Montana Roads, How Do They Compare From Best To Worst?

In Montana we don't think much of hopping in our cars and driving 4 or more hours to get somewhere. It's just how you live in a state as big as ours. It means there are thousands of miles of roads crisscrossing our state. How do those roads compare to our neighbors and the rest of America.

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Consumer Affairs has come out with their list of the best and worst roads in each state, and the state that tops their list with the best roads is New Hampshire. Having well maintained roads means less headaches when traveling, not to mention less wear and tear on your car.

Sadly Montana doesn't rank in the top 10 best roads. Thankfully we also aren't ranked in the bottom 10 either. Our neighbor to the west of us, however, is in the top 10, coming in at #5.

Here's what Consumer Affairs has to say about Idaho Roads.

Idaho is known as the Gem State, and we can count its highway system as one of its jewels. The state spends $787 per capita on its highways per year, exceeding average U.S. expenditures by about 28% and the Rocky Mountain region’s by 6%.

Ok, so Idaho made the top 5, what about Montana and our surrounding neighbors.

North Dakota ranks as the #15 best for their roads.

Wyoming roads ranked #27 worst.

South Dakota came in as the #28 worst roads.

So, is Montana better or worse then our neighboring states?

Worse, we come in ranked with the #29 worst ranked roads in America.

What's worse, is the gas tax you pay at the pump is how roads are maintained in each state. Perhaps you're thinking Montana has lower gas tax compared to them. Well here's the breakdown of each states gas tax as of the writing of this article.

• North Dakota - $0.23/Gallon
• Wyoming - $0.24/Gallon
• South Dakota - $0.28/Gallon
• Idaho - $0.32/Gallon
• Montana - $0.33/Gallon

So not only do we have to worst roads in our area, we also pay more for less. If it's any sort of consolation California has the 4th worst roads in America, while also paying the most in gas tax at $0.53/gallon. So once again we're better than California!