States with the best and worst road quality, ranked

Part of the Tail of the Dragon road near the Tennessee and North Carolina border.

Eifel Kreutz/Getty Images/iStockphoto Poor road conditions can cause more than just a dent in your car or your bank account.

They can be hazardous, too.

Think the roads where you live are bad? See where your state ranks.

Potholes, cracks, and uneven road surfaces are a nuisance at best — and hazardous at worst.

Whether you encounter them occasionally or on your daily commute to work can depend on which state you live in.

Each year, US News & World Report publishes a ranking of the best states to live in, which it calculates from a range of categories, including infrastructure.

As part of its infrastructure ranking, US News & World Report rated the quality of each state's transportation using metrics such as commute time , public transit usage, and road quality.

To evaluate road quality, it used data from the Federal Highway Administration, a division of the US Department of Transportation.

The data reflects the percentage of roads in each state rated in poor condition.

The Federal Highway Administration assesses road conditions by examining defects such as cracks, uneven surfaces, and grooves.

US News & World Report used this data to rate each state's transportation quality and, when coupled with energy and internet access , its overall infrastructure ranking.

Here is each state's road quality, ranked from best to worst.

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