County profile · official public datasets

Jackson County, IN

321 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 43.9% rated Good, 53.6% Fair, 2.5% Poor.

321
Public bridges: 43.9%
Good condition: 2.5%
Poor condition

The verdict

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory.

Jackson County posts a better-than-median Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state across mid-size county bridge inventory.

Top 26%
lowest Poor share in state: 2.5%
Poor-condition share: 321
public highway bridges: 1981
avg year built

Poor is an FHWA condition category from the lowest applicable component rating (4 or below), not a live crossing-safety or closure decision. Rankings cover counties with at least five public highway bridges.

Jackson County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Jackson County ranks #24 of 92 Indiana counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 2.5%). Jackson County, Indiana contains 321 public highway bridges. Roughly 43.9% are rated “Good,” 53.6% “Fair,” and 2.5% “Poor.” Poor means the lowest applicable deck, superstructure, substructure, or culvert rating is 4 or below on the 0–9 NBI scale. It is a condition category, not a live safety or closure decision.

Responsible agencies inspect covered bridges on risk-based intervals under current NBIS rules and submit inventory data to FHWA annually. The list below shows every NBI-tracked bridge in the county. Use the “Sort by” controls to change the ordering, and click any row for its reported inspection date, traffic count, and condition fields.

Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory. See methodology for full definitions.

Total bridges

321

Public highway bridges in Jackson County

Good condition

43.9%

141 of 321 rated 7-9

Fair condition

53.6%

172 of 321 rated 5-6

Poor condition

2.5%

8 of 321 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#24 of 92

Among Indiana counties with 5+ bridges, lower share ranks better

Condition distribution

Share of 321 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

43.9% (141)

Fair

53.6% (172)

Poor

2.5% (8)

Jackson County's Poor-condition bridges carry 9,022 vehicle crossings a day

That is 0.9% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 2.5% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 1,128 crossings a day against 3,728 for a Good-condition one. A Poor rating is a condition category, not a closure or a live safety judgement; it means the lowest applicable component rating is 4 or below.

Computed over the 321 of 321 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

33% of Jackson County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

106 of the 321 bridges with a recorded construction year were built in 1974 or earlier. Age alone is not a defect: a well-maintained older bridge can rate Good, and 43.9% of this county's inventory does. Even so, this older cohort is the population from which future Poor ratings are drawn, which is why the age profile below matters alongside the condition split above.

Cutoff derives from the 2024 release year minus a 50-year design life. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

One structure carries 86% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

SR 11 over E FK WHITE RIVER OVFL, built 1984, carries 7,762 vehicles a day, the most of any Poor-rated structure here. The county's Poor-condition exposure is concentrated rather than evenly spread, so the 8-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 9,022 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1910s

3
1920s

9
1930s

9
1940s

5
1950s

24
1960s

33
1970s

40
1980s

85
1990s

54
2000s

18
2010s

28
2020s

13

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1980s, when 85 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 26.5% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 35 to 44 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1981) matches the Indiana average (1978).

How Jackson County compares with Indiana's closest counties by inventory size

The 5 Indiana counties nearest Jackson County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 2.5% Poor share is the 1st-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1981 against a peer-group mean of 1977 is in line with the group.

Showing the 5 closest of 91 Indiana counties eligible for comparison.

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Jackson County and the 5 Indiana counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Wayne County	343	41.1%	54.8%	4.1%	1975
Tippecanoe County	330	55.2%	39.7%	5.2%	1982
Jackson County (this page)	321	43.9%	53.6%	2.5%	1981
Madison County	301	44.5%	52.5%	3%	1978
Vigo County	296	44.9%	50.7%	4.4%	1977
Boone County	293	39.9%	55.3%	4.8%	1974

Each share is of that county's own total tracked bridges; peers are the counties with 5 or more bridges whose inventory size is closest to Jackson County's. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

Nationwide counties with similar inventory size or average build year

Two NBI-derived peer sets for Jackson County, both outside Indiana so the neighborhoods are not the same-state size table above.

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside IN (321 bridges here).

Christian County, IL · 321 bridges
Auglaize County, OH · 321 bridges
Columbiana County, OH · 321 bridges
Umatilla County, OR · 321 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside IN (1981 here).

Franklin County, OH · avg 1981 · 922 bridges
Greenville County, SC · avg 1981 · 635 bridges
Montgomery County, OH · avg 1981 · 632 bridges
McLean County, IL · avg 1981 · 624 bridges

Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release. Peers floor at 10 bridges so stub inventories cannot own the match.

All 321 Good 141 Fair 172 Poor 8

Good-condition bridges (141)

Sort:

Jackson County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Jackson County's Poor-condition bridges carry 9,022 vehicle crossings a day

33% of Jackson County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 86% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Jackson County compares with Indiana's closest counties by inventory size

Nationwide counties with similar inventory size or average build year

Similar inventory size

Similar average build year

Good-condition bridges (141)

CR 725 NORTH

CR 100 SOUTH

500 NORTH

US 50/SR 135

US 31

FARMINGTON ROAD

US 50/SR 135

SR 135

CR 600 NORTH

CR 400 NORTH

CR 800 N

CR 540 NORTH

SR 135

I-65 NB

I-65 SB

CR 375W

SR 258

US 50

CR 575 NORTH

ENOS ROAD

CR 1050N

I-65 NB

I-65 SB

SR 250

I-65 NB

I-65 SB

I-65 NB

I-65 SB

US 50

SR 250

Hound Holler

CR 800 WEST

CR 825 WEST

SR 58 (SR 135)

SR 135

SR 39

US 50

SR 258

SR 258

CR 890 WEST

CR 825N

CR 300N

CR 300N

CR 400E

CR 400 NORTH

CR 100 SOUTH

CR 600S

CR 300 SOUTH

CR 600 SOUTH

CR 775 SOUTH

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