Top 5 Takeaways from ASCE’s 2025 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure

Just as our education networks use an A-F grading system and hand out a report card at the end of the term, the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) uses the same system and presents a periodic report card on America’s infrastructure.

The ASCE has released its grade for the 2025 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure. The report this year covers 18 categories ranging from schools to solid waste. In this year’s report, ASCE has given a national grade of C. This highest grade ever awarded, showing slight improvement from 2021’s C- rating, but still falling drastically short for what is needed for a strong economic base. The report shared that the nation’s infrastructure is not meeting standards.

“We have seen the difference investment can make in improving infrastructure,” said Feniosky Peña-Mora, 2025 ASCE president. “After releasing this report eight times, this is the first time for a C grade, the highest ever awarded. While this showcases that investment leads to direct results, the job is not yet done. As the Report Card makes clear, there is still a great need for sustained investments. Delaying upgrades to our nation’s roads, bridges, transit and utilities will cost families and businesses time and money, in addition to creating unsafe yet often avoidable situations.”

The raised national grade shows progress over the past few years, but more work is needed. Here are the five main things you need to know about the report.

1) Poor Averages

Of the 18 categories, 16 got the same or an improved score since the 2021 report. Even with some encouraging improvement, many of the grades are quite low. Unfortunately, half of the categories received a D or D+ grade. Seven of the categories were in the C- to C+ range and a mere two categories were given a B- or B. This shows that there is still a long way to go if the nation wants a good quality average.

2) The Stormwater and Transit Issue

The lowest scoring categories were stormwater and transit, coming in at a D. Stormwater’s score stayed the same from 2021 to 2025, and transit’s score, on the other hand, actually improved, going from a D- to a D. With both categories holding up the bottom end of the report card, they are a major concern and need to be addressed heavily if the nation wants to raise its lowest scoring categories to above a D.

3)The Lowered Grades

There were two categories that received a lower score than they had on the last report card. These categories were energy and rail. While energy went from a C- to a D+, rail went from a B to a B-. This drop in grades was mainly due to varying concerns in regards to safety and capacity.

4) The Investment Gap

Federal investment in infrastructure is vital to the improvement of the 18 categories and their scores. There currently are significant gaps in the total investment needs and the anticipated investment. But, since ASCE’s 2020m economic study, there has been progress in federal funding and the gaps have shrunk. Even so, there is still considerable need for investment. 

If federal funds were to shift and Congress were to draw back on these investments, the gap between need and funding would likely become massive.

ASCE’s report card explained that in this scenario, American’s could suffer. “The reduced investments would result in $1.9 trillion in lost disposable income for American families within the 20 years studied.”    

5) Recommendation for Improvement

The ASCE infrastructure report card shared some recommendations for the nation to boost its score. The main tips included:

• Sustain Investment – In order to face the various problems within the nation’s infrastructure, it is imperative that federal funding steadily continues or even increases. With consistent or improved investments, infrastructure has to opportunity to restore and build.
• Prioritize Resilience – With extreme weather being a major issue facing our nation’s infrastructure, it is important that working on the resilience is a main priority. Proper investment will help ensure that infrastructure receives proper plans and features that will extend lifespan.
• Advance Policy and Innovation – In order for standards to be held high, there needs to be more work done publicly and privately to address the issue of quality and innovative solutions.