 | This article needs to be updated.(January 2018) |
This is a list of ports of the United States, ranked by tonnage. [1] Ports in the United States handle a wide variety of goods that are critical to the global economy, including petroleum, grain, steel, automobiles, and containerized goods. See the articles on individual ports for more information, including history, geography, and statistics.
| This section needs to be updated.(September 2024) |
The Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) issues an annual report, the US ports and states data, pursuant to the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act (section 6018 of the "FAST" Act), of the top 25 ports in the United States. Since 2015, as recommended by the BTS director, is produced by the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) through the Institute for Water Resources, in conjunction with the United States Department of Transportation"s (USDOT or DOT) and the Bureau of Transportation Statistics and Maritime Administration.
Other ports on the Corps of Engineers list include the Port of Houston in the number one spot. South Louisiana is second, then Corpus Christi; New York/New Jersey; Long Beach, California; New Orleans; Beaumont and Baton Rouge.
As of May 2024 the Port of Lake Charles surged to the number 10 on the list below. [2]
| Rank (by total trade) | Port name | State | Total trade | Domestic total | Foreign total | Foreign imports | Foreign exports |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Port of Houston | Texas | 275,940,289 | 79,177,826 | 196,762,463 | 56,970,738 | 139,791,725 |
| 2 | Port of South Louisiana | Louisiana | 225,086,697 | 112,372,057 | 112,714,640 | 30,423,984 | 82,290,656 |
| 3 | Port of Corpus Christi | Texas | 150,755,485 | 25,056,307 | 125,699,178 | 17,606,086 | 108,093,092 |
| 4 | Port of New York and New Jersey Port Newark | New Jersey New York | 123,697,438 | 40,087,797 | 83,609,641 | 68,357,078 | 15,252,563 |
| 5 | Port of New Orleans | Louisiana | 81,067,448 | 43,220,217 | 37,847,231 | 15,324,118 | 22,523,113 |
| 6 | Port of Long Beach | California | 79,178,087 | 13,490,353 | 65,687,734 | 46,552,104 | 19,135,630 |
| 7 | Port of Greater Baton Rouge | Louisiana | 71,686,872 | 43,420,458 | 28,266,414 | 5,662,827 | 22,603,587 |
| 8 | Port of Beaumont | Texas | 70,567,386 | 24,785,761 | 45,781,625 | 16,170,960 | 29,610,665 |
| 9 | Port of Los Angeles | California | 59,452,139 | 4,501,365 | 54,950,774 | 38,658,365 | 16,292,409 |
| 10 | Port of Hampton Roads | Virginia | 58,048,785 | 4,956,369 | 53,092,416 | 12,362,773 | 40,729,643 |
| 11 | Port of Mobile | Alabama | 53,206,561 | 18,794,083 | 34,412,478 | 17,859,999 | 16,552,479 |
| 12 | Plaquemines Port | Louisiana | 46,750,799 | 25,879,971 | 20,870,828 | 4,555,969 | 16,314,859 |
| 13 | Port of Savannah | Georgia | 43,453,044 | 1,135,777 | 42,317,267 | 24,505,366 | 17,811,901 |
| 14 | Port of Lake Charles | Louisiana | 43,053,658 | 20,333,504 | 22,720,154 | 5,026,406 | 17,693,748 |
| 15 | Port of Port Arthur | Texas | 41,222,200 | 17,297,108 | 23,925,092 | 7,316,835 | 16,608,257 |
| 16 | Port Freeport | Texas | 38,748,662 | 4,171,925 | 34,576,737 | 6,560,377 | 28,016,360 |
| 17 | Mid-Ohio Valley Port | Ohio West Virginia | 35,939,474 | 35,939,474 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 18 | Port of Baltimore | Maryland | 35,202,027 | 4,211,847 | 30,990,180 | 12,937,138 | 18,053,042 |
| 19 | Ports of Cincinnati-Northern KY | Ohio Kentucky | 34,476,340 | 34,476,340 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 20 | Port of Texas City | Texas | 33,721,312 | 12,540,971 | 21,180,341 | 7,601,309 | 13,579,032 |
| 21 | Port of St. Louis and East St. Louis | Missouri Illinois | 30,487,796 | 30,487,796 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 22 | Port of Huntington Tri-State | West Virginia Kentucky Ohio | 29,699,657 | 29,699,657 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 23 | Port of Philadelphia | Pennsylvania | 28,517,760 | 11,589,634 | 16,928,126 | 9,833,680 | 7,094,446 |
| 24 | Port of Tampa Bay | Florida | 28,511,760 | 15,913,148 | 12,598,612 | 8,250,523 | 4,348,089 |
| 25 | Valdez | Alaska | 25,113,231 | 23,019,746 | 2,093,485 | 0 | 2,093,485 |
| 26 | Twin Ports of Duluth and Superior | Minnesota Wisconsin | 25,071,110 | 19,363,238 | 5,707,872 | 692,776 | 5,015,096 |
| 27 | Port of Charleston | South Carolina | 24,947,482 | 1,822,973 | 23,124,509 | 14,996,099 | 8,128,410 |
| 28 | Northern Indiana Maritime District | Indiana | 24,684,060 | 24,128,574 | 555,486 | 512,759 | 42,727 |
| 29 | Pascagoula | Mississippi | 23,096,778 | 8,311,645 | 14,785,133 | 7,450,788 | 7,334,345 |
| 30 | Port of Seattle | Washington | 22,964,546 | 4,814,772 | 18,149,774 | 9,098,134 | 9,051,640 |
| 31 | Port of Tacoma | Washington | 21,575,059 | 4,186,844 | 17,388,215 | 5,794,811 | 11,593,404 |
| 32 | Port of Richmond | California | 21,050,741 | 6,277,538 | 14,773,203 | 11,494,554 | 3,278,649 |
| 33 | Port of Portland | Oregon | 20,706,345 | 6,391,344 | 14,315,001 | 2,218,431 | 12,096,570 |
| 34 | Port Everglades | Florida | 20,440,573 | 11,177,768 | 9,262,805 | 6,498,551 | 2,764,254 |
| 35 | South Jersey | New Jersey | 20,254,325 | 8,383,229 | 11,871,096 | 11,271,285 | 599,811 |
| 36 | Port of Oakland | California | 19,439,762 | 1,313,835 | 18,125,927 | 8,520,142 | 9,605,785 |
| 37 | Kalama | Washington | 18,140,886 | 1,393,416 | 16,747,470 | 328,888 | 16,418,582 |
| 38 | Port of Jacksonville | Florida | 16,701,370 | 7,892,986 | 8,808,384 | 7,379,715 | 1,428,669 |
| 39 | Port of Pittsburgh | Pennsylvania | 15,536,051 | 15,536,051 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 40 | New Bourbon Port Authority | Missouri | 15,506,754 | 15,506,754 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 41 | Mid-America Port | Iowa Illinois Missouri | 14,952,343 | 14,952,343 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 42 | Illinois Waterway Ports | Illinois | 14,946,034 | 14,946,034 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 43 | Two Harbors | Minnesota | 13,499,847 | 11,746,091 | 1,753,756 | 0 | 1,753,756 |
| 44 | Port of Boston | Massachusetts | 13,322,582 | 3,399,778 | 9,922,804 | 8,310,101 | 1,612,703 |
| 45 | Port of Honolulu | Hawaii | 12,261,506 | 11,424,582 | 836,924 | 619,948 | 216,976 |
| 46 | Port of Galveston | Texas | 11,945,182 | 5,242,679 | 6,702,503 | 1,525,032 | 5,177,471 |
| 47 | Port of Longview | Washington | 11,071,285 | 1,145,333 | 9,925,952 | 338,172 | 9,587,780 |
| 48 | Port of Vancouver USA | Washington | 10,198,602 | 2,557,938 | 7,640,664 | 1,128,602 | 6,512,062 |
| 49 | Port of Cleveland | Ohio | 9,442,739 | 7,655,827 | 1,786,912 | 1,359,394 | 427,518 |
| 50 | Port of San Juan | Puerto Rico | 9,337,163 | 4,611,787 | 4,725,376 | 4,285,535 | 439,841 |
Maritime transport or more generally waterborne transport, is the transport of people (passengers) or goods (cargo) via waterways. Freight transport by sea has been widely used throughout recorded history. The advent of aviation has diminished the importance of sea travel for passengers, though it is still popular for short trips and pleasure cruises. Transport by water is cheaper than transport by air or ground, but significantly slower for longer distances. Maritime transport accounts for roughly 80% of international trade, according to UNCTAD in 2020.
A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Hamburg, Manchester and Duluth; these access the sea via rivers or canals. Because of their roles as ports of entry for immigrants as well as soldiers in wartime, many port cities have experienced dramatic multi-ethnic and multicultural changes throughout their histories.
An inland port is a port on an inland waterway, such as a river, lake, or canal, which may or may not be connected to the sea. The term "inland port" is also used to refer to a dry port.
The Mississippi River–Gulf Outlet Canal is a 76 mi (122 km) channel constructed by the United States Army Corps of Engineers at the direction of Congress in the mid-20th century that provided a shorter route between the Gulf of Mexico and New Orleans' inner harbor Industrial Canal via the Intracoastal Waterway.
The Port of Alaska (POA) is a deep-water port in Anchorage, Alaska, with three bulk carrier berths, two petroleum berths, and one barge berth. The name was changed from "Port of Anchorage" to the "Port of Alaska" in 2017. It is an enterprise department of the Municipality of Anchorage. It is distinguished from other types of municipal departments largely because it generates enough revenue to support its operations without being a burden to Anchorage property tax payers, and it also pays a fee-in-lieu of taxes to help run city government.
The Port of San Juan is a large seaport facility in and around San Juan Bay in Puerto Rico. Primarily located within the capital municipality of San Juan, the Port of San Juan consists of multiple public and private passenger and cargo facilities. Public facilities are administered by the Puerto Rico Ports Authority (PRPA), under the Department of Transportation and Public Works of Puerto Rico.
