Minnesota Roads Ranked Among Best in America

According to a new study, if you're looking for some smooth, well-maintained roads, Minnesota is the state for you. In fact, our roads and highways are now some of the best-maintained in the entire country!

Living here in the Land of 10,000 Lakes, we're used to being ranked near the top of several national lists, right? Our health care, education, and general quality of life are all routinely top-ranked here in the North Star State. Heck, even some of our classic Minnesota foods have been named the Best in America.

And now comes word that our roads are some of the best in the country. Speaking of roads and highways, we have a lot of them here in the Bold North. In fact, Minnesota has some of the most roads of any state in the country. According to the Minnesota Legislature website, there are about 135,000 miles of roads and highways that traverse the Gopher State.

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Minnesota Ranked 7th Best for Road Conditions

According to a survey from Construction Coverage, only six other states have roads and highways that are in better shape than those in Minnesota. I know that sounds a little tough to believe, especially if you've driven on the really rough parts of some Minnesota highways, like maybe the southbound lanes of Highway 52 near Zumbrota, am I right?

A new analysis from Construction Coverage, a company that produces construction industry resources, guides, and research, looked at data from the U.S. Department of Transportation to evaluate the condition of roadways across the country.

How Minnesota Roads Compare to the National Average

According to their survey, Minnesota ranks 7th best in the country, with only 5 percent of our major roads in poor condition. That stat compares to the national rate of 13.1 percent of major roadways that are in poor condition.

The survey goes on to say that 24.2 percent of major roadways in Minnesota are considered to be in fair condition, while 70.8 percent are ranked in good condition, which again puts Minnesota well above national rankings for those categories.

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These States Have the Best and Worst Roads in 2026

Only Alabama, Tennessee, North Dakota, Indiana, Wyoming, and Kansas are ranked higher than Minnesota when it comes to having roads and highways in the best shape. Here's the list of the states with the best roads and highways in 2026:

1. Kansas
2. Wyoming
3. Indiana
4. North Dakota
5. Tennessee
6. Alabama
7. Minnesota 
8. Vermont
9. Nebraska
10. South Dakota

On the other end of the spectrum, here are the states the Construction Coverage survey says have roads and highways that are in the worst shape in 2026-- and it includes one of our neighboring states:

1. Rhode Island
2. Massachusetts
3. California
4. Hawaii
5. New York
6. Washington
7. Maryland
8. Louisiana
9. New Mexico
10. Wisconsin