Major spending at all levels of government over the last several years is beginning to drive marked improvement in America's infrastructure, as the American Society of Civil Engineers' report card rating the country's infrastructure quality on an A through F rating system showed some good news.
"For the first time ever, America's cumulative GPA is a C, the highest it has ever been," said Darren Olson, chair of the ASCE's Committee on America's infrastructure.
"For the first time since 1998 no category received a D- grade. This GPA improved slightly from a C- in 2021, indicating we've made progress around the margins in some infrastructure areas."
The report card, which the group releases every four years, provides a comprehensive assessment of 18 major infrastructure categories by tapping the engineering knowledge base of 52 civil engineers and infrastructure professionals from across the country who work on a volunteer basis to produce the report card.
ASCE has been producing the report card since 1998 using eight criteria to determine the grades. The latest version identifies three trends including, vulnerability to natural disasters, a long timeline to realize federal and state investments, and a lack of data to accurately measure some of the tracked sectors.
For 2025 ports emerged as the highest-grade winner with a solid B, while stormwater and transit sunk to the bottom with D's. Broadband, which is a new category, scored a C+ as energy (D+) and rail (B-) both dropped in the ratings due to "safety and capacity concerns."
Grades increased or stayed the same in sixteen categories as compared to the 2021 report indicating that infrastructure investment can make a difference.
Infrastructure spending is often spurred by issuing bonds to provide the matching funds required by many federal grants. The future of infrastructure spending levels is one of the many issues needing attention from Congress as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is set to expire at the end of 2026.
"The investment levels that we saw under the last administration have really started to move the needle, said Kristina Swallow, who served on the Committee and is also the assistant city manager of Tucson, Arizona.
"We really do need to maintain the investment levels that we've seen at the federal level, but also it requires state, local, and private industry investment."
One of the committee's key recommendations includes, "Federal, state, and local governments should expand the use of public–private partnerships for appropriate projects and find opportunities to leverage additional financing tools."
It also recommends replenishing formula funding flowing into infrastructure from the Highway Trust Fund and State Revolving Funds tapped for water projects.
"If we maintain investments, each American household can save $700 per year," said Olson. "Better infrastructure is an efficient investment of taxpayer dollars that results in a stronger economy and prioritizes American jobs, resilience, and connectivity."
The ASCE is also tracking an infrastructure gap showing that even if spending levels are maintained at current levels another $13 billion is needed to bring up grades across the board.
"While this showcases that investment leads to direct results, the job is not yet done," said Feniosky Peña-Mora, 2025 ASCE president. "As the Report Card makes clear, there is still a great need for sustained investments."
"Delaying upgrades to our nation's roads, bridges, transit and utilities will cost families and businesses time and money, in addition to creating unsafe yet often avoidable situations."
