Who’s Number One?

Normally, the Port of Los Angeles is the nation’s busiest container gateway. Still, from time to time, the Port of New York/New Jersey (PNYNJ) lays claim to the title, invariably causing the East Coast media to break out the celebratory sparklers. The contest for the nation’s top container port is typically framed in the media as a rivalry between PNYNJ and the Port of LA, the Yankees vs. the Dodgers, if you will.

In reality, as we shall see, it’s more of a competition between the big East Coast gateway and the Port of Long Beach, with the Port of LA nearly always outdistancing both in the number of TEUs handled.

Here we take a look at the three ports’ respective records over the 77-month period from January 2019 and May 2025, the latest month for which comparable numbers are available.  

As Exhibit 8 reveals to readers with exceptionally good eyesight, PNYNJ beat LA in precisely twelve of those months. Of the 59,304,566 inbound loads discharged at both gateways during this period, the USWC port accounted for a 53.8% share. But that’s not the full story. Not infrequently, the Port of Long Beach handles more inbound loads than does PNYNJ. Indeed, it has done so in no fewer than 32 of the months since January 2019.

Taken together, the three big ports have discharged 86,475,721 inbound loaded TEUs since the start of 2019. And, although LA’s 36.9% share puts the San Pedro Bay port on top, the neighboring Port of Long Beach accounted for a 31.4% share, a smidge shy of PNYNJ’s 31.8% share.

The competition is much more intense when it comes to outbound loads. In 31 of the 77 months charted in Exhibit 9, PNYNJ shipped more outbound loads than did the Port of Los Angeles. Of the 17,719,099 outbound loads that sailed from the two ports, LA’s share was 51.0%. But again there is the Port of Long Beach, which not only has often shipped more outbound loads than PNYNJ, it has also topped the two other ports in 28 of the months since January 2019. Indeed, of the 26,469,806 outbound loads that departed the three ports since the start of 2019, they have all been evenly matched, as the Long Beach handled 33.1% against 32.8% at PNYNJ and 34.1% at the Port of Los Angeles.

In terms of total container traffic (loaded as well as empty TEUs), as depicted in Exhibit 10, the Port of New York/New Jersey came out on top in just ten of the 77 months. Meanwhile, the Port of Long Beach grabbed the top rank in eight of those months, with the Port of Los Angeles dominating the remaining months.

Overall, the three ports collectively have handled 171,878,191 loaded and empty TEUs since January 2019. As Exhibit 11 shows, the Port of Los Angeles accounted for 36.1% of this volume, while the Port of Long Beach came next with a 32.6% against a 31.3% share for PNYNJ. In raw numbers, the Port of LA handled 6,156,304 more TEUs over these seventy-seven months than the neighboring Port of Long Beach and 8,356,426 more total TEUs than did the Port of New York/New Jersey.