Virginia officially has the best roads in the nation, according to the newly released 29th Annual Highway Report from the Reason Foundation.
The report ranked all 50 state highway systems based on road conditions, safety, congestion, bridge quality, and spending efficiency using 2023 data submitted to the federal government.
Virginia climbed from No. 4 last year to reclaim the top spot, outperforming neighboring states like North Carolina, Maryland, and West Virginia
How Virginia earned the #1 rank for best roads in the nation
Virginia was ranked first overall for highway performance and cost-effectiveness in this year’s Highway Report, which compares road quality against how efficiently states spend transportation dollars.
The state performed especially well in capital and bridge disbursements, ranking second nationally in spending efficiency for building and expanding both roads and bridges.
Virginia also posted strong safety and infrastructure scores, including top-tier rankings for urban fatality rate, bridge quality, and multiple pavement condition categories.
While traffic congestion remains one of Virginia’s weakest areas—ranking 38th nationally—the state’s overall balance of road quality, safety, and cost control pushed it to the #1 position!
What was this study’s methodology?
The Reason Foundation’s Annual Highway Report evaluates each state’s highway system using 13 performance categories that measure both spending and results.
Metrics include:
- administrative costs
- capital and bridge spending
- maintenance spending
- pavement conditions on urban and rural roads
- traffic fatalities
- bridge conditions
- urban congestion levels
Researchers compare each state’s highway budget on a per-mile basis against the quality and safety of its roads, meaning states score higher when they deliver better roads without overspending taxpayer dollars.
The 2026 edition of the report used 2023 state-submitted federal highway data, along with the latest available bridge and congestion statistics.
