Michigan Doesn’t Complain About Potholes Nearly Enough

We've all heard it, surrounding states have heard us say it, and pockets of the rest of the country even know, Michigan needs to "Fix the Damn Roads." Even Mark Twain knew in the early 1900s that Michigan's roads suck. We've known for a LONG time that our roads are trash, and they need a LOT of help.

But it turns out, as annoyed as we THINK we are about the issue, we're nowhere near the worst state about reporting, and complaining about our Potholes... not by a Long Shot!

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By the numbers in 2022, Michigan received a lot of complaints regarding our potholes. For every 1000km of road (roughly 621 miles), there were 7.7 complaints in Michigan. This is according to data collected by The Clunker Junker, which specializes in vehicle damage due to road conditions.

So just under 8 complaints for about 621 miles of road in Michigan, seems low. The State has approximately 120,256 miles of public road, which means in 2022, Michiganders only filed 25,134 complaints regarding potholes across the entire state.

I think we can all agree, we probably hit that many just driving across town!

But surely, given how many potholes Michigan has, we're still toward the top of the list for states that complain about potholes, right?

WRONG!

We aren't even CLOSE to the top. We're somewhere in the middle of the list. The State with the MOST Complaints?

1. Rhode Island: 23.4 complaints for every 1,000 km or road
2. Hawaii: 20.6 complaints for every 1,000 km of road
3. New York: 20.5 complaints for every 1,000 km of road
4. Massachusetts: 18.7 complaints for every 1,000 km of road
5. California: 18.4 complaints for every 1,000 km of road

Understandably, population numbers and density play a major factor with these numbers, since the states with the LEAST pothole complaints are pretty sparsely populated:

1. Idaho: 0.4 complaints for every 1,000 km of road
2. Wyoming: 0.6 complaints for every 1,000 km of road
3. Montana (tie): 0.8 complaints for every 1,000 km of road
4. New Mexico (tie): 0.8 complaints for every 1,000 km of road
5. Iowa: 1.1 complaints for every 1,000 km of road

But this hasn't always been the case. In 2004, Michigan ranked THIRD in the same pole for states complaining about potholes.

So the question needs to be asked... does this mean the pothole situation is ACTUALLY getting better in Michigan, or are we just becoming complacent about the potholes that already exist?

Nevertheless, as annoying as you think we've been on the topic, it's clear, our roads still need help. So, it's time to up our game again. Let's strive to be top 5 again until they FIX THE DAMN ROADS!

And if you've got a pesky pothole near your property, here's some creative ways to fill them yourself, or at least get the attention of crews to quickly handle them.