Surprisingly, Michigan Doesn’t Have The Worst Roads In The Nation
Our friends at Wallethub.com did a study of 2021's Best & Worst States to Drive in and Michigan was not the worst. Michigan actually wasn't even in the top 10.
Now, you might think to yourself that means Governor Whitmer "fixed the damn roads". But if you do think that, you'd be wrong because barely anything has been done to fix those damn things.
The study done by Wallethub isn't just about which states have the worst roads, it's a combination of cost of ownership/maintenance of a vehicle, safety, access to a vehicle and maintenance, and finally the traffic and infrastructure of in the state. And using those metrics, Michigan ranked 38th in the best states to drive in.
10 Best States to Drive In
- Texas
- Indiana
- North Carolina
- Iowa
- Tennessee
- Kentucky
- Maine
- Idaho
- South Dakota
- Ohio
10 Worst States to Drive in
- Hawaii
- California
- Washington
- Maryland
- Delaware
- Rhode Island
- Pennsylvania
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- Colorado
So, why isn't Michigan on either of those lists? Well, one reason is because Michigan ranks 11th in terms of access to vehicles and access to vehicle maintenance. Michigan also ranks 22nd in terms of safety, which also brings up our overall average score for "best state to drive in".
But here is the kicker, in the category of "traffic & infrastructure", Michigan ranks 28th. 28th! Seriously? How many states actually have worse infrastructure than Michigan? I can see traffic not being a huge issue because it only gets really bad in parts of West Michigan and then most of Metro Detroit, but the rest of the state is fine. Right?