What Are the Best and Worst US States to Drive In?

As office culture makes a comeback, Americans are spending more time commuting by car. However, the experience of driving can be vastly different from state to state. Factors like traffic, transportation costs, safety, road infrastructure and weather differ significantly depending on your location and affect how pleasant (or unpleasant) it is to drive there.

MoneyGeek analyzed data from the Federal Highway Administration, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, U.S. Census Bureau, FBI and more to rank the states with the best and worst driving experiences based on the five factors mentioned above. Here's what we found.

Driving has its perks, but it also comes with challenges — this is especially true in California, which takes the top spot as the most challenging state to drive in the U.S. The Golden State ranked third in terms of worst road congestion and is the fifth most expensive state for motorists. Drivers here face gas prices of $5 per gallon, yearly maintenance costs of $416 and annual toll costs of $497. These factors firmly place it at the top, despite the state offering some of the nation's cheapest full coverage auto insurance options. Residents of high-cost states might consider comparing quotes from the best car insurance companies to save money on driving costs.

Louisiana doesn't fall far behind California, ranking as the second-worst state for driving. The state has the sixth-highest rate of fatal car accidents, with nearly 20 fatal crashes for every 100,000 residents. Additionally, the state's road quality ranks seventh-worst in the country, with only 71% of its roads in acceptable condition. Maryland, taking the fourth spot on the worst states for driving list, is also the priciest state for drivers. Aside from high gas and maintenance costs, it also carries the second-highest annual premium for comprehensive auto insurance at $1,191.

Picture a drive with minimal traffic, smooth highways and economical fuel costs: this isn't a pipe dream, but likely a daily norm for drivers in Nebraska. Claiming the top spot on our list of the best states for drivers, Nebraska offers the second-most economical car expenses in the country. There, gas prices are just $3.47 per gallon, and the sixth-lowest annual insurance premium is a mere $488. With over 90% of its roads and bridges in prime condition, Nebraska also ranks as the ninth-best state for infrastructure quality.

With the least congested roads in the country, North Dakota and South Dakota also placed in the top 10 states for best driving conditions. North Dakota sits in third place, while South Dakota takes seventh. The morning commute in these states averages 20 minutes, notably less than the national average of 26 minutes.

To identify the best and worst states to drive in across the U.S., MoneyGeek looked at five categories of data that together create a comprehensive view of the driving experience in each location. Those categories include:

• Congestion: This category includes indicators like average morning commute times and vehicle miles traveled per lane mile, which measures how many vehicles are using a particular length of road over a certain period of time.
• Cost: This category includes factors like gas prices per gallon, annual car maintenance costs and annual toll expenses per vehicle comprise this category; it also includes average annual premiums from the cheapest full coverage auto insurance options available in each state.
• Infrastructure: This category includes the percentage of roads and bridges in acceptable condition in each state.
• Safety: For this category, MoneyGeek analyzed fatal crashes per 100,000 people and car thefts per 100,000 vehicles.
• Weather: For this category, MoneyGeek analyzed the total number of fatal car crashes per 100,000 people in both snowy and rainy conditions.

Within these five categories, we broke down the best and the worst states across different data points and highlighted them below.

To explore and rank driving experience by state, MoneyGeek considered 12 metrics across five categories: congestion, cost, infrastructure, safety, and weather. Each metric was assigned a specific weight, which was then used to calculate a final ranking score through a weighted average. Assigned weights are expressed below within parentheses for each metric. The state with the lowest final ranking score ranks as the worst place to drive in.

Congestion (25%)

• Vehicle miles traveled per lane mile (in thousands): This measures how many vehicles are using a particular length of road over a certain period of time, i.e., traffic density. For this metric, for every single mile-long stretch of a lane, cars in these states cover this amount of miles in a year. Data comes from the Federal Highway Administration and is for 2022. (12.5%)
• Average commute times: Data is expressed in minutes and comes from the Census Bureau’s 2022 one-year American Community Survey. (12.5%)

Cost (20%)

• Gas prices: This is per gallon for mid-grade gas. Data was collected using CollectAPI’s Gas Prices API and was accessed in July 2024. (5%)
• Annual toll costs per vehicle: This is government spending on highways funded by toll revenue per state divided by the number of registered vehicles per state. This data comes from the Federal Highway Administration and is for 2021. Delaware's vehicle registration data for 2021 was sourced directly from the Delaware State Police’s Reports/Statistics. This decision was made due to noticeable discrepancies in the Federal Highway Administration's (FHA) data, which showed an unexplained significant decrease from 2020 to 2021. (5%)
• Annual auto insurance premiums: This is the cheapest full coverage auto insurance option in each state. Data comes from state insurance departments and Quadrant Information Services and reflects the most recent quotes as of July 2024. (5%)
• Annual maintenance costs: Data comes from CarMD and is for 2021. (5%)

Infrastructure (20%)

• Percentage of roads in acceptable condition: Acceptability of roads is determined based on the International Roughness Index (IRI), with lower IRI values indicating smoother roadways. “Acceptable” in this context is considered an IRI <=170, which includes roadways both rated as “Good” and “Fair.” Data comes from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics and is for 2022. (15%)
• Percentage of bridges in acceptable condition: A bridge is considered "acceptable" if it gets a score of at least 5 out of 10. Comparatively, a bridge in excellent shape would score 7 or above, while one in poor condition would get a score of 4 or less. This rating comes from assessing various components of the bridge, such as the surface used for walking or driving, the underlying structure, and other elements. Data comes from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics and is for 2023. (5%)

Safety (25%)

• Fatal car crashes per 100,000 people: Number of car crash fatalities divided per 100,000 population. Data comes from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and is for 2022. (18.75%)
• Car thefts per 100,000 vehicles: Number of car theft-related arrests per 100,000 vehicles. Data comes from the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Crime Explorer and is for 2022. (6.25%)

Weather (10%)

• Car fatalities in rainy weather per 100,000 people: Data comes from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and is for 2021. (5%)
• Car fatalities in snowy weather per 100,000 people: Data comes from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and is for 2021. (5%)