How road conditions in Nebraska have improved since 2000

The United States boasts an impressive interstate network of 4.2 million miles of roads—but underlying that reputation is a backlog of $786 billion in needed repairs, according to the American Society of Civil Engineers. On average, the society estimates, American motorists spend a collective $130 billion on extra vehicle repairs and fuel costs as a result of driving on poor-quality roads and bridges.

In 2000, 82.6% of U.S. roads were considered acceptable to drive on, according to federal standards, which look at how rough or smooth a road surface is based on how much vibration a car's suspension has to absorb while driving on it. By 2020, a smaller share—81%—of U.S. roads were rated acceptable.

TruckInfo.net used Bureau of Transportation Statistics data to analyze how road conditions in Nebraska have changed over the past two decades, as part of a larger analysis of U.S. road conditions. The analysis considers the change in the share of roads considered to be in acceptable condition.

The share of roads in Nebraska in acceptable condition has increased from 87.23% in 2000 to 92.9% in 2020. This improvement may be attributable to the fact that Nebraska spends a larger portion of its annual budget on infrastructure than any other state, according to a U.S. News & World Report analysis of Census Bureau data.

Road condition is determined by the International Roughness Index, which measures deviations from pavement surfaces significant enough to affect driving. Roads with IRI values below 170 are considered to be in acceptable condition, while anything above 170 is considered poor condition. Data represents the percentage point change from 2000 to 2020.