County profile · official public datasets

York County, PA

569 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 31.1% rated Good, 55.9% Fair, 13% Poor.

569
Public bridges: 31.1%
Good condition: 13%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

York County posts a higher-than-median Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state across large county bridge inventory.

39th
of 67 on Poor share: 13%
Poor-condition share: 569
public highway bridges: 1972
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.

York County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, York County ranks #39 of 67 Pennsylvania counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 13%). York County, Pennsylvania contains 569 public highway bridges. Roughly 31.1% are rated “Good,” 55.9% “Fair,” and 13% “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

569

Public highway bridges in York County

Good condition

31.1%

177 of 569 rated 7-9

Fair condition

55.9%

318 of 569 rated 5-6

Poor condition

13%

74 of 569 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#39 of 67

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

Condition distribution

Share of 569 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

31.1% (177)

Fair

55.9% (318)

Poor

13% (74)

York County's Poor-condition bridges carry 355,557 vehicle crossings a day

That is 9.4% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 13% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 4,805 crossings a day against 3,781 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 569 of 569 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

59.1% of York County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

336 of the 569 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 31.1% 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 18.1% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

I-83; SR 0083 over US 30; SR 0030, built 1959, carries 64,412 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 74-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 355,557 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

pre-1900

4
1900s

3
1910s

16
1920s

16
1930s

50
1940s

30
1950s

110
1960s

54
1970s

69
1980s

41
1990s

34
2000s

32
2010s

90
2020s

20

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1950s, when 110 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 19.3% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 65 to 74 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1972) matches the Pennsylvania average (1970).

How York County compares with Pennsylvania's closest counties by inventory size

The 5 Pennsylvania counties nearest York County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 13% Poor share is the 3rd-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1972 against a peer-group mean of 1968 is in line with the group.

Showing the 5 closest of 66 Pennsylvania counties eligible for comparison.

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for York County and the 5 Pennsylvania counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Berks County	667	21.4%	63.6%	15%	1962
Washington County	655	38.3%	49.6%	12.1%	1971
Westmoreland County	620	36.5%	47.7%	15.8%	1975
Philadelphia County	585	22.7%	64.1%	13.2%	1956
York County (this page)	569	31.1%	55.9%	13%	1972
Lycoming County	482	50.8%	45.2%	3.9%	1975

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 York 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 York County, both outside Pennsylvania so the neighborhoods are not the same-state size table above.

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside PA (569 bridges here).

Iroquois County, IL · 570 bridges
Linn County, OR · 566 bridges
Reno County, KS · 573 bridges
Shawnee County, KS · 563 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside PA (1972 here).

Santa Clara County, CA · avg 1972 · 964 bridges
Madison County, AL · avg 1972 · 710 bridges
Kern County, CA · avg 1972 · 668 bridges
Middlesex County, NJ · avg 1972 · 563 bridges

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

All 569 Good 177 Fair 318 Poor 74

Fair-condition bridges (318)

Sort:

York County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

York County's Poor-condition bridges carry 355,557 vehicle crossings a day

59.1% of York County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 18.1% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How York County compares with Pennsylvania's closest counties by inventory size

Nationwide counties with similar inventory size or average build year

Similar inventory size

Similar average build year

Fair-condition bridges (318)

I-83; SR 0083

I-83; SR 0083

I-83; SR 0083

I-83 SR 0083

PA 116; YORK RD

PA 214; SR 0214

PA 262; SR 0262

PA 851; SR 0851

SR 1012 Emig Rd.

BUS I-83; SR 3036

W. COLLEGE AVE.

LAKE RD.

SR 4002

T-397 LEFEVER ROAD

CHURCH AVENUE

TAYLOR HILL RD

FOX RUN ROAD

GITTS RUN ROAD

T-564 SUNSET ROAD

US 30; SR 0030

PA 392; SR 0392

GLADFELTER STATION

SR 3061

SR 4008

BARRENS CHURCH RD

T-770; RIDDLE ROAD

SR 8013 RAMP S

I-83; SR 0083

I-83; SR 0083

PA 214; SR 0214

PA 234; SR 0234

SR 2068 Hess Farm

SR 8013 RAMP M

I-83 Veterans Hwy

I-83; SR 0083

Bridge Street

SR 2089

KAREN LANE

HILLTOP ROAD

PENTLAND ROAD

BUTTER ROAD

SR 4009

T-658 Grove Road

WEST KING STREET

I-83; SR 0083

PA 616; SR 0616

SR 4010; TWP RD

I-83; SR 0083

BARRENS CHURCH RD

T-537 Trout School

Related