Montana's Rankings in the
29th Annual Highway Report
Montana’s highway system ranks 22nd in the nation in overall cost-effectiveness and condition.
According to the Annual Highway Report by Reason Foundation, this is a six-spot decline from last year’s ranking of 16th.
In safety and condition categories, Montana’s highways rank 29th in Rural Interstate Pavement Condition, 15th in Urban Interstate Pavement Condition, 26th in Rural Arterial Pavement Condition, 27th in Urban Arterial Pavement Condition, 31st in Structurally Deficient Bridges, 43rd in Rural Fatality Rate, and 45th in Urban Fatality Rate. Montana ranks 7th out of the 50 states in traffic congestion, and its drivers spend about 13 hours a year stuck in traffic congestion.
In spending and cost-effectiveness, Montana ranks 16th in Capital and Bridge Disbursements, which are the costs of building new roads and bridges and widening existing ones. Montana ranks 36th in Maintenance Disbursements, such as the costs of repaving roads and filling in potholes. Montana’s Administrative Disbursements, including office spending that does not make its way to roads, rank 28th nationwide.
Compared to the previous report, the categories in which the state improved the most were Urbanized Area Congestion (18th to 7th) and Rural Fatality Rate (50th to 43rd). Montana worsened the most in Rural Interstate Pavement Condition (13th to 29th).
When compared to its neighboring states, Montana’s overall highway performance is better than Idaho’s (26th), South Dakota’s (28th), and Washington’s (48th), but worse than North Dakota’s (6th) and Wyoming’s (20th).
Comparing its overall performance to similarly populated states, Montana ranks worse than Maine (16th) but better than West Virginia (30th). “In terms of improving in the road condition and performance categories, Montana should focus on improving its Rural and Urban Fatality Rates, as well as its Maintenance 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 Urbanized Area Congestion (7th), Urban Interstate Pavement Condition (15th), and Capital and Bridge Disbursements (16th), its poor safety rankings and high maintenance spending remain 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.