South Carolina's Rankings in the
29th Annual Highway Report
South Carolina’s highway system ranks 3rd 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 2nd.
In safety and condition categories, South Carolina’s highways rank 28th in Rural Interstate Pavement Condition, 5th in Urban Interstate Pavement Condition, 6th in Urban Arterial Pavement Condition, 21st in Rural Arterial Pavement Condition, 24th in Structurally Deficient Bridges, 49th in Rural Fatality Rate, and 41st in Urban Fatality Rate. South Carolina ranks 25th 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, South Carolina ranks 1st in Capital and Bridge Disbursements, which are the costs of building new roads and bridges and widening existing ones. South Carolina ranks 3rd in Maintenance Disbursements, such as the costs of repaving roads and filling in potholes. South Carolina’s Administrative Disbursements, including office spending that does not make its way to roads, rank 4th nationwide.
Compared to the previous report, the categories in which the state improved the most were Urban Interstate Pavement Condition (10th to 5th) and Maintenance Disbursements (5th to 3rd). South Carolina worsened the most in Rural Fatality Rate (44th to 49th).
When compared to its neighboring states, South Carolina’s overall highway performance is worse than Georgia’s (2nd) but better than North Carolina’s (4th), Alabama’s (8th), Tennessee’s (12th), and Florida’s (14th).
Comparing its overall performance to similarly populated states, South Carolina ranks better than Alabama (8th) and Minnesota (11th). South Carolina’s highway system ranks 3rd out of 50 states overall this year, compared to 2nd last year. “In terms of improving in the road condition and performance categories, South Carolina should focus on reducing its fatality rates,” said Baruch Feigenbaum, lead author of the 29th Annual Highway Report and senior managing director of transportation policy at Reason Foundation. “The state performs strongly in Capital and Bridge Disbursements (1st), Other Disbursements (1st), and Maintenance Disbursements (3rd), but its consistently high Rural, Urban, and Other Fatality Rates 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.