With U.S. traffic congestion costing U.S. drivers $87 billion in 2018 and the U.S. ranked 17th in the world in road quality, the personal-finance website WalletHub today released its report on 2020’s Best & Worst States to Drive in.
To determine the most driver-friendly states in the U.S., the website compared all 50 states across 4 dimensions (Cost, Traffic, Safety, and Access) and further broke those down into 31 key metrics. The data set ranges from average gas prices to share of rush-hour traffic congestion to road quality.
North Carolina came out just 2 spots below the top, ranked #3 in the nation. South Carolina came in just above the 50% mark at #34 in the nation.
Best & Worst Driving States in America
Overall Rank (1 = Best) |
State | Total Score | ‘Cost of Ownership & Maintenance’ Rank | ‘Traffic & Infrastructure’ Rank | ‘Safety’ Rank | ‘Access to Vehicles & Maintenance’ Rank |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Iowa | 64.44 | 9 | 8 | 31 | 22 |
2 | Tennessee | 63.43 | 1 | 22 | 35 | 20 |
3 | North Carolina | 62.85 | 8 | 29 | 21 | 11 |
4 | Texas | 62.51 | 20 | 41 | 13 | 2 |
5 | Nebraska | 61.89 | 13 | 7 | 34 | 32 |
6 | Georgia | 61.76 | 5 | 36 | 30 | 8 |
7 | Virginia | 61.57 | 2 | 37 | 32 | 14 |
8 | Indiana | 61.38 | 4 | 18 | 41 | 19 |
9 | Arkansas | 61.02 | 16 | 4 | 36 | 36 |
10 | Alabama | 60.82 | 7 | 14 | 43 | 25 |
11 | Kansas | 60.64 | 17 | 6 | 42 | 30 |
12 | Kentucky | 60.61 | 10 | 23 | 23 | 31 |
13 | Illinois | 60.04 | 35 | 31 | 7 | 5 |
14 | Wisconsin | 59.65 | 14 | 16 | 44 | 18 |
15 | Florida | 59.47 | 25 | 45 | 27 | 3 |
16 | Oregon | 59.33 | 41 | 12 | 10 | 23 |
17 | Idaho | 59.20 | 32 | 2 | 22 | 45 |
18 | Louisiana | 59.13 | 28 | 20 | 11 | 28 |
19 | New York | 58.75 | 46 | 38 | 3 | 4 |
20 | Oklahoma | 58.70 | 26 | 13 | 28 | 29 |
21 | Mississippi | 58.42 | 11 | 11 | 46 | 37 |
22 | Ohio | 58.22 | 21 | 26 | 39 | 7 |
23 | New Mexico | 57.79 | 27 | 3 | 38 | 44 |
24 | South Carolina | 57.57 | 3 | 25 | 45 | 27 |
25 | Missouri | 56.84 | 6 | 28 | 49 | 10 |
26 | Maine | 56.67 | 23 | 33 | 16 | 35 |
27 | Minnesota | 56.59 | 29 | 32 | 20 | 21 |
28 | North Dakota | 56.44 | 22 | 10 | 40 | 48 |
29 | South Dakota | 56.42 | 12 | 9 | 48 | 41 |
30 | Utah | 56.32 | 36 | 15 | 18 | 33 |
31 | Arizona | 55.90 | 37 | 19 | 24 | 26 |
32 | Michigan | 55.87 | 38 | 27 | 26 | 12 |
33 | Pennsylvania | 55.78 | 40 | 30 | 33 | 6 |
34 | Delaware | 55.40 | 15 | 42 | 15 | 49 |
35 | Massachusetts | 55.38 | 42 | 50 | 1 | 9 |
36 | Vermont | 55.28 | 33 | 24 | 14 | 34 |
37 | Nevada | 54.83 | 45 | 21 | 5 | 38 |
38 | New Hampshire | 54.67 | 24 | 44 | 12 | 40 |
39 | Wyoming | 54.63 | 30 | 1 | 47 | 47 |
40 | Connecticut | 54.60 | 47 | 34 | 2 | 24 |
41 | Montana | 54.58 | 18 | 5 | 50 | 43 |
42 | Alaska | 53.89 | 34 | 17 | 17 | 50 |
43 | New Jersey | 53.09 | 39 | 48 | 9 | 15 |
44 | West Virginia | 52.90 | 19 | 39 | 37 | 42 |
45 | Maryland | 51.80 | 31 | 49 | 25 | 17 |
46 | Colorado | 51.80 | 43 | 40 | 29 | 16 |
47 | California | 50.61 | 49 | 46 | 4 | 1 |
48 | Washington | 50.05 | 48 | 35 | 19 | 13 |
49 | Rhode Island | 49.75 | 44 | 47 | 6 | 46 |
50 | Hawaii | 38.77 | 50 | 43 | 8 | 39 |
You can read more about the report here on Wallethub.
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