Keaton PetersInfrastructure in America is improving, but progress remains slow. The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) has released its 2025 Infrastructure Report Card, providing a comprehensive assessment of the nation’s 18 major infrastructure categories. This evaluation, which ASCE has conducted every four years since 1998, examines current infrastructure conditions and needs, assigning letter grades from A to F based on eight key criteria: capacity, condition, funding, future need, operation and maintenance, public safety, resilience and innovation.
The 2025 Report Card shows modest improvement, raising the overall grade from C- in 2021 to C. Among the 18 categories assessed, eight saw grade increases from the 2021 Report Card. Many of these improved categories had been chronically stuck at D- or D for years.
To develop the report, a committee of 52 civil engineers and infrastructure professionals from across the country volunteer their expertise to evaluate all relevant data and reports, consult with technical experts and assign grades. Report cards are also available for all 50 states.
This slight improvement from 2021 is primarily attributed to government and the private sector prioritizing investments in historically neglected systems. However, two categories—Energy and Rail—were downgraded due to concerns related to capacity, future needs and recent safety issues. Broadband was introduced as a new graded category in 2025, receiving a C+.
The highest-scoring category is Ports (B), which benefit from recent federal investments that nearly doubled annual funding to $450 million per fiscal year. Rail (B-) also performs well. The lowest grades were assigned to Stormwater and Transit (both D), which continue to face aging infrastructure, funding shortfalls and growing demands.
Water
Across the U.S., water systems are going in the right direction but still need major upgrades. Drinking Water (C-) has benefited from funds allocated under the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) for lead service line removal and addressing contaminants like PFAS. Wastewater (D+) and Stormwater (D) face significant investment gaps despite some federal support. Combined, the report states that these sectors have a $690 billion infrastructure funding gap over 10 years. Dams (D+) and Levees (D+) have seen modest improvements from recent investments, but both still face substantial maintenance backlogs and safety concerns.
Transportation
Transportation infrastructure shows mixed results. Bridges (C) received substantial funding through the IIJA, while Roads (D+) saw some improvement with 39% of major roads in poor or mediocre condition, down from 43% in 2020. Aviation (D+) has fully recovered passenger traffic post-pandemic but continues to face delays and modernization challenges. Transit (D) struggles with ridership still at only 73% of pre-pandemic levels despite significant IIJA funding.
Energy
The energy sector, graded D+, faces significant challenges as demand experiences its highest growth in two decades. Electric vehicle adoption and data center expansion are projected to demand 35 gigawatts of electricity by 2030, double the 2022 levels. Transmission investments increased by $5 billion from 2017 to 2022, and IIJA and 2022 Inflation Reduction Act funds are supporting renewable technologies and grid hardening. Nevertheless, weather-related outages remain a serious problem, accounting for 80% of electricity disruptions since 2000. The report emphasizes the need for streamlined regulatory reviews, rigorous design standards and scaling new technologies to ensure the grid remains reliable.
Future funding gap
Overall, the IIJA provided $580 billion in new funding: $455 billion for surface transportation, $46 billion for water infrastructure, $42 billion for energy, $25 billion for airports and $14 billion for ports and inland waterways. Although these investments are already improving performance across various sectors, the full impact will take years to materialize.
Despite progress, a significant funding gap remains. ASCE estimates that $9.1 trillion is needed for all 18 categories to reach a state of good repair. With current projected funding at $5.4 trillion over the next decade, the shortfall leaves a $3.7 trillion gap.
Image by Olle August from Pixabay
