You may already know that different states set different speed limits for their roads, but do you know which states have the highest speed limits? I have always assumed that Texas was the state to drive the fastest, which may be true, but we will only be focusing on speed limits in this post, not the rate at which motorists actually travel.
Generally, these limits will follow a sequence; the interstates will usually have the fastest moving traffic, the divided highways may be slightly slower, the undivided highways are normally slower, and the residential roads are the slowest; we will be neglecting alleys and other small roads.
Remember, the following statistics are by no means official and therefore may not be up to date. You should always abide by the speed limit posted on a road, and if you have any questions, consult the local government to determine the speed limit of the roads on which you intend to drive.
I will be ignoring the night speed limits of Montana, the occasional truck speed limits, and the small sections of highways that can have a slightly higher speed limit, however, it is interesting to note that a section of Texas State Highway 130 near Austin has a speed limit of 85 MPH, which is not only the fastest speed limit in the United States, but also one of the fastest in the world!
Let’s rank the states based on their maximum speed limits for several types of road and then find which ones travel fastest on average in all categories.
States by Maximum Speed Limit on Rural Interstates (MPH)
- Montana: 80
- Nevada: 80
- South Dakota: 80
- Arizona: 75
- Arkansas: 75
- Colorado: 75
- Idaho: 75
- Kansas: 75
- Louisiana: 75
- Maine: 75
- Nebraska: 75
- New Mexico: 75
- North Dakota: 75
- Oklahoma: 75
- Texas: 75
- Utah: 75
- Wyoming: 75
- Alabama: 70
- California: 70
- Florida: 70
- Georgia: 70
- Illinois: 70
- Indiana: 70
- Iowa: 70
- Maryland: 70
- Michigan: 70
- Minnesota: 70
- Mississippi: 70
- Missouri: 70
- North Carolina: 70
- Ohio: 70
- Pennsylvania: 70
- South Carolina: 70
- Tennessee: 70
- Virginia: 70
- Washington: 70
- West Virginia: 70
- Wisconsin: 70
- Alaska: 65
- Connecticut: 65
- Delaware: 65
- Kentucky: 65
- Massachusetts: 65
- New Hampshire: 65
- New Jersey: 65
- New York: 65
- Oregon: 65
- Rhode Island: 65
- Vermont: 65
- Hawaii: 60
It seems that the western states are faster, while the eastern states are slightly slower. There are some exceptions, such as the Pacific states, which are a bit slower than the other western states, and the small northeastern states, which are the slowest; also, Kentucky stands out as an abnormally slow state and Maine as a peculiarly fast state.
States by Maximum Speed Limit on Urban Interstates (MPH)
- South Dakota: 80
- Idaho: 75
- Kansas: 75
- Maine: 75
- New Mexico: 75
- North Dakota: 75
- Texas: 75
- Wyoming: 75
- Alabama: 70
- Georgia: 70
- Louisiana: 70
- Maryland: 70
- Michigan: 70
- Mississippi: 70
- Nebraska: 70
- North Carolina: 70
- Oklahoma: 70
- Pennsylvania: 70
- South Carolina: 70
- Tennessee: 70
- Utah: 70
- Virginia: 70
- Wisconsin: 70
- Arizona: 65
- Arkansas: 65
- California: 65
- Colorado: 65
- Florida: 65
- Kentucky: 65
- Massachusetts: 65
- Minnesota: 65
- Montana: 65
- Nevada: 65
- New Hampshire: 65
- New York: 65
- Ohio: 65
- Hawaii: 60
- Missouri: 60
- Washington: 60
- Alaska: 55
- Connecticut: 55
- Delaware: 55
- Illinois: 55
- Indiana: 55
- Iowa: 55
- New Jersey: 55
- Oregon: 55
- Rhode Island: 55
- Vermont: 55
- West Virginia: 55
When considering the speed of interstates within cities, the pattern, if present, is much less obvious than it is with rural interstates. No particular pattern immediately stands out to me, but I suspect this could be a combination of effects due to the size of a state and the size or density of its major cities.
States by Maximum Speed Limit on Other Limited Access Roads (MPH)
- Arkansas: 75
- Kansas: 75
- Maine: 75
- Texas: 75
- Utah: 75
- California: 70
- Florida: 70
- Idaho: 70
- Iowa: 70
- Louisiana: 70
- Maryland: 70
- Michigan: 70
- Mississippi: 70
- Missouri: 70
- Montana: 70
- Nebraska: 70
- Nevada: 70
- North Carolina: 70
- North Dakota: 70
- Ohio: 70
- Oklahoma: 70
- Pennsylvania: 70
- South Dakota: 70
- Tennessee: 70
- Wisconsin: 70
- Wyoming: 70
- Alabama: 65
- Alaska: 65
- Arizona: 65
- Colorado: 65
- Connecticut: 65
- Delaware: 65
- Georgia: 65
- Illinois: 65
- Kentucky: 65
- Massachusetts: 65
- Minnesota: 65
- New Jersey: 65
- New Mexico: 65
- New York: 65
- Oregon: 65
- Virginia: 65
- West Virginia: 65
- Indiana: 60
- South Carolina: 60
- Washington: 60
- Hawaii: 55
- New Hampshire: 55
- Rhode Island: 55
- Vermont: 50
Again, I don’t immediately see a clear pattern here, but I assume this has something to do with the size of a state, its population density, and maybe its geography. It is important to keep in mind that the individual states determine their speed limits, therefore the states are not assigned speed limits by one entity with one set of parameters, meaning it isn’t entirely fair to judge the states’ speed limits at a superficial level.
