ASCE’s 2025 National Report Card on America’s Infrastructure
Gus O’Leary, PE, Principal, Kleinfelder and BSCES Newsletter Editorial Board Chair
Our system of airports, ports, mass transit, highways and streets; our inland waterways, dams, and levees; our drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater systems and facilities; and our electric grid, broadband network and other public and private facilities form the foundation on which our national economy rests. The 2025 National Infrastructure Report Card, produced by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) and issued on March 25 this year, provides a comprehensive assessment of the condition, performance, and future needs of the nation’s infrastructure. This is the Society’s sixth such report card, with the first issued in 1998. It assigns letter grades to different infrastructure sectors, highlights key challenges, and recommends policy solutions to address deficiencies. This report is a critical tool for policymakers, industry leaders, and the public to understand the urgent infrastructure needs in the United States.
The report includes evaluations of each of 18 infrastructure sectors based on their condition, capacity, funding, maintenance, resilience, and future needs. For decades, underinvestment and deferred maintenance have led to deteriorating infrastructure across the country. This report card is the first since the ratification of the Infrastructure Investments and Jobs Act (IIJA) in late 2021, and the first to reflect the positive impact and value of that funding. Incremental improvements were made across over half of the categories including several of the lowest scoring categories since 2021 and for the first time no sector was rated a D- or lower. This contributed to an overall grade improvement from C- to C. While this improvement is gratifying and encouraging to those of us working to improve our infrastructure, we must recall that a C grade is characterized as mediocre and requires attention. The report card is also quick to cite the importance of sustaining that investment and modernization to ensure safety, efficiency, and economic growth – if Congress sustained current funding levels, including those associated with the IIJA, a projected gap of $3.4 trillion in investments for our infrastructure remains over the next ten years.
The report highlights several major challenges that continue to hinder infrastructure progress including deferred maintenance and aging infrastructure, climate resilience and adaptation, funding shortfalls, and regulatory delays. To continue to improve our infrastructure grades over the next four years, ASCE urges continued or increased investment, particularly in light of the expiration of the IIJA in 2026, the implementation of best practices for resilience for planning across a projects entire lifecycle, and the advancement of forward thinking policy and innovation to ensure clean, safe, and reliable function of our infrastructure for the next 100 years.
Infrastructure is the foundation of the U.S. economy, public safety, and quality of life. While progress has been made, the road ahead requires commitment, collaboration, and innovation to build a more sustainable and resilient future. Please review ASCE’s 2025 National Report Card on America’s Infrastructure at ASCE's 2025 Infrastructure Report Card.