Nevada's Rankings in the
29th Annual Highway Report
Nevada’s highway system ranks 25th in the nation in overall cost-effectiveness and condition.
According to the Annual Highway Report by Reason Foundation, this is a one-spot decline from last year’s ranking of 24th.
In safety and condition categories, Nevada’s highways rank 10th in Rural Interstate Pavement Condition, 22nd in Urban Interstate Pavement Condition, 2nd in Rural Arterial Pavement Condition, 11th in Urban Arterial Pavement Condition, 2nd in Structurally Deficient Bridges, 40th in Rural Fatality Rate, and 38th in Urban Fatality Rate. Nevada ranks 33rd out of the 50 states in traffic congestion, and its drivers spend about 26 hours a year stuck in traffic congestion.
In spending and cost-effectiveness, Nevada ranks 36th in Capital and Bridge Disbursements, which are the costs of building new roads and bridges and widening existing ones. Nevada ranks 31st in Maintenance Disbursements, such as the costs of repaving roads and filling in potholes. Nevada’s Administrative Disbursements, including office spending that does not make its way to roads, rank 49th nationwide.
Compared to the previous report, the categories in which the state improved the most were Other Fatality Rate (37th to 29th) and Rural Fatality Rate (47th to 40th). Nevada worsened the most in Urban Fatality Rate (25th to 38th).
When compared to its neighboring states, Nevada’s overall highway performance is better than Idaho’s (26th), Oregon’s (33rd), Arizona’s (41st), and California’s (49th), but worse than Utah’s (10th).
Comparing its overall performance to similarly populated states, Nevada ranks better than Iowa (35th) but worse than Kansas (19th). “In terms of improving in the road condition and performance categories, Nevada should focus on reducing its Administrative Disbursements and its Rural Fatality Rate while maintaining strong pavement and bridge quality,” 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 Arterial Pavement Condition (2nd), Structurally Deficient Bridges (2nd), and Rural Interstate Pavement Condition (10th), its poor rankings in Administrative Disbursements (49th) and safety outcomes remain key 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.