Is New York One Of The Worst States To Drive In?

Is New York one of the worst states to drive in? Well, is it?

I think all of us New Yorkers, at one time or another, have claimed to be surrounded by complete lunatics on the road here in the Empire State, and in a fit of road rage, scream that this must be the worst state to drive in, right? Add to that all the recent fun with congestion pricing and how that has impacted our roadways in the state.

Then, of course, there's all sorts of stereotypes about Jersey drivers being crazy on the road, those from Florida driving too slow, and an assortment of other traits of drivers from plenty of other states across the US.

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2025 Best & Worst States To Drive In

A recent study completed by WalletHub took a look across all 50 states using more than 30 different metrics to see who came out on top (and at the bottom) when it comes to best and worst states to drive in.

Metrics like cost, safety, traffic and infrastructure all came into play when compiling the data for the 2025 ranking where New York State was surprisingly situated on middle ground.

When it comes to overall ranking, New York landed at #21 with a total of 59.22 points. Coming in fourth for access to vehicles and maintenance and sixth in safety, NY did not do so well in areas like traffic and infrastructure, and cost of ownership and maintenance, sitting at 47 and 40, respectively.

SEE ALSO: An Open Letter To An Insane Rt. 9 Driver

New York State At A Glance

Surprisingly, New York was not among the highest for % of rush-hour traffic congestion (W. Virginia at #1, who knew), nor car theft rate (Colorado had the highest). New York did take the number three spot for auto-repair shops per capita.

You can check out the full findings and different metrics measured here.

If you're wondering about the best state to drive in, Kansas, and as for the worst...good ol' Hawaii.