County profile · official public datasets

Jackson County, MN

182 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 67% rated Good, 30.2% Fair, 2.7% Poor.

182
Public bridges: 67%
Good condition: 2.7%
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 33%
lowest Poor share in state: 2.7%
Poor-condition share: 182
public highway bridges: 1986
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 #29 of 87 Minnesota counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 2.7%). Jackson County, Minnesota contains 182 public highway bridges. Roughly 67% are rated “Good,” 30.2% “Fair,” and 2.7% “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

182

Public highway bridges in Jackson County

Good condition

67%

122 of 182 rated 7-9

Fair condition

30.2%

55 of 182 rated 5-6

Poor condition

2.7%

5 of 182 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#29 of 87

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

Condition distribution

Share of 182 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

67% (122)

Fair

30.2% (55)

Poor

2.7% (5)

Jackson County's Poor-condition bridges carry 672 vehicle crossings a day

That is 0.7% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 2.7% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 134 crossings a day against 333 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 182 of 182 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

24.2% of Jackson County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

44 of the 182 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 67% 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 85.9% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

CSAH 24 over STREAM, built 1967, carries 577 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 5-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 672 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1900s

1
1920s

1
1930s

1
1940s

4
1950s

3
1960s

12
1970s

50
1980s

32
1990s

24
2000s

29
2010s

21
2020s

4

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1970s, when 50 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 27.5% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 45 to 54 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1986) matches the Minnesota average (1986).

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

The 5 Minnesota counties nearest Jackson County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 2.7% Poor share is the 2nd-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1986 against a peer-group mean of 1988 is in line with the group.

Showing the 5 closest of 86 Minnesota counties eligible for comparison.

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Jackson County and the 5 Minnesota counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Blue Earth County	193	49.7%	43%	7.3%	1982
Pipestone County	185	64.9%	31.9%	3.2%	1998
Jackson County (this page)	182	67%	30.2%	2.7%	1986
Dodge County	177	46.9%	44.1%	9%	1983
Lac qui Parle County	174	73%	19.5%	7.5%	1986
Houston County	172	64%	33.7%	2.3%	1990

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside MN (182 bridges here).

Logan County, CO · 182 bridges
Ida County, IA · 182 bridges
Wright County, IA · 182 bridges
Pulaski County, KY · 182 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside MN (1986 here).

El Paso County, TX · avg 1986 · 783 bridges
Caddo County, LA · avg 1986 · 682 bridges
Weld County, CO · avg 1986 · 614 bridges
Polk County, IA · avg 1986 · 545 bridges

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

All 182 Good 122 Fair 55 Poor 5

Good-condition bridges (122)

Sort:

Jackson County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Jackson County's Poor-condition bridges carry 672 vehicle crossings a day

24.2% of Jackson County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 85.9% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Jackson County compares with Minnesota'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 (122)

CR 85

CSAH 5

T 194

CSAH 4

T 170

T 160

T 184

CSAH 23

CR 63

MN 60

CR 68

T 177

T 184

T 390

CSAH 4

T 351

T 91

CSAH 1

T 14

T 171

CR 85

T 131

CSAH 5

T 197

CSAH 9

MN 60

T 211

T 76

T 29

CSAH 34

T 174

T 76

T 127

T 57

CSAH 29

T 106

T 37

T 37

T 106

T 132

T 60

T 170

T 170

T 209

T 330

T 193

T 130

T 186

T 132

T 183

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