It is the best-selling song in digital history by a male country solo artist in the United States with over four million sold.

Gilbert later recorded a revisited version of the song for his 2010 album Halfway to Heaven with Ford on guest vocals.

Matt Bjorke of Roughstock gave "Dirt Road Anthem" a 4.5-star rating, saying, "Jason Aldean knows he’s not a rapper and this isn’t a style of music that he’ll continuously do...but as for a new song with a different sound, it certainly works.

[7] The music video for "Dirt Road Anthem", directed by Deaton-Flanigen Productions, premiered June 13, 2011 on CMT.

The video was entirely shot in black-and-white, portraying Aldean driving a Ram pickup truck through the countryside and stopping at a clearance where he reminisces of his teenage years of partying with friends around a campfire.

The twin bridges are crossing the Cumberland River, and the factory scene, railroad beds and small town were filmed around Rayon City.

"Dirt Road Anthem" was briefly featured in the 2016 drama-thriller film Patriots Day, directed by Peter Berg and starring Mark Wahlberg.