This study aimed to improve the accuracy of road pavement design by comparing and analyzing various statistical and machine-learning techniques for predicting asphalt layer thickness, focusing on regional roads in Pakistan. The explanatory variables selected for this study included the annual average daily traffic (AADT), subbase thickness, and subgrade California bearing ratio (CBR) values from six cities in Pakistan. The statistical prediction models used were multiple linear regression (MLR), support vector regression (SVR), random forest, and XGBoost. The performance of each model was evaluated using the mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) and root-mean-square error (RMSE). The analysis results indicated that the AADT was the most influential variable affecting the asphalt layer thickness. Among the models, the MLR demonstrated the best predictive performance. While XGBoost had a relatively strong performance among the machine-learning techniques, the traditional statistical model, MLR, still outperformed it in certain regions. This study emphasized the need for customized pavement designs that reflect the traffic and environmental conditions specific to regional roads in Pakistan. This finding suggests that future research should incorporate additional variables and data for a more in-depth analysis.