Wyoming's Rankings in the
29th Annual Highway Report
Wyoming’s highway system ranks 20th in the nation in overall cost-effectiveness and condition.
According to the Annual Highway Report by Reason Foundation, this is an eight-spot decline from last year’s ranking of 12th.
In safety and condition categories, Wyoming’s highways rank 27th in Rural Interstate Pavement Condition, 44th in Urban Interstate Pavement Condition, 1st in Rural Arterial Pavement Condition, 17th in Urban Arterial Pavement Condition, 28th in Structurally Deficient Bridges, 46th in Rural Fatality Rate, and 49th in Urban Fatality Rate
Wyoming ranks 4th out of the 50 states in traffic congestion, and its drivers spend about 12 hours a year stuck in traffic congestion.
In spending and cost-effectiveness, Wyoming ranks 24th in Capital and Bridge Disbursements, which are the costs of building new roads and bridges and widening existing ones. Wyoming ranks 28th in Maintenance Disbursements, such as the costs of repaving roads and filling in potholes. Wyoming’s Administrative Disbursements, including office spending that does not make its way to roads, rank 13th nationwide.
Compared to the previous report, the categories in which the state improved the most were Other Fatality Rate (22nd to 8th) and Rural Other Principal Arterial Pavement Condition (6th to 1st). Wyoming worsened the most in Urban Fatality Rate (14th to 49th).
When compared to its neighboring states, Wyoming’s overall highway performance is better than Montana’s (22nd), Idaho’s (26th), South Dakota’s (28th), and Colorado’s (42nd) but worse than Utah’s (10th).
Comparing its overall performance to similarly populated states, Wyoming ranks better than Vermont (38th) and Alaska (50th). “In terms of improving in the road condition and performance categories, Wyoming should focus on improving its Rural and Urban Fatality Rates and Urban Interstate Pavement Condition,” 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 Arterial Pavement Condition (1st), Urbanized Area Congestion (4th), and Other Fatality Rate (8th), its poor safety metrics and urban pavement quality 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.