Ranking · the West Coast · one tariff group and three comparable months · read 07/26–07/29/2026
West Coast reading is one tariff group and three volume figures, and every port on this site with a matching period is on this coast
- West Coast reading here covers four ports and 58 rate lines. Los Angeles and Long Beach are priced together by most of the nine carriers, giving medians of $255 and $280; Seattle with Tacoma sits at $260 over nineteen lines and Oakland at $255 over eleven. The coast can be ranked on cost now, and until 08/01/2026 it could not.
- Port of Los Angeles, the Northwest Seaport Alliance and Port of Oakland all published a June 2026 figure in TEU, and that is the only period and measure more than one port on this site shares. Los Angeles moved 1,002,734, the alliance 262,546 and Oakland 181,356. One month, one unit, and the alliance is the only one of the three that fell.
- Container ports on this coast produced the only tariff revision we observed during our own reading. HMM's tariff expired on 31 July 2026 and its successor changed exactly two lines — Seattle and Tacoma, from 263, 313 and 413 to 265, 317 and 421. Nothing else in the nine documents moved.
- West Coast questions above these results ask which port is biggest, in ten formulations out of ten, exactly as they do for the other coast. Size is not what this page orders by: three of these four ports published the same month and Long Beach published none, and three figures from one month are not a ranking.
The four West Coast ports, and how little separates them in our reading
West Coast reading on this site is four tariff groups and three volume figures — and the thinness is ours rather than the coast’s. We have read four port groups and thirty tariff lines on the East Coast, against one group and ten lines here.
How this table is built · what we are paid
- One tariff group is read for this entire coast, and it covers two ports that most carriers price together. There is no West Coast median on this page, because a coast median built from one bay would be the bay’s median wearing a coast’s name.
- The table is ordered by what has been read, not by price.
- Three ports here publish June 2026 in the same measure — the only period and measure more than one port on this site shares. Three figures for one month are still not a ranking and no position is printed.
- Where a port is not named by any tariff, the cell says the source does not distinguish it rather than implying we failed to read.
- No port has paid to appear here, and no link on this site is a referral link.
| Port | Median first paid day | Tariff lines | Latest volume | What that means |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles | $275ceiling $300, floor $210 | 16 | 1,002,734 TEU · June 2026 | the only port here with a located authority tariff, and it is unopened |
| Long Beach | $280ceiling $330, floor $210 | 16 | 4,829,578 TEU · first half of 2026 | the only one of the four with no June figure — its volume cannot join the comparison |
| Oakland | not publishednamed outright by five carriers | 0 | 181,356 TEU · June 2026, +7.7% | publishes the fullest split on the site — total, full imports, full exports |
| Seattle / Tacoma | not publishedone carrier’s line is not a sample | 1 | 262,546 TEU · June 2026, −4.4% | two harbours as one port since 2015 — and the only one of the three that fell |
| Ten distinct tariff lines cover Los Angeles and Long Beach, and six of them price both ports identically — which is why their medians land two dollars apart while their ceilings differ by thirty. | ||||
nine US import demurrage tariffs · read 07/28–08/01/2026; volumes from each port’s release · read 07/26/2026
Three of these four published June 2026 in twenty-foot equivalent units: 1,002,734, 262,546 and 181,356. It is the only period and measure more than one port on this site shares, all three are on this coast, and the alliance is the only one that fell. What separates the two San Pedro Bay ports, measured inside single tariffs: how los angeles and long beach actually differ.
See alsowhat it costs to land a box at los angeles →what it costs to land a box at long beach →
Why one tariff group is not a coast
The technique that works on the East Coast does not work here, and the reason is worth stating plainly: there is one tariff group for this entire coast. Ranking four ports on it would mean ranking two of them against two blanks.
The change rates need the same care as the totals. Los Angeles publishes +13% on loaded imports for June 2026 and Oakland +11.1% on full imports — those two are comparable. Oakland’s +7.7% is computed on its total and belongs beside neither. And the two ports use different words for the same-looking measure, with no definition read from either.
How this West Coast ranking is built, and who paid for a place in it
What we are paid
- Nothing on this page has been paid for. No port, terminal or carrier has paid to appear here, to be positioned here, or to be left out, and no outbound link on this site is a referral link.
- If that ever changes, the rate goes on the page carrying the link, at one rate, the same for everyone — and a position in a table still will not be for sale.
The same 58 lines with their full detail, and the seven East Coast groups beside them: the cost stack ranked port by port.
What is missing on this coast, and why it is more than on the other one
Two of the four ports on this coast have no median, for two different reasons — and neither reason is that the ports are cheap or dear.
How every figure here is sourced, and what each status permits: how every figure here is sourced.
What the market publishes when asked about West Coast ports
Asked which West Coast port to import through, the market answers which one is largest — the mirror of the East Coast page, whose related searches point back here.
| What we measured | Value |
|---|---|
| What every question above the results asks | all ten ask which port is biggest or largest |
| The related set | six entries, four of them navigational and one about the opposite coast |
| Ports on this coast with a published median in our reading | two of four |
| Port authority rules read on this coast | none — one document located |
| Comparable volume figures | three, and this is the only coast where that is true |
our own capture of the West Coast queries, Google US, 07/26/2026
Who bills what at a West Coast port
One difference on this coast is in the reader’s favour, and it is a documentary one rather than a price.
| What happens | Who bills | What it means for the figure |
|---|---|---|
| One invoice rather than two | the ocean carrier | not one line-demurrage-only row appears anywhere on this coast — every one of them in the whole reading sits at New York and New Jersey |
| The terminal decides inside the bay | the ocean carrier, at its terminal rate | one carrier charges $210 at four named berths against $270 elsewhere in the same bay |
| Terminal storage | the marine terminal | unread at every port here — gap A |
| A local fee | the port authority, through the motor carrier | one read on this coast: $10 per TEU and $20 over 20 feet at Los Angeles |
How many free days each carrier gives before any of it starts: how many free days each port allows.
If a West Coast demurrage invoice arrives
An invoice for these days answers to 46 CFR Part 541, in force since 05/28/2024 and before the D.C. Circuit twice since. Read the current text at eCFR rather than a summary of the 2024 announcement. On this coast the first thing to establish is which terminal the service called at, because that is where the rate difference lives.
What the invoice has to contain, and how the dispute runs: the federal rules your invoice has to meet.
The three West Coast ports whose volume can be compared, and the one that stays out
Two ports on this coast carry the reading and two carry the volume — and they are not the same two.
Oakland — the fullest volume split on the site, and no tariff line at all
181,356 TEU in June 2026, of which 78,114 full imports up 11.1% and 65,140 full exports. No other port here publishes that split. And no rate line in the nine tariffs names the port, so it has no median: two carriers publish a group called California and we could not confirm it reaches this port.
Seattle and Tacoma — the only price on this site we watched move
One carrier names these harbours, names both, and prices them identically. Its tariff expired 07/31/2026 and the successor effective the next day moved exactly these two lines: 265, 317 and 421 against 263, 313 and 413. Twelve other groups in the same document were untouched.
And the pair that carries the cost reading
Los Angeles and Long Beach hold all ten of this coast’s tariff lines between them, and six of those lines price the two ports identically. Which is why the interesting comparison on this coast is not between ports at all — it is between berths.
how oakland and los angeles actually differ · how seattle and tacoma actually differ
Where this West Coast ranking does not apply
This ranking stops applying in four places.
- Where no tariff names the port. Oakