An Evergreen container ship at the Port of Los Angeles, whose trade grew more than any other U.S. … [+]
Two are in California, two are in Texas, and one each is in Washington state and Ohio. One is a seaport, three are airports and two are neighboring border crossings.
The Port of Los Angeles, San Francisco International Airport, the Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky International Airport, Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, and two nearby border crossings, the Ysleta-Zaragoza Bridge in El Paso and the Santa Teresa Border Crossing just across the border in New Mexico share one thing in common.
Among the nation’s top 50 airports, seaports and border crossings, these six ranked among the top 10 in both the increase in the value of their trade in 2024 when compared to the previous year and the rate of that growth. Ranking in the top 10 in both is no small feat.
That’s according to the recently released annual U.S. Census Bureau data for 2024 released earlier this month, which I have analyzed.
Top 50 accounted for 83% of U.S. trade
Before I get to the specifics on each of the six as well as other strong performers, a little background on my methodology and the reasoning for it.
Making the top 10 by value is harder for smaller ports while making the top 10 by percentage is more difficult for the larger ones. That’s why I looked at just those that landed on both top 10 lists.
I settled on the top 50 because they controlled just under 83% of the record $5.33 trillion in U.S. trade in 2024. Settle on the top 25 and you bias toward the larger ports. Go to the top 100 and have only three on the list, San Francisco International Airport, Santa Teresa, N.M., and Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky International Airport.
It is worth noting that all six established records for total trade in 2024, though five of the six had seen dips in 2023 from their 2022 totals. The exception was the Cincinnati airport.
Making both lists – whether at the top 50 or top 100 level, whether recovering from a drop in trade or not – is a good measure of a strong year, given that there were more than 800 U.S. airport, seaports and border crossings that conducted trade in 2024.
Three U.S. airports saw the most explosive growth in 2024 when compared to the previous year. Two … [+]
Here’s a quick look at the top six, by the rate of growth.
Notice that the Port of Los Angeles, with trade valued at more than the other four on the list, ranks fourth. The two ports with the least value, the Cincinnati airport and the New Mexico border crossing rank first and second.
The Port of Los Angeles was by far the largest port on the top 50 list, the value of its trade … [+]
Here’s the same list, this time ranked by value change. The two ports with the greatest overall value float to the top, the Port of Los Angeles and the San Francisco International Airport.
Before I get to the details on the top six, here are the other ports that made one or the other of the top 10 lists but not both.
The rest of the top 10
Showing the most rapid growth in value in addition to those already mentioned were Port of Brunswick, Ga. (21.70%), Port of Seattle (18.48%), Eagle Pass, Texas (17.78%) and PhilaPort, in Pennsylvania (13.70%). (It should be noted that the seaports of Seattle and nearby Tacoma work together as the Northwest Seaport Alliance, including in export-import trade totals, though the Census Bureau recognizes them separately.)
The ports with the most growth in 2024 in addition to those already mentioned were Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport (a $24.66 billion increase), Port Laredo ($19.12 billion), Los Angeles International Airport ($17.03 billion) and Atlanta’s Hartsfield Jackson International Airport ($9.21 billion).
And now, some details on the six ports that made both top 10 lists.
The Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky Airport benefited from growth spread among several of its top trade … [+]
Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky International Airport
Although ranked No. 40 nationally, that was up from a No. 59 ranking in 2023. Its 56.19% increase in trade, as reported by the U.S. Census Bureau, made it the fastest among the top 50 U.S. ports.
Trade with No. 1 France rose 54.06% to $4.48 billion in 2024, with exports rising by 50% and imports by 59.24%. Trade with Ireland grew even more, up 140.12%, led by imports. Trade with the Netherlands also doubled, up 105.71%.
Exports moving through Santa Teresa, New Mexico into Mexico helped fuel its 2024 growth.
Santa Teresa Border Crossing, N.M.
With its growth rate of 43.64%, the Santa Teresa border crossing moved up nine spots to rank as the nation’s 34th biggest port by value. Its $39.85 billion total left it just shy of $40 billion. Its gain was $12.11 billion from 2023.
Exports of computer parts to Mexico increased 130.88% compared to last year, increasing to a value of to $7.44 billion. Digital storage devices jumped 46.04% while cell phones and related equipment, while a less prominent export, increased 82.6% from the previous year.
Seattle-Tacoma International Airport saw large increases in its trade with Taiwan, Malaysia and … [+]
Seattle-Tacoma International Airport
The Seattle-Tacoma International Airport registered a 43.57% growth rate, taking it to a No. 46 national ranking on $26.32 billion in trade with the world.
Its trade with its three top trade partners exploded. Trade with No. 1 Taiwan rose 182.71% to $4.13 billion led by an even larger percentage gain in imports. Trade with No. 2 Malaysia rose 364.99% to $3.98 billion, with exports fueling the growth. Trade with No. 3 Vietnam rose 418.97 percent to $2.34 billion. Exports grew more than 600% while imports were comparatively flat.
Technology imports fueled growth attributed to San Francisco International Airport.
San Francisco International Airport
San Francisco International Airports’ trade grew just under 40% in 2024, up 39.77% to $92.58 billion
trade with top trade partner Taiwan nearly doubled in 2024, increasing 97.29% to $32.49 billion. Imports from Taiwan did double, up 114.94% to $26.74 billion.
Trade with No. 3 Malaysia rose 58.55 percent to $7.59 billion. That growth was led by imports, which increased 80.45 percent to $3.33 billion. Imports rose 44.81 percent to $4.26 billion.
The Port of Los Angeles, whose trade grew the most rapidly, dominates U.S. trade with Asia.
Port of Los Angeles
Trade with China, its longtime top trade partner and the top gateway for U.S.-China trade, rose a relatively modest 7.62%. But that led to a $119.32 billion total, which is more than all but the next nine trade partners trade with the entire world.
Trade with Vietnam also rose sharply, up 34.17 percent to $40.44 billion. Of that total, $39.46 was an import.
The gain in computer imports at the Ysleta-Zaragoza International Bridge near El Paso was a primary … [+]
Ysleta-Zaragoza International Bridge, Texas
The big gain for the Ysleta-Zaragoza International Bridge in El Paso was computer imports, which increased 71.78% in 2024 to $16.63 billion. No. 2-ranked Insulated wire and cable, used in a host of industries, from computers to automotive, gain only slightly while imports of medical instruments, the third most valuable import, actually fell 15.48%. Despite that, and a drop of 25.39% for cell phones and related equipment, the no. 5-ranked import, the bridge managed to make the top 10 both for value gain and percentage gain.