The Port of Savannah is a major U.S. seaport located at Savannah, Georgia. As of 2021, the port was the third busiest seaport in the United States. Its facilities for oceangoing vessels line both sides of the Savannah River and are approximately 18 miles (29 km) from the Atlantic Ocean. Operated by the Georgia Ports Authority (GPA), the Port of Savannah competes primarily with the Port of Charleston in Charleston, South Carolina to the northeast, and the Port of Jacksonville in Jacksonville, Florida to the south. The GPA operates one other Atlantic seaport in Georgia, the Port of Brunswick. The state also manages three interior ports linked to the Gulf of Mexico: Port Bainbridge, Port Columbus, and a facility at Cordele, Georgia linked by rail to the Port of Savannah. In the 1950s, the Port of Savannah was the only facility to see an increase in trade while the country experienced a decline in trade of 5%. It was chaired and led by engineer Dr. Blake Van Leer.
The Port of Palm Beach is located in Riviera Beach, Florida, United States, in Palm Beach County. The port is an independent taxing district, with a five-member board of commissioners elected at large by voters within the district. The port district covers a land area of 971 square miles (2,510 km2) or approximately fifty percent of the Palm Beach County area. The port is administered by an Executive Director and professional staff of 59 full-time employees.
The Port of New York and New Jersey is the port district of the New York-Newark metropolitan area, encompassing the region within approximately a 25-mile (40 km) radius of the Statue of Liberty National Monument.
The Port of Portland is a seaport located in Portland, Maine. It is the second-largest tonnage seaport in New England as well as one of the largest oil ports on the East Coast. It is the primary American port of call for Icelandic shipping company Eimskip.
The Port of Jacksonville (JAXPORT) is an international trade port on the St. Johns River in Jacksonville, Florida. JAXPORT is the largest port by volume in Florida, and the 14th largest container port in the United States. It carries about 18 million short tons of cargo each year and has an annual economic impact of over $31 billion, including 138,500 jobs across the state of Florida related to cargo moving through the port. It handled 1,338,000 containers, and is the second largest handler of vehicles in the United States with 696,500 in 2019.
The Port of Ningbo-Zhoushan is the busiest port in the world in terms of cargo tonnage. It handled 888.96 million tons of cargo in 2015. The port is located in Ningbo and Zhoushan, on the coast of the East China Sea, in Zhejiang province on the southeast end of Hangzhou Bay, across which it faces the municipality of Shanghai.
The Helen Delich Bentley Port of Baltimore is a shipping port along the tidal basins of the three branches of the Patapsco River in Baltimore, Maryland, on the upper northwest shore of the Chesapeake Bay. It is the nation's largest port facility for specialized cargo and passenger facilities. It is operated by the Maryland Port Administration (MPA), a unit of the Maryland Department of Transportation.
The Port of Galveston is the port of the city of Galveston, Texas, United States. It was established by a proclamation issued by the Congress of Mexico on October 17, 1825, while the land known today as Texas was still part of Mexico. The Port of Galveston is the oldest port in the Gulf of Mexico west of New Orleans.
The Port of Cleveland is a bulk freight and container shipping port at the mouth of the Cuyahoga River on Lake Erie in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It is the third-largest port in the Great Lakes and the fourth-largest Great Lakes port by annual tonnage. Over 20,000 jobs and $3.5 billion in annual economic activity are tied to the roughly 13 million tons of cargo that move through Cleveland Harbor each year.
The transportation system of Alabama is a cooperation of complex systems of infrastructure.
The Port of Plaquemines is one of the largest seaports in the United States. It is located at the mouth of the Mississippi River on the Gulf of Mexico, near Belle Chasse in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, about twenty miles south of New Orleans.
Port Freeport is the geographically smallest deep-water seaport along the U.S Gulf Coast. Located in Freeport, Texas , it has rail access, and both private and public facilities. It is ranked 10th in the nation for chemicals, 19th in the nation for total tonnage, 26th in the nation for container traffic, and handles over 100,000 vehicles per year and more than 1,000 ships per year. Forbes magazine (2017) ranked Port Freeport as one of the top 10 fastest growing seaports for exports in the U.S.
The United States Marine Highway Program is a United States Department of Transportation (DOT) initiative authorized to increase use of the United States' 29,000 mi (47,000 km) of navigable waterways to alleviate traffic and wear to the nation's highways caused by tractor trailer traffic. The program is managed by the Maritime Administration's Office of Ports & Waterways Planning.
Schedule K is a geographic coding scheme originally developed by the United States Maritime Administration and currently maintained by the United States Army Corps of Engineers to identify seaports handling waterborne shipments involved with foreign trade of the United States. The codes consist of five numeric digits and are primarily for electronic communications concerning U.S. Customs.
| Types | |
|---|---|
| Rankings | |
| Locations | |
| Port management | |
| Conventions | |
