does not make its way to roads, rank 12th nationwide.
Compared to the previous report, the categories in which the state improved the most were Urbanized Area Congestion (26th to 15th) and Rural Fatality Rate (10th to 7th). Michigan worsened the most in Capital and Bridge Disbursements (33rd to 39th).
When compared to its neighboring states, Michigan’s overall highway performance is better than Wisconsin’s (31st) and Illinois’ (37th) but worse than Ohio’s (5th), Minnesota’s (11th), and Indiana’s (18th).
Comparing its overall performance to similarly populated states, Michigan ranks better than New Jersey (40th) but worse than North Carolina (4th). “In terms of improving in the road condition and performance categories, Michigan should focus on reducing its percentage of Structurally Deficient Bridges and improving its Urban Interstate Pavement Condition,” 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 Administrative Disbursements (12th), Rural Fatality Rate (7th), and Urbanized Area Congestion (15th), its poor rankings in bridge condition and pavement quality remain key 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.