County profile · official public datasets

Jackson County, KS

246 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 36.2% rated Good, 56.9% Fair, 6.9% Poor.

246
Public bridges: 36.2%
Good condition: 6.9%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

Jackson County pairs a higher-than-median Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state with a newer average build year than the state inventory.

73rd
of 104 on Poor share: 6.9%
Poor-condition share: 246
public highway bridges: 1982
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 #73 of 104 Kansas counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 6.9%). Jackson County, Kansas contains 246 public highway bridges. Roughly 36.2% are rated “Good,” 56.9% “Fair,” and 6.9% “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

246

Public highway bridges in Jackson County

Good condition

36.2%

89 of 246 rated 7-9

Fair condition

56.9%

140 of 246 rated 5-6

Poor condition

6.9%

17 of 246 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#73 of 104

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

Condition distribution

Share of 246 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

36.2% (89)

Fair

56.9% (140)

Poor

6.9% (17)

Jackson County's Poor-condition bridges carry 901 vehicle crossings a day

That is 1.3% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 6.9% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 53 crossings a day against 524 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 246 of 246 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

23.2% of Jackson County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

57 of the 246 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 36.2% 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 25.2% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

IRRA RS 719 K 228 over BANNER CREEK, built 1967, carries 227 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 17-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 901 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1920s

5
1930s

11
1940s

7
1950s

10
1960s

11
1970s

51
1980s

66
1990s

36
2000s

29
2010s

15
2020s

5

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1980s, when 66 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 26.8% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 35 to 44 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year is 1982, 10 years newer than the Kansas average of 1972.

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

The 5 Kansas counties nearest Jackson County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 6.9% Poor share is the 3rd-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1982 against a peer-group mean of 1970 is 12 years newer.

Showing the 5 closest of 103 Kansas counties eligible for comparison.

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Jackson County and the 5 Kansas counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Phillips County	249	34.5%	50.2%	15.3%	1968
Jackson County (this page)	246	36.2%	56.9%	6.9%	1982
Norton County	244	53.7%	44.3%	2%	1980
Osborne County	244	52.5%	40.2%	7.4%	1967
Wabaunsee County	242	36.8%	52.9%	10.3%	1963
Barber County	241	44.8%	53.9%	1.2%	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 Kansas so the neighborhoods are not the same-state size table above.

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside KS (246 bridges here).

Cullman County, AL · 246 bridges
Piatt County, IL · 246 bridges
Jackson County, IA · 246 bridges
Buchanan County, MO · 246 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside KS (1982 here).

Oklahoma County, OK · avg 1982 · 1,216 bridges
Jackson County, MO · avg 1982 · 930 bridges
Milwaukee County, WI · avg 1982 · 893 bridges
Champaign County, IL · avg 1982 · 727 bridges

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

All 246 Good 89 Fair 140 Poor 17

Good-condition bridges (89)

Sort:

Jackson County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Jackson County's Poor-condition bridges carry 901 vehicle crossings a day

23.2% of Jackson County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 25.2% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Jackson County compares with Kansas'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 (89)

IRR BIA RTE 924

LOCAL 102 W6

LOCAL R-181

LOCAL T 276

LOCAL D-129

RS 800 278 T3

LOCAL N-304

LOCAL Q5 226

LOCAL P-265

IRRA LOCAL T-317

US-75 HWY

RS 1825 Q4 236

LOCAL O-239

LOCAL U-195

K62 HWY

RS 318 112 W3

LOCAL V-232

K62 HWY

IRR BIA RTE 905

LOCAL 206 S1

K79 HWY

US-75 HWY

IRRA LOCAL 118 P1

RS 324 254 K1

RS 318 106 HA

US-75 HWY NB

MINOR Q-203

RS 1259 W 154

LOCAL 118-B2

RS 320 142 D.3

LOCAL 134 D1

LOCAL O-308

IRR BIA RTE 906

K62 HWY

MINOR 158 A5

LOCAL 126 B3

MINOR Q-225

IRR INDIAN -75 HWY

LOCAL 126 V4

Related