15 States with the Worst Roads and Infrastructure in US

If you were cussing and cursing because of bad roads on your way to work thinking it just can’t get worse than that, check the road quality by state in 15 states with the worst roads and infrastructure in US. Who knows, maybe the situation isn’t that bad after all! Or perhaps it really can’t get worse because your state is the “winner”. In that case, you have the full right to complain!

Roads and infrastructure are what makes the state. Think about it. The living standard of the whole state is determined by it. You can really see the what state a state (or any country) is in just by looking at its roads. One drive along the highway can tell you more than any report. If it’s a bumpy ride, you know very well you can’t expect for anything else to be right either. Infrastructure and roads are of great importance to everyone. Before we go on explaining that, let’s answer the question:”What is a state infrastructure?” Surely the term is always in the news and politicians’ speeches, but can you define it? Vaguely. The official definition says it’s “essential facilities, services, and organizational structures for communal use, most commonly by residents of cities and towns”. In other words, infrastructure comprises schools, hospitals, roads, bridges, tunnels, post offices, airports, telephone lines and all those other facilities that make our lives easier. Therefore, infrastructure makes the very core of our lives.

If your daily commute is on one of the worst roads in America, it seriously affects your mood and work performance. The worst roads in America by city are in San Francisco and Los Angeles. 71% of roads in San Francisco are in awful shape. To avoid getting annoyed daily, you’d better consider moving to another city. It will be well worth it. Perhaps an even worse case would be having problems with water supply. What states are running out of water? The global climate is deteriorating every year, and the states which seriously have to watch their water consumption are Oregon, Washington, and California.

On the other hand, if there is enough water, roads, and bridges, everyone is happy. Great hospitals and health care definitely make you feel relieved even when you are ill. To see which state has the best roads, read our article about 15 States with the Best Roads in America, or check if the US can be found on our list of 15 countries with the best roads in the world. Those are the countries where driving is a real pleasure, and you don’t have to stress about your car. It’s hard to name states with the best infrastructure due to this umbrella term. If public transportation, the internet access and commute times are the only parameters, then Oregon is the best in the country, according to the U.S.News. Nevertheless, Oregon is a part of our list, too, since we used different parameters. The cities with the best infrastructure in the US are Minneapolis, Seattle, and San Francisco.

As we have mentioned earlier, infrastructure comprises a lot of facilities, and it’s practically impossible to make a list which possesses all of them. In our case, we decided to deal with the worst roads, bridges, schools, and healthcare. We used the information provided by the Trucker Path about states with the worst roads. Secondly, we checked for bridges with Culture Cheat Sheet and saw which 15 states are the worst when it comes to hospitals with the Hospital Safety Guide. Education system facilities were included as well with USA Today. Next, we were comparing the lists to see which states were appearing in all three lists. The worst 20 schools or hospitals were taken into account. From then on, we can talk about the best schools or hospitals instead. Since in our title “roads” are emphasized, we used that criterion to rank a state higher if it appeared on several lists. Fortunately, some states have good enough bridges, schools, and hospitals, so they were ranked only according to their road safety.

Now let’s see what state has the worst roads, bridges, schools, and hospitals in the whole US. Here are 15 states with the worst roads and infrastructure in US!

15. Illinois

If you’re from Illinois and you’re reading this, you probably can’t believe your state is the last on the list! However, bear in mind that is so only because you still have much better schools, bridges, and hospitals than the rest of the country. The potholed roads are a different story. 73% of the roads are in a horrible state.

14. Connecticut

Connecticut ranks 14th on our list of states with the worst roads and infrastructure in US. It is the worst state for drivers if we focus only on the roads. Actually, it’s a tie between Connecticut and Illinois. According to the Connecticut Magazine, the main “culprits” for this shameful statistics are the country roads.  On the bright side, the bridges are stable, and health care is above the standard.

13. Maine

Maine’s hospitals are top notch! The state is in the second place when it comes to best hospital safety. However, its roads are a disaster, and it has 14.4% structurally deficient bridges. In other words, 352 of them have serious structural issues.

12. Maryland

As opposed to Maine, Maryland’s bridges are in good shape, but the hospitals… They’re the second worst in the whole state! 55% of the roads have deteriorated so far.

11. Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania doesn’t make the top ten of the states with the worst roads, but when it comes to bridges, it has a high score, unfortunately. 4,506 bridges are threatening to collapse. That’ almost 20% of Pennsylvania’s bridges. The most dangerous ones are on Delaware Expressway (I-95).

Let’s see the top ten states with the worst roads and infrastructure in US, shall we?

10. Nebraska

Nebraska and Pennsylvania are neck and neck when it comes to road quality. It’s the tenth on the list of the worst roads, and here as well. The U.S. 75  bridge over J St in Omaha is to be avoided. Probably because it hasn’t been maintained very well, or not meant for so much traffic. The bridge was built in 1970.

9. Oregon

This isn’t the best state to study in if you rely on the state education system. The high school graduation rate is the 3rd lowest in the country. As for road safety, 65% of them are in bad state. Portland and its streets don’t vouch for an enjoyable ride. The main streets and the neighborhood streets could use some decent reconstruction.

8. Washington

Washington ranks 8th on our list of states with the worst roads and infrastructure in US. The state can’t really brag about its hospitals, but it is one of the best university centers. Admittedly, you can’t have it all. 67% of the roads need urgent repair. One would think the presidents could do something about the state which is their home. Staggering 92% of the major roads in Washington D.C. were described as “poor“. Perhaps the President takes a helicopter more frequently than land vehicles.

7. California

We are continuing our list of states with the worst roads and infrastructure in US with California which has a lot of schools, too, but the public school spending is the 8th lowest in the country. Also, 68% of the roads can be depicted as terrible.

6. Rhode Island

Here’s the state with absolutely the worst bridges among these 15 states with the worst roads and infrastructure in the US. 772 bridges are in desperate need of repair. That’s almost 25% of the overall number. It may look like a small number compared to the roads (70%).

And finally, the top five states with the worst roads and infrastructure in US.

5. Arizona

Arizona’s roads are pretty bad, but its schools and health system are bad as well. Public school spending is rather low, and it ranks 37 on the health safety list.

4. New York

New York, New York… It’s going to be one bumpy ride in the concrete jungle. Especially on the bridges. There are 17,462 constructions of this kind, and 1,928 need to be repaired as soon as possible. The most critical is the I-278 over Relief at I-278 over The Narrows. It comes as no wonder if you know 175,362 cross it on a daily basis. The bridges built in the 40s are also a potential hazard.

3. South Dakota

Almost one-fifth of its bridges are in a really poor state. 1,147 out of 5,849 bridges are waiting to be repaired. The busiest bridge is in Sioux Falls. The education system isn’t too good either. The state ranks in the 38th place of the total list of best and worst schools.

2. Louisiana

The situation is similar with Lousiana. It’s in top ten of the states with the worst bridges in the US, but the schools… It ranks rather low. Lousiana is the worst of all the states we have on our list when it comes to education facilities. Its position is at the very bottom – number 46.

1. Oklahoma

Last but not the least, here is Oklahoma as the worst among 15 states with the worst roads and infrastructure in US. 70% of its roads are really going to do some serious harm to your vehicle. Hopefully, you won’t have a car accident and end up in one of their hospitals. Maybe public schools should invest more in education and future traffic engineers to deal with the issue at last.