County profile · official public datasets

Jackson County, MI

158 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 34.2% rated Good, 55.7% Fair, 10.1% Poor.

158
Public bridges: 34.2%
Good condition: 10.1%
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 48%
lowest Poor share in state: 10.1%
Poor-condition share: 158
public highway bridges: 1978
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 #40 of 83 Michigan counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 10.1%). Jackson County, Michigan contains 158 public highway bridges. Roughly 34.2% are rated “Good,” 55.7% “Fair,” and 10.1% “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

158

Public highway bridges in Jackson County

Good condition

34.2%

54 of 158 rated 7-9

Fair condition

55.7%

88 of 158 rated 5-6

Poor condition

10.1%

16 of 158 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#40 of 83

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

Condition distribution

Share of 158 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

34.2% (54)

Fair

55.7% (88)

Poor

10.1% (16)

Jackson County's Poor-condition bridges carry 105,836 vehicle crossings a day

That is 8% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 10.1% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 6,615 crossings a day against 6,391 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 158 of 158 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

48.1% of Jackson County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

76 of the 158 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 34.2% 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 20.2% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

I-94BL US127BR M50 over GRAND RIVER, built 1967, carries 21,340 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 16-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 105,836 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1900s

1
1910s

2
1920s

5
1930s

12
1940s

3
1950s

35
1960s

13
1970s

11
1980s

12
1990s

9
2000s

29
2010s

17
2020s

9

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1950s, when 35 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 22.2% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 65 to 74 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1978) matches the Michigan average (1976).

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

The 5 Michigan counties nearest Jackson County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 10.1% Poor share is the 4th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1978 against a peer-group mean of 1979 is in line with the group.

Showing the 5 closest of 82 Michigan counties eligible for comparison.

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Jackson County and the 5 Michigan counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Bay County	166	30.1%	53%	16.9%	1974
Livingston County	165	26.7%	58.8%	14.5%	1974
Lapeer County	163	36.2%	54.6%	9.2%	1982
Shiawassee County	163	45.4%	45.4%	9.2%	1981
Jackson County (this page)	158	34.2%	55.7%	10.1%	1978
Kalamazoo County	151	41.1%	52.3%	6.6%	1984

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 Michigan so the neighborhoods are not the same-state size table above.

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside MI (158 bridges here).

Napa County, CA · 158 bridges
Wells County, IN · 158 bridges
Yalobusha County, MS · 158 bridges
Fergus County, MT · 158 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside MI (1978 here).

Orange County, CA · avg 1978 · 1,164 bridges
Sumner County, KS · avg 1978 · 659 bridges
Allen County, IN · avg 1978 · 613 bridges
Livingston County, IL · avg 1978 · 579 bridges

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

All 158 Good 54 Fair 88 Poor 16

Good-condition bridges (54)

Sort:

Jackson County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Jackson County's Poor-condition bridges carry 105,836 vehicle crossings a day

48.1% of Jackson County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 20.2% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Jackson County compares with Michigan'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 (54)

MCCAIN RD

M-99

TERRITORIAL ROAD

GATES ROAD

MT. HOPE ROAD

M-106

E WASHINGTON ST

M-50

M-106

MECHANIC STREET

I-94 WB

M-60 EB RMP I-94

LANSING AVE

FRANCIS STREET

ELM RD

M-60 WB RAMP I-94

DETTMAN RD

DEARING ROAD

I-94 EB

I-94 BL SARGENT RD

COONHILL RD

LEWIS STREET

US-127 SB

I-94 EB

I-94 WB

M-124

TERRITORIAL ROAD

US-127 NB

WATERLOO MUNITH RD

BATH MILLS RD

PIERCE ROAD

RIVES EATON RD

DRAPER ROAD

LOOMIS ROAD

CHURCHILL ROAD

SPRING STREET

MT HOPE ROAD

FOLKS RD

VAN WERT ROAD

PROBERT ROAD

FITCHBURG RD

WARNER ROAD

BERRY RD

PARSON ROAD

CROSS ROAD

OBRIEN ROAD

LANSING AVE

MICHIGAN AVENUE

S MERIDIAN ROAD

MOON LAKE ROAD

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