Pennsylvania's Rankings in the
29th Annual Highway Report
Pennsylvania’s highway system ranks 36th in the nation in overall cost-effectiveness and condition.
According to the Annual Highway Report by Reason Foundation, this is a one-spot improvement from last year’s ranking of 37th.
In safety and condition categories, Pennsylvania’s highways rank 41st in Rural Interstate Pavement Condition, 40th in Urban Interstate Pavement Condition, 37th in Rural Arterial Pavement Condition, 37th in Urban Arterial Pavement Condition, 45th in Structurally Deficient Bridges, 8th in Rural Fatality Rate, and 21st in Urban Fatality Rate. Pennsylvania ranks 42nd out of the 50 states in traffic congestion, and its drivers spend about 39 hours a year stuck in traffic congestion.
In spending and cost-effectiveness, Pennsylvania ranks 7th in Capital and Bridge Disbursements, which are the costs of building new roads and bridges and widening existing ones. Pennsylvania ranks 20th in Maintenance Disbursements, such as the costs of repaving roads and filling in potholes. Pennsylvania’s Administrative Disbursements, including office spending that does not make its way to roads, rank 15th nationwide.
Compared to the previous report, the categories in which the state improved the most were Maintenance Disbursements (37th to 20th) and Administrative Disbursements (31st to 15th). Pennsylvania worsened the most in Other Fatality Rate (25th to 36th).
When compared to its neighboring states, Pennsylvania’s overall highway performance is better than Maryland’s (34th) and New Jersey’s (40th) but worse than Ohio’s (5th), West Virginia’s (30th), and Delaware’s (32nd).
Comparing its overall performance to similarly populated states, Pennsylvania ranks better than Illinois (37th) and New York (47th). “In terms of improving in the road condition and performance categories, Pennsylvania should focus on reducing its percentage of Structurally Deficient Bridges and Urbanized Area Congestion, as well as improving Rural and Urban Interstates Pavement Condition” said Baruch Feigenbaum, lead author of the 29th Annual Highway Report and senior managing director of transportation policy at Reason Foundation. “The state performs well in Capital and Bridge Disbursements (7th), and Rural Fatality Rate (8th), but its poor rankings in bridge condition and congestion continue to hold it back.”
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.