Georgia’s Highway System Ranks 2nd in the Nation in Overall Cost-Effectiveness and Condition

Georgia’s highway system ranks 2nd in the nation in overall cost- effectiveness and condition.

According to the Annual Highway Report by Reason Foundation, this is a four-spot improvement from last year’s ranking of 6th.

In safety and condition categories, Georgia’s highways rank 16th in Rural Interstate Pavement Condition, 14th in Urban Interstate Pavement Condition, 3rd in Rural Arterial Pavement Condition 2nd in Urban Arterial Pavement Condition, 5th in Structurally Deficient Bridges, 23rd in Rural Fatality Rate, and 37th in Urban Fatality Rate. Georgia ranks 45th out of the 50 states in traffic congestion, and its drivers spend about 46 hours a year stuck in traffic congestion.

In spending and cost-effectiveness, Georgia ranks 11th in Capital and Bridge Disbursements, which are the costs of building new roads and bridges and widening existing ones. Georgia ranks 13th in Maintenance Disbursements, such as the costs of repaving roads and filling in potholes. Georgia’s Administrative Disbursements, including office spending that does not make its way to roads, rank 24th nationwide.

Compared to the previous report, the categories in which the state improved the most were Other Disbursements (22nd to 7th) and Administrative Disbursements (32nd to 24th). Georgia worsened the most in Urbanized Area Congestion (43rd to 45th).

When compared to its neighboring states, Georgia’s overall highway performance is better than South Carolina’s (3rd), Alabama’s (8th), Tennessee’s (12th), Florida’s (14th), and Mississippi’s (24th).

Comparing its overall performance to similarly populated states, Georgia ranks better than North Carolina (4th) and Ohio (5th). “In terms of improving in the road condition and performance categories, Georgia should focus on reducing Urbanized Area Congestion and improving its Urban Fatality Rate,” said Baruch Feigenbaum, lead author of the 29th Annual Highway Report and senior managing director of transportation policy at Reason Foundation. “The state performs exceptionally well in arterial pavement condition, bridge quality, and spending efficiency, but congestion remains a key challenge.”

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.