With the increasingly complex operating conditions of roads, it has become a consensus among countries to improve the accuracy and systematicness of maintenance decisions. Since the pavement condition evaluation index system is the core tool supporting the judgment of schemes, its construction method and applicable ability directly affect the maintenance efficiency and resource allocation level. Based on the construction logic of the index model, the scoring mechanism of grade division, and the conditions of road grade adaptation, the characteristics of the evaluation index systems in typical countries in China and abroad were compared and sorted out. The internal causes affecting the characteristics of the index system were discussed from in-depth perspectives such as management concepts and institutional arrangements. Research findings show that some systems abroad emphasize hierarchical structural response or public experience, while in China, unified deployment and hierarchical downward management are emphasized. In China’s case, the system has a certain foundation in terms of universality and standardization, but there are obvious shortcomings in threshold adjustment, scene adaptation, and system integration. Therefore, suggestions are proposed including setting dynamic thresholds in combination with maintenance goals, enhancing the adaptability to various types of road operating environments, and promoting the effective integration of evaluation results with the actual management process, which provides ideological support for the structural optimization and institutional coordination of the evaluation system.