South Dakota's Rankings in the
29th Annual Highway Report
South Dakota’s highway system ranks 28th 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 27th.
In safety and condition categories, South Dakota’s highways rank 4th in Rural Interstate Pavement Condition, 13th in Urban Interstate Pavement Condition, 18th in Rural Arterial Pavement Condition, 18th in Urban Arterial Pavement Condition, 48th in Structurally Deficient Bridges, 19th in Rural Fatality Rate, and 10th in Urban Fatality Rate. South Dakota ranks 9th 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, South Dakota ranks 25th in Capital and Bridge Disbursements, which are the costs of building new roads and bridges and widening existing ones. South Dakota ranks 40th in Maintenance Disbursements, such as the costs of repaving roads and filling in potholes. South Dakota’s Administrative Disbursements, including office spending that does not make its way to roads, rank 44th nationwide.
Compared to the previous report, the categories in which the state improved the most were Capital and Bridge Disbursements (31st to 25th) and Urban Fatality Rate (15th to 10th). South Dakota worsened the most in Other Disbursements (12th to 25th).
When compared to its neighboring states, South Dakota’s overall highway performance is better than Nebraska’s (29th) but worse than North Dakota’s (6th), Minnesota’s (11th), Wyoming’s (20th), and Montana’s (22nd).
Comparing its overall performance to similarly populated states, South Dakota ranks better than Delaware (32nd) but worse than North Dakota (6th). “In terms of improving in the road condition and performance categories, South Dakota should focus on reducing its percentage of Structurally Deficient Bridges, reducing Administrative Disbursements, and lowering its Other Fatality Rate,” 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 Interstate Pavement Condition (4th), Urbanized Area Congestion (9th), and Urban Fatality Rate (10th), its poor performance in bridge condition and administrative costs highlights 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.