26th Annual Highway Report: Total Disbursements Per Mile

Since capital and bridge, maintenance, and administrative disbursements make up the majority of expenditures (73.8% in 2019), this report measures them individually and collectively. Total disbursements include those three funding categories, plus three others: Highway Law Enforcement and Safety, Interest, and Bond Retirement. In total, the 50 states disbursed about $157.8 billion for state-owned roads in 2019, a 3.9% increase from $151.8 billion in 2018, the last time this assessment was completed.

This year, we measured average state disbursements per lane-mile. Last year, we measured average state disbursement per centerline-mile, lane-mile, and vehicle-miles traveled per lane-mile. The average 2019 per lane-mile disbursement is $83,714, a 3.8% increase from $80,658 in 2018. This follows a generally steady increased spending trend over the past decade. Since 2007, these per lane-mile disbursements have increased about 42%, while the Consumer Price Index (CPI) has increased about 23%.

In 2019, West Virginia, North Dakota, South Carolina, South Dakota, and Missouri reported the lowest expenditures. New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts, Florida, and Rhode Island reported the highest per lane-mile expenditures. In terms of disbursements per lane-mile, the largest percentage shifts from 2018 to 2019 were Idaho, Washington, and New Jersey (with increases of 285%, 100%, and 99%, respectively) and West Virginia, Virginia, and Louisiana (with decreases of 35%, 31%, and 25% respectively). Some of the disbursements per state-controlled lane-mile can vary widely from year to year reflecting funding actions and project schedules.

Total Disbursements Per State-Controlled Mile