ASCE Report Card: Spending Gap to Fix U.S. Infrastructure Climbs to $3.7 Trillion
WASHINGTON—The American Society of Civil Engineers released its annual report card on America’s infrastructure last week and gave it a grade of “C.” More investment is needed to overcome decades of underinvestment and adapt the country’s transportation networks, water systems, electric grid and broadband services to meet current and future demands, the professional society reported.
The 2025 grade, an improvement over the C- overall grade in 2021, is the highest grade given by ASCE since it began its Report Card in 1998. While the Report Card shows that 2021 investments from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) have started to pay off, ASCE projects a $3.7-trillion gap between current planned infrastructure investments and what must be done to have the nation’s infrastructure in good working order—an increase from the $2.59 trillion gap reported four years ago.
The report underscores the essential need for lawmakers to maintain existing levels of federal infrastructure investment, as well as to increase participation from state and local governments and the private sector to reduce costs for American households and bolster economic growth.
“Every American household or business immediately feels the impact of just one inefficiency or failure in our built environment,” said Darren Olson, chair of the ASCE 2025 Report Card. “However, if we maintain investments, each American household can save $700 per year. Better infrastructure is an efficient investment of taxpayer dollars that results in a stronger economy and prioritizes American jobs, resilience and connectivity.”
The individual 2025 category grades ranged from a “B” for ports to a “D” grade for stormwater and transit. Though some categories improved and none earning a D- grade for the first time since 1998, nine categories still received a grade in the D range. Eight category grades—dams, hazardous waste, inland waterways, levees, ports, public parks, roads and transit—improved over the 2021 report. Two categories, energy and rail, received lower grades in the current 2025 Report Card.
The grades for each category were:
B: Ports
B-: Rail
C+: Broadband, Solid Waste
C: Bridges, Hazardous Waste
C-: Inland Waterways, Drinking Water, Public Parks
D+: Aviation, Dams, Energy, Levees, Roads, Schools, Wastewater
D: Stormwater, Transit
Published: April 2, 2025.