A big improvement that can be credited to federal investment in U.S. infrastructure.
The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) just gave America’s infrastructure a C grade in its 2025 Infrastructure Report Card — the highest score in more than two decades. It’s a small but meaningful step forward from the C- we received in 2021 and a sign that federal investment is starting to pay off.
The report card, which is updated every four years by a team of civil engineers and infrastructure professionals, inspects America’s infrastructure. Everything from roads and bridges to airports and public transit to schools and public parks to inland waterways and ports and more.
Out of the 18 categories ASCE assessed, almost half saw their grades go up, including historically underfunded areas like dams, hazardous waste, inland waterways, ports, public parks, and transit.
Ports saw their grade increase to a B — the top grade on the entire report card. The B grade means the ports are in good to excellent condition, and they are overall safe and reliable.
Broadband was introduced as a graded category for the first time and earned a solid C+.
And in a major milestone, no category received a D- for the first time since 1998.
All of this progress is the direct result of strong, deliberate federal policy. It’s the product of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), which allocated $1.2 trillion for transportation and infrastructure projects between 2022 and 2026. After years of neglect and delay, the country is finally beginning to catch up. Roads are being repaved, water systems are getting upgrades, and long-overdue projects are finally moving from planning to reality. These gains show that federal investment is making a difference in people’s daily lives.
That’s a clear signal that coordinated investment can begin to reverse decades of deterioration. Of course, the overall grade of C still reflects real challenges. Nine categories remain in the D range, showing that many systems are in poor condition, pose serious concern, and are at risk for failure. They include airports, dams, energy, levees, public transit, roads, schools, stormwater and wastewater. And two areas — freight and passenger rail, and energy — saw their grades decline this year due to growing capacity concerns and safety needs. These are clear reminders that while we’re heading in the right direction, we’re not there yet.
Bridges, for example, held steady at a C grade — the same as in 2021. That might seem like a neutral result, but in context, it’s a sign of critical stability. America has more than 623,000 bridges, according to the ASCE, many of them decades old. Keeping that grade from slipping — let alone improving it — requires serious and sustained investment. Without it, the maintenance backlog will only grow, and so will the risks.
But the job isn’t finished, and neither is the funding. The IIJA is set to expire in 2026. If we let investment levels fall back to where they were before, we risk stalling out just as we’re gaining ground. According to ASCE’s 2024 Bridging the Gap report, if infrastructure investment declines, American households could end up paying an extra $700 per year over the next two decades. That’s the cost of potholes that never got fixed, pipes that keep bursting, trains that don’t run on time, and power grids that fail when we need them most.
We’ve seen what happens when we invest: bridges stay open, buses run on time, drinking water flows clean, and power stays on during storms. Projects that once sat on the shelf for years are finally moving forward. Communities are safer. Economies are stronger. We are no longer watching infrastructure fall apart — we’re starting to rebuild.
That’s why Congress must commit to maintaining — or even increasing — the funding levels established by the IIJA and IRA. Long-term investment and smarter policy are the way forward. Our infrastructure may have earned a C, but we now have the momentum to build something far stronger, safer, and more resilient. Let’s not stop now.