New Study: Illinois Has Got Some Serious Pothole Problems

I know, I know. If you live here in Illinois, especially in the Rockford and Northern Illinois areas, this is NOT A NEWSFLASH. You've probably had to deal with potholes your entire life.

But, if you thought that every place in the country had the same amount of pothole difficulties, you'll see that Illinois has it considerably worse than many other states.

Getty Images

When It Comes To Potholes And The Damage They Do To Your Car, Illinoisans Are Spending Some Serious Money

According to a study by QuoteWizard.com, drivers across the country are shelling out over $3 billion per year fixing damage caused by potholes. AAA Chicago says that the average cost for fixing vehicle damage from a pothole encounter is over $300.

It would be nice to live somewhere where this topic would be placed into the "Other People's Problems" category, but we don't. Rockford may not be the epicenter of Illinois' potholes, but we certainly have more than our share.

23 WIFR News:

Rockford’s director of public works Kyle Saunders says we’re seeing less complaints so far than in previous years.
“It’s not uncommon during winter months to see anywhere from 6000 to 8000 potholes patched on a monthly basis. In the month of January, we ended up patching around 2500,” Saunders told 23 News.
Saunders says because January has been so cold, there has been no proper freeze-thaw cycle. Meaning the snow hasn’t melted into the ground enough to refreeze and cause cracks.

Getty Images

It May Surprise You, But Illinois Is Not The Worst State For Potholes

According to the QuoteWizard.com study, that honor goes to the state of Washington. I'm not certain that this is legit, but I'm told this is a photo of the state of Washington's Department of Transportation workers examining one of their medium-sized potholes:

Getty Images

Like I said, I don't know if it's legit. I'll get back to you on it.

Anyway, here are the top 10 states with the worst pothole problems:

Washington
Indiana
Michigan
Nebraska
Ohio
Massachusetts
Illinois
Tennessee
Pennsylvania
New York

12 Amazing Illinois Day Trips to Take Each Month in 2022

LOOK: See how much gasoline cost the year you started driving

To find out more about how has the price of gas changed throughout the years, Stacker ran the numbers on the cost of a gallon of gasoline for each of the last 84 years. Using data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (released in April 2020), we analyzed the average price for a gallon of unleaded regular gasoline from 1976 to 2020 along with the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for unleaded regular gasoline from 1937 to 1976, including the absolute and inflation-adjusted prices for each year.

Read on to explore the cost of gas over time and rediscover just how much a gallon was when you first started driving.