A simple procedure for economically evaluating pavement maintenance alternatives and for selecting the most economical one is presented. The procedure includes several simple models that relate various cost and benefit items to pavement condition. Visual inspection is selected to represent pavement condition because it is the most common, and in most cases the only, method of pavement evaluation in developing countries. Cost items include (a) fixed initial cost, which depends on the type of maintenance alternative to be applied and the current unit costs of different resources,(b) variable initial cost (surface preparation) as a function of the condition of the existing pavement, and (c) annual routine (recurrent) maintenance as a function of pavement condition of the proposed maintenance alternative through its service life. Benefits, on the other hand, are considered in terms of savings in vehicle operating cost (VOC) resulting from applying maintenance alternatives. VOC is also related to pavement surface condition. A detailed example is presented to illustrate the procedure's step-by-step application. The results strongly indicate that gnoring one or more of the above-mentioned cost or benefit items can lead to considerable losses. This factor is particularly important in developing countries in which maintenance decisions are typically based on minimum initial cost without much attention given to other cost and benefit items.