Planning an American road trip? The route may matter more than you think. As of 2026, roughly 13.1% of the country's major roads are in poor condition, and the pain is spread very unevenly across state lines. A new roundup drawing on Construction Coverage data, the 2025 Report Card for America's Infrastructure, ConsumerAffairs and plenty of griping locals names the ten states where drivers suffer most — and a few of them are big holiday draws.
New Mexico takes the unenviable top spot. ConsumerAffairs has ranked it worst in the nation for a second straight year, with nearly half of its urban roads and about 31% of rural roads in poor shape. One Santa Fe delivery driver described potholes big enough to nearly swallow his Fiat. The state's gas tax is among the lowest in the country and hasn't risen in three decades, though the Department of Transportation has committed over $100 million to 70 repair projects starting September 2025.
Rhode Island, dubbed the "pothole capital of the U.S." by The Providence Journal, tops Construction Coverage's 2026 ranking with 36.2% of major roads in poor condition. Its 400 miles of coastline bring sand washouts that can render some roads unpassable, and decades of deferred maintenance mean crews now have to rebuild from the sub-pavement up.
Massachusetts scores a D+ on the infrastructure report card, with 29.3% of major roads in disrepair — a legacy of brutal winters, tight budgets and centuries-old routes never built for modern traffic. Mississippi fares even worse proportionally: 56% of its roads rated poor, worsened by water-absorbing Yazoo clay that makes pavement buckle. California makes the list less for crater-sized potholes than sheer congestion — Los Angeles is the most traffic-clogged hub in the country — though 28.4% of its major roads are in poor shape too. Hawaii rounds things out with 26.5% of major roads rated poor; with rugged terrain and historic urban cores, it often can't widen its way out of the problem.
The practical takeaway: none of these states are off-limits — New Mexico's deserts, the Road to Hāna and California's coast remain world-class drives. But travellers should budget extra time, keep tyre pressure in check, consider roadside cover on longer hires, and expect delays where construction crews are at work. Rough roads are sometimes the price of reaching the best small towns and hidden gems anyway.
First published by Islands
