According to a report released Monday by the Pew Center on the States and Governing Magazine, half of the states in the United States are behind with their infrastructure maintenance and fiscal systems.

The states were graded after the management of their budget, staffs, infrastructure and information.

Twenty-three states received grades for infrastructure that were under the national average in the study “Grading the States.”

From a scale from A to F, like those used in U.S. schools, 23 states had received grades below C+.

Ten states received B- for the maintenance of bridges and roads and other capital assets and 17 states were graded from B and above.

New England states Massachusetts and New Hampshire received the lowest grades, D+.

The reports showed that Washington state, Utah and Virginia have the most effective state governments in the country.

According to the report, the states that had the highest scores made accountability and innovation a priority.

For example Washington has public meetings led by Gov. Christine Gregoire in order to monitor the programs.

Utah has a financial tracking system with data up-to-the-minute while Virginia gives its employees incentives for meeting goals.

New Hampshire which had the lowest grade is not monitoring its costs and performance.

Neal Johnson, director of Pew's Government Performance Project, citing infrastructure as evidence, said: "Effective state government really matters. The Minnesota bridge collapse and the failure of the levees in New Orleans prove that few functions of state government have more direct impact on the daily lives of Americans," the Associated Press reports.

In the money category, which included budget balancing, contracting and other fiscal categories, 20 states were graded C+ and below, 19 others were graded B and above.

The report was based on interviews and took a glimpse at how the states managed their information systems and employees.