Texans pay $709 per person due to unmaintained roads, study finds

Texans on average pay $709 each in lost time and car repairs and maintenance as a result of the state’s nearly 20,000 miles of unmaintained roads, according to an analysis by the auto refinance website RateGenius.

Those per-person costs paid by Texans are the 11th highest among the 50 states and the District of Columbia, the study found. Statewide, there are 19,441 miles of problem roads and 789 bridges in poor condition – statistics that led the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) to give Texas a “C” grade on infrastructure, according to RateGenius.

The states and Washington, D.C., are now looking to improve their road infrastructures as a result of President Joe Biden signing the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which will provide $1.2 trillion for roads, bridges, public transit and other projects. 

RateGenius determined the cost that states’ residents are paying per person for substandard roads by analyzing data from the U.S. Department of Transportation. 

The infrastructure report card grades were calculated by the ASCE based on eight metrics, such as capacity, conditions and public safety.

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Cost per Person by State for Poorly Maintained Roads

Rank	State	Cost of Unmaintained Roads per Person	Miles of Road in Poor Condition	Bridges in Poor Condition	Infrastructure Report Card Grade
1	Washington, D.C.	$1,100	402	7	C
2	Rhode Island	$845	860	136	C-
3	Hawaii	$818	664	87	D+
4	California	$799	14,200	1,493	C-
5	New Mexico	$767	3,822	208	C-
6	Missouri	$743	7,576	2,218	C-
7	West Virginia	$726	3,222	1,490	D
8	New Jersey	$713	3,995	482	D+
9	Connecticut	$711	2,154	231	C-
10	Utah	$709	2,064	63	C+
11	Texas	$709	19,441	789	C
12	Arkansas	$671	6,711	679	D+
13	Louisiana	$667	3,411	1,631	D+
14	Washington	$659	5,469	401	C
15	Colorado	$651	3,620	469	C-
16	Michigan	$644	7,300	1,240	D+
17	Indiana	$638	5,478	1,082	C-
18	Mississippi	$637	5,840	1,174	D+
19	Maryland	$637	2,201	253	C
20	New York	$625	7,292	1,672	C-
21	Pennsylvania	$620	7,540	3,198	C-
22	Massachusetts	$620	1,194	456	C-
23	Arizona	$614	3,193	117	C
24	Illinois	$609	6,218	2,405	C-
25	South Carolina	$564	3,786	499	C-
26	South Dakota	$562	2,031	1,018	C-
27	Nevada	$558	1,090	29	C
28	Wisconsin	$547	1,949	987	C
29	Minnesota	$543	4,986	618	C
30	Maine	$543	1,438	314	C-
31	Virginia	$517	2,124	530	C-
32	Vermont	$517	666	68	C
33	Kansas	$509	1,995	1,277	C
34	Ohio	$506	4,925	1,334	C-
35	North Carolina	$500	3,116	1,325	C-
36	New Hampshire	$476	698	194	C-
37	Montana	$472	1,485	365	C
38	Nebraska	$461	1,125	1,280	C-
39	Delaware	$456	253	17	D
40	Kentucky	$444	1,322	990	C-
41	Alabama	$434	2,961	586	C-
42	Florida	$425	3,564	459	C
43	North Dakota	$410	830	481	C-
44	Alaska	$402	570	134	C
45	Oklahoma	$394	1,004	2,296	C-
46	Idaho	$394	1,102	238	C-
47	Georgia	$375	2,260	319	C+
48	Iowa	$336	403	4,504	C
49	Wyoming	$295	380	230	C-
50	Oregon	$256	1,287	382	C-
51	Tennessee	$209	270	841	C

Source: RateGenius