States by Maximum Speed Limit on Undivided Rural Highways (MPH)
- Texas: 75
- Idaho: 70
- Montana: 70
- Nevada: 70
- New Mexico: 70
- North Dakota: 70
- Oregon: 70
- Wyoming: 70
- Alabama: 65
- Alaska: 65
- Arizona: 65
- Arkansas: 65
- California: 65
- Colorado: 65
- Kansas: 65
- Michigan: 65
- Missouri: 65
- Nebraska: 65
- Oklahoma: 65
- South Dakota: 65
- Tennessee: 65
- Utah: 65
- Washington: 65
- Florida: 60
- Hawaii: 60
- Minnesota: 60
- Georgia: 55
- Illinois: 55
- Indiana: 55
- Iowa: 55
- Kentucky: 55
- Louisiana: 55
- Maine: 55
- Massachusetts: 55
- Mississippi: 55
- New Hampshire: 55
- New Jersey: 55
- New York: 55
- North Carolina: 55
- Ohio: 55
- Pennsylvania: 55
- South Carolina: 55
- Vermont: 55
- Virginia: 55
- West Virginia: 55
- Wisconsin: 55
- Connecticut: 50
- Delaware: 50
- Maryland: 50
- Rhode Island: 50
This type of road appears to follow a similar pattern to that of the rural interstates; the larger states in the west are faster than the smaller states in the east.
States by Maximum Speed Limit on Residential Roads (MPH)
- New Mexico: 55
- North Dakota: 55
- West Virginia: 55
- Florida: 50
- Vermont: 50
- Washington: 50
- Kentucky: 45
- Georgia: 45
- South Dakota: 45
- Louisiana: 45
- New York: 45
- Connecticut: 40
- Missouri: 40
- Colorado: 35
- Delaware: 35
- Idaho: 35
- Maryland: 35
- New Jersey: 35
- North Carolina: 35
- Ohio: 35
- Pennsylvania: 35
- Tennessee: 35
- Utah: 35
- Virginia: 35
- Wisconsin: 35
- Arkansas: 30
- California: 30
- Illinois: 30
- Indiana: 30
- Kansas: 30
- Massachusetts: 30
- Minnesota: 30
- Nevada: 30
- New Hampshire: 30
- South Carolina: 30
- Texas: 30
- Wyoming: 30
- Alabama: 25
- Alaska: 25
- Arizona: 25
- Hawaii: 25
- Iowa: 25
- Maine: 25
- Michigan: 25
- Mississippi: 25
- Montana: 25
- Nebraska: 25
- Oklahoma: 25
- Oregon: 25
- Rhode Island: 25
When looking at these statistics, it appears that these speed limits can be fairly random. Now, this list can be deceiving, since I am only considering the fastest residential speed limit in a state, however, some states can have residential speed limits as low as 15 MPH.
States by Average Speed Limit in All Categories (MPH)
- North Dakota: 69
- New Mexico: 68
- South Dakota: 68
- Texas: 66
- Idaho: 65
- Kansas: 64
- Utah: 64
- Wyoming: 64
- Florida: 63
- Louisiana: 63
- Nevada: 63
- Arkansas: 62
- Montana: 62
- Tennessee: 62
- Colorado: 61
- Georgia: 61
- Maine: 61
- Missouri: 61
- Nebraska: 61
- Oklahoma: 61
- Washington: 61
- California: 60
- Michigan: 60
- North Carolina: 60
- Pennsylvania: 60
- West Virginia: 60
- Wisconsin: 60
- Alabama: 59
- Arizona: 59
- Kentucky: 59
- Maryland: 59
- New York: 59
- Ohio: 59
- Virginia: 59
- Minnesota: 58
- Mississippi: 58
- South Carolina: 57
- Massachusetts: 56
- Oregon: 56
- Alaska: 55
- Connecticut: 55
- Illinois: 55
- Iowa: 55
- New Jersey: 55
- Vermont: 55
- Delaware: 54
- Indiana: 54
- New Hampshire: 54
- Hawaii: 52
- Rhode Island: 50
It appears that the fastest state on average is North Dakota and the slowest state on average is Rhode Island. It also seems that the average speed limit is heavily influenced by the size of the state, with the exception of Alaska.
What do you think would be the most ideal speed limits, and why do you think they would be ideal?
Onward American 