Wisconsin's Rankings in the
29th Annual Highway Report
Wisconsin’s highway system ranks 31st in the nation in overall cost-effectiveness and condition.
According to the Annual Highway Report by Reason Foundation, this is a five-spot decline from last year’s ranking of 26th.
In safety and condition categories, Wisconsin’s highways rank 26th in Rural Interstate Pavement Condition, 35th in Urban Interstate Pavement Condition, 40th in Rural Arterial Pavement Condition, 45th in Urban Arterial Pavement Condition, 29th in Structurally Deficient Bridges, 14th in Rural Fatality Rate, and 5th in Urban Fatality Rate. Wisconsin ranks 21st out of the 50 states in traffic congestion, and its drivers spend about 17 hours a year stuck in traffic congestion.
In spending and cost-effectiveness, Wisconsin ranks 28th in Capital and Bridge Disbursements, which are the costs of building new roads and bridges and widening existing ones. Wisconsin ranks 14th in Maintenance Disbursements, such as the costs of repaving roads and filling in potholes. Wisconsin’s Administrative Disbursements, including office spending that does not make its way to roads, rank 22nd nationwide.
Compared to the previous report, the categories in which the state improved the most were Urban Fatality Rate (10th to 5th) and Maintenance Disbursements (18th to 14th). Wisconsin worsened the most in Other Disbursements (39th to 47th).
When compared to its neighboring states, Wisconsin’s overall highway performance is better than Iowa’s (35th) and Illinois’ (37th) but worse than Minnesota’s (11th), Indiana’s (18th), and Michigan’s (23rd).
Comparing its overall performance to similarly populated states, Wisconsin ranks better than Maryland (34th) and Colorado (42nd). “In terms of improving in the road condition and performance categories, Wisconsin should focus on improving its Rural Arterial and Urban Arterial Pavement Conditions, as well as addressing inefficiencies in Other 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 strongly in Maintenance Disbursements (14th), Urban Fatality Rate (5th), and Other Fatality Rate (7th), its poor performance in arterial pavement condition and spending inefficiencies remain challenges.”
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.