Oregon's Rankings in the
29th Annual Highway Report
Oregon’s highway system ranks 33rd in the nation in overall cost-effectiveness and condition.
According to the Annual Highway Report by Reason Foundation, this is a two-spot improvement from last year’s ranking of 35th.
In safety and condition categories, Oregon’s highways rank 15th in Rural Interstate Pavement Condition, 19th in Urban Interstate Pavement Condition, 24th in Rural Arterial Pavement Condition, 23rd in Urban Arterial Pavement Condition, 15th in Structurally Deficient Bridges, 47th in Rural Fatality Rate, and 36th in Urban Fatality Rate. Oregon ranks 34th out of the 50 states in traffic congestion, and its drivers spend about 27 hours a year stuck in traffic congestion.
In spending and cost-effectiveness, Oregon ranks 40th in Capital and Bridge Disbursements, which are the costs of building new roads and bridges and widening existing ones. Oregon ranks 41st in Maintenance Disbursements, such as the costs of repaving roads and filling in potholes. Oregon’s Administrative Disbursements, including office spending that does not make its way to roads, rank 40th nationwide.
Compared to the previous report, the categories in which the state improved the most were Urbanized Area Congestion (41st to 34th) and Maintenance Disbursements (47th to 41st). Oregon worsened the most in Capital and Bridge Disbursements (34th to 40th).
When compared to its neighboring states, Oregon’s overall highway performance is better than Washington’s (48th), California’s (49th), and Alaska’s (50th), but worse than Nevada’s (25th) and Idaho’s (26th).
Comparing its overall performance to similarly populated states, Oregon ranks better than Oklahoma (45th) but worse than Kentucky (15th). “In terms of improving in the road condition and performance categories, Oregon should focus on reducing its Rural Fatality Rate and 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 well in Rural Interstate Pavement Condition (15th), Structurally Deficient Bridges (15th), and Urban Interstate Pavement Condition (19th), its high Rural Fatality Rate (47th) and high spending remain areas of concern.”
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.