PHOENIX — The Arizona Section of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) released the 2026 Report Card for Arizona's Infrastructure today, assigning the state’s infrastructure a grade of ‘C’, the same grade Arizona received in its last infrastructure report card in 2020. A grade of ‘C’ means the infrastructure is in adequate condition and meeting current needs; however, infrastructure systems are too important to Arizonan communities and businesses for a 'C' to be an acceptable grade. Infrastructure is expected to work reliably and efficiently, not just adequately. This means, if we value and prioritize that reliability for our safety and progress of our communities investments must be made and procedures improved to meet future needs and rely upon current conditions. This grade is the same as the national infrastructure grade of ‘C’ in the 2025 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure. The report covers 11 categories of infrastructure: aviation, bridges, dams, drinking water, energy, levees, rail, roads, stormwater, transit, and wastewater. Individual chapter grades are below.
Grade Categories
B+ Bridges
B- Aviation
C Energy, Levees, Rail, Transit, Wastewater
C- Dams, Drinking Water, Stormwater
D+ Roads
Arizona is experiencing some of the most rapid population growth and business development in the nation and, currently, the state’s relatively young infrastructure networks are supporting this growth. Eight of the 11 categories in the report have higher grades than in the national report card and several categories boast strong condition ratings. While these are positive trends leading to a stronger economy and more robust communities, the additional activity means infrastructure capacities must be expanded, and current systems will have greater maintenance needs. Increasingly frequent extreme weather events are also adding strain to some of the state’s aging assets.
“Arizona has so many great attributes that draw tourists, new residents, and business opportunities to our state, but we can only sustain our way of life and growth if we prioritize the infrastructure that gets us where we need to go, keeps the lights on, and protects us from environmental hazards,” said Frederick Tack, P.E., ASCE Arizona Section President. “Some of our most visible infrastructure networks are doing much better than national averages, but it’s important we keep making improvements to meet future demands and remember to invest in the out-of-sight, out-of-mind assets, particularly in the water sectors, that are equally important.”
Arizona’ bridges received a ‘B+’ grade, the highest grade any state has received for this category and much higher than the national grade of ‘C’. Only 1.6% of the state’s 8,587 bridges are rated poor, well below the 6.8% national average and one of the lowest percentages in the country, and just 163 bridges, or about 1.9% of the inventory, are posted with load restrictions. Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) is applying resilience and innovation measures to improve conditions and durability, including Accelerated Bridge Construction, polymer concrete overlays, carbon-fiber strengthening, drones for inspection, and climate and hydrology modeling.
Despite advancements, Arizona has one of the lowest fuel tax rates in the nation at only 19 cents per gallon, leaving a funding gap of roughly $500 million for bridge maintenance projects by 2029. The low fuel tax revenue has led to a much larger maintenance gap for roads (D+), resulting in 54% of major roads being rated in ‘poor’ or ‘mediocre’ condition. Congestion continues to grow for Arizona drivers, as Phoenix commuters lose an average of 76 hours per year due to congestion; Tucson commuters lose roughly 50 hours per year. Anticipated population gains, much of which expected to be in the Phoenix-Tucson Sun Corridor, will exacerbate current congestion problems without robust investment and expansion projects.
Aviation (B-) and transit (C) grades significantly outperform their national counterparts. The state’s 67 public-use airports are currently meeting capacity demands and pavement conditions improved substantially from 2018 to 2021. Phoenix Sky Harbor is undergoing major capacity and terminal improvements, including a roughly $4 billion West Terminal expected to begin construction around 2030. Funding has also increased in recent years, yet Arizona airports still face an estimated $48 million annual shortfall for capacity and maintenance expenses through 2030, with rural airports most affected. Transit service is adequate in most urban regions, and investments like the five-mile South Central Light Rail Extension are improving connectivity. However, nearly 15% of Arizona’s workforce still lacks adequate access to reliable transit, and the state lacks a dedicated transit funding source. Transit agencies rely primarily on federal grants, local sales taxes, fare revenues, and local government contributions to support both capital projects and operations, which can vary in reliability.
While major utilities are successfully managing growth and investing in drinking water (C-) infrastructure, the state faces mounting capacity challenges from Colorado River shortages, accelerating groundwater depletion, rapidly aging infrastructure assets (most of which having been constructed in the 1950s through 1970s), and a population projected to grow from 7.6 million today to 10.5 million by 2050. The EPA estimates over $12 billion in drinking water infrastructure needs in Arizona over the next 20 years. Arizona’s wastewater (C) network continues to reliably support a rapidly growing population through more than 26,000 miles of sewer pipe and roughly 320 treatment plants, but much of the system is aging, with an estimated 30% to 50% of collection infrastructure requiring rehabilitation within the next decade, and at least a dozen treatment plants requiring expansion to meet future demand.
The report includes five overarching solutions to raise the grade. They are:
1) Investment: Increased investment from the IIJA has begun to close the funding gap in Arizona. With the IIJA sunsetting in 2026, continued investment is needed across all sectors of infrastructure to continue to make much needed improvements. Sustained funding will ensure our most critical systems, like drinking water, bridges, roads, dams, and more can continue safe operations across Arizona.
2) Maintenance: With the focus on increasing capacity, Arizona’s critical systems are aging and not receiving needed maintenance to fulfill their life cycle. Maintaining existing assets should be prioritized in future infrastructure planning.
3) Innovation: Modern technology has led to new innovations and can bring much needed updates to the state’s infrastructure, such as different delivery methods, new materials, and smart technology. The public and private sectors will need to be open to new ideas to deliver projects more efficiently and cost effectively.
4) Resilience and Adaptation: Arizona is facing more environmental challenges than ever before. Prolonged heat and drought have led to more wildfires and intense flooding. Incorporating resilience and adaptation in design and maintenance of infrastructure assets is needed to keep up with growth.
5) Geographic Parity: Funding is stretched across the state, but it is especially stretched in Arizona’s rural communities. Investment and modernization of assets in rural communities is necessary to maintain safe infrastructure for its entire life cycle.
The report card is a public service to inform citizens and policymakers about the infrastructure needs in Arizona. Civil engineers use their expertise and school report card-style letter grades to condense complicated data into an easy-to-understand analysis of Arizona’ infrastructure network. ASCE state report cards are modeled after the Report Card for America’s Infrastructure, which is released once every four years.
About the American Society of Civil Engineers
Founded in 1852, the American Society of Civil Engineers represents more than 160,000 civil engineers worldwide and is America's oldest national engineering society. ASCE works to raise awareness of the need to maintain and modernize the nation's infrastructure using sustainable and resilient practices, advocates for increasing and optimizing investment in infrastructure, and improve engineering knowledge and competency. For more information, visit www.asce.org or www.infrastructurereportcard.org and follow us on Twitter, @ASCETweets and @ASCEGovRel.