In the United States alone, imports into and exports out of the United States amounted to $5.1 trillion of goods in 2023, an amount equivalent in size to roughly 20% of the US economy. Over $2.1 trillion dollars, or more than 40% of all goods entering or leaving the United States, passed through a port, a new report by the American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA) finds.
Ports not only facilitate an extraordinary volume of trade but also serve as essential gateways for tourism, further diversifying their contribution to the economy. In 2023, the port and maritime industry’s total economic contribution to the United States included an estimated 2.5 million workers earning $214 billion in wages and benefits and generating $311 billion of GDP in the United States. The total economic contribution, or economic footprint, of the port and maritime industry consists of the industry’s operations and capital expenditures in the United States, as well as the related supplier activity and consumer spending.
These jobs include dockworkers, tugboat pilots, crew aboard cruise ships, commercial fishermen, shipbuilders, and naval architects throughout the United States. These workers serve the critical role of ensuring the efficient movement of goods and people over US waterways and ocean.
Other key findings:
#1 The port and maritime industry is more than ports
Today’s modern economy has significant interconnected supply chains. Over 90% of goods arriving or leaving a port do so on a truck, in a railcar, or through a pipeline The industry directly supports 425,000 trucking, rail, pipeline, warehousing, and logistics jobs that reach beyond the coasts, lakeshores, and rivers in the United States.
#2 Public administration fosters a secure and resilient maritime supply chain.
Government agencies, such as the Coast Guard and Customs and Border Protection, patrol US waters and ensure the safe passage of both goods and people. The US Army Corps of Engineers focuses on advancing critical waterway projects. Over 58,000 workers served in these capacities in the United States as part of the port and maritime industry.
#3 Ports are a capital-intensive industry that often requires billions of dollars in new construction, repairs, and dredging.
In 2021, the US Census Bureau estimated state and local governments spent $6.8 billion on sea and inland port facilities. The most recent American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA) survey found that ports planned on spending over $163 billion in capital expenditures between 2021 and 2025.6 In 2023, these capital expenditures in the industry resulted in an additional 248,000 jobs. As ports invest more in both their infrastructure and sustainability initiatives, these numbers could increase in future years.
#4 Wages and benefits for port and maritime workers were 20% higher than the national average in 2023.
The port and maritime industry’s 1 million directly employed workers earned $100 billion in wages and benefits in 2023 and generated $124 billion of
GDP in the United States. The average worker earned approximately $98,000 in wages and benefits in 2023. Wages and benefits is a component of GDP.
#5 All together the employment directly supported by the port and maritime industry would be larger than the workforce in 90% of US metropolitan areas.
With over 1 million workers, the port and maritime industry is approximately the size of the San Jose, CA metropolitan area workforce and nearly twice the size of the workforce in the New Orleans metropolitan area. It would be larger than the workforce the District of Columbia or New Hampshire and nearly as large as the workforce of New Mexico.
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