Iowa’s Highway System Ranks 35th in the Nation in Overall Cost-Effectiveness and Condition

Iowa’s highway system ranks 35th in the nation in overall cost- effectiveness and condition.

According to the Annual Highway Report by Reason Foundation, this is a four-spot decline from last year’s ranking of 31st.

In safety and condition categories, Iowa’s highways rank 33rd in Rural Interstate Pavement Condition, 32nd in Urban Interstate Pavement Condition, 38th in Rural Arterial Pavement Condition, 26th in Urban Arterial Pavement Condition, 49th in Structurally Deficient Bridges, 17th in Rural Fatality Rate, and 24th in Urban Fatality Rate. Iowa ranks 1st out of the 50 states in traffic congestion, and its drivers spend about 10 hours a year stuck in traffic congestion.

In spending and cost-effectiveness, Iowa ranks 42nd in Capital and Bridge Disbursements, which are the costs of building new roads and bridges and widening existing ones. Iowa ranks 24th in Maintenance Disbursements, such as the costs of repaving roads and filling in potholes. Iowa’s Administrative Disbursements, including office spending that does not make its way to roads, rank 26th nationwide.

Compared to the previous report, the categories in which the state improved the most were Administrative Disbursements (33rd to 26th) and Other Disbursements (25th to 19th). Iowa worsened the most in Urban Fatality Rate (11th to 24th).

When compared to its neighboring states, Iowa’s overall highway performance is better than Illinois’ (37th) but worse than Missouri’s (9th), Minnesota’s (11th), Nebraska’s (29th), and Wisconsin’s (31st).

Comparing its overall performance to similarly populated states, Iowa ranks worse than Connecticut (7th) and Utah (10th). “In terms of improving in the road condition and performance categories, Iowa should focus on reducing Structurally Deficient Bridges and improving Capital and Bridge Disbursements,” said Baruch Feigenbaum, lead author of the 29th Annual Highway Report and senior managing director of transportation policy at Reason Foundation. “While Iowa performs well in Urbanized Area Congestion (1st) and Maintenance Disbursements (24th), its low ranking in Structurally Deficient Bridges (49th) remains a significant 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.