Missouri's Rankings in the
29th Annual Highway Report
Missouri’s highway system ranks 9th in the nation in overall cost-effectiveness and condition.
According to the Annual Highway Report by Reason Foundation, this is the same ranking as last year.
In safety and condition categories, Missouri’s highways rank 23rd in Rural Interstate Pavement Condition, 27th in Urban Interstate Pavement Condition, 13th in Rural Arterial Pavement Condition, 22nd in Urban Arterial Pavement Condition, 40th in Structurally Deficient Bridges, 15th in Rural Fatality Rate, and 30th in Urban Fatality Rate. Missouri ranks 26th out of the 50 states in traffic congestion, and its drivers spend about 22 hours a year stuck in traffic congestion.
In spending and cost-effectiveness, Missouri ranks 3rd in Capital and Bridge Disbursements, which are the costs of building new roads and bridges and widening existing ones. Missouri ranks 10th in Maintenance Disbursements, such as the costs of repaving roads and filling in potholes. Missouri’s Administrative Disbursements, including office spending that does not make its way to roads, rank 5th nationwide.
Compared to the previous report, the categories in which the state improved the most were Rural Fatality Rate (26th to 15th) and Urban Arterial Pavement Condition (27th to 22nd). Missouri worsened the most in Urbanized Area Congestion (20th to 26th).
When compared to its neighboring states, Missouri’s overall highway performance is better than Kentucky’s (15th), Arkansas’ (21st), Nebraska’s (29th), Iowa’s (35th), and Illinois’ (37th).
Comparing its overall performance to similarly populated states, Missouri ranks better than Indiana (18th) and Maryland (34th). “In terms of improving in the road condition and performance categories, Missouri should focus on reducing its percentage of Structurally Deficient Bridges and reducing its Urban Fatality Rate,” 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 Capital and Bridge Disbursements (3rd), Administrative Disbursements (5th), and Maintenance Disbursements (10th), its lower rankings in bridge condition and Urban Fatality Rate indicate areas 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.