Iowa Is The Best State To Drive In For The Second Year In A Row

Iowa has done it again: Out-ranked Illinois as the alpha state when it comes to driving. For the second year in a row, Iowa has not only proven it's the better state to drive in than Illinois, but it's the best state to drive in. Period.

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Once again, WalletHub has conducted a study to show 2023's Best and Worst States to Drive in. To figure this out and to rank the states, WalletHub compared the 50 states across four key dimensions:

1. Cost of Ownership & Maintenance
2. Traffic & Infrastructure
3. Safety
4. Access to Vehicles & Maintenance

WalletHub evaluated those dimensions using 31 relevant metrics. Each metric was graded on a 100-point scale, with a score of 100 representing the best for drivers.

Finally, WalletHub did a bunch of math and determined each state’s weighted average across all metrics. That allowed them to calculate their overall score and used each state's score to rank-order the states.

In 2022, WalletHub got the same results for Iowa, and that's #1. How did Illinois do? Let's just say they aren't top 10 material anymore.

This is WalletHub's list of 2023's Best and Worst States to Drive in:

According to WalletHub, Iowa is the best state to drive in for the second year in a row. In 2022, WalletHub also crowned Iowa as the best state to drive in.

Iowa ranked 6^th in Share of Rush-Hour Traffic Congestion (same in 2022), 21^st in Traffic Fatality Rate (23rd in 2022), 21^st in Car Theft Rate (same in 2022), 21^st in Auto-Repair Shops per Capita (same in 2022), 13^th in Average Gas Prices (14th in 2022), 20^th in Auto-Maintenance Costs (28th in 2022), 10^th in Road Quality (4th in 2022), and 12^th in Car Dealerships per Capita (15th in 2022).

Iowa had an overall score of 62.61 (62.04 in 2022 (the best out of any state)) and ranked in the following four key dimensions:

1. Cost of Ownership & Maintenance - 7th (5th in 2022)
2. Traffic & Infrastructure - 9th (7th in 2022)
3. Safety - 35th (38th in 2022)
4. Access to Vehicles & Maintenance - 19th (22nd in 2022)

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Illinois took a dip in 2022. Back in 2022, Illinois ranked as the 9th best state to drive in, but in 2023, Illinois was named the 13th best state to drive in, knocking them out of the top 10. Ouch! From the statistics we received from WalletHub, Illinois ranked 5th in Car Washes per Capita, which is better than Iowa.

Illinois had an overall score of 58.58 (59.71 in 2022) and ranked in the following four key dimensions:

1. Cost of Ownership & Maintenance - 34th (same in 2022)
2. Traffic & Infrastructure - 34th (36th in 2022)
3. Safety - 8th (6th in 2022)
4. Access to Vehicles & Maintenance - 5th (same in 2022)

You can see how the other 48 states ranked here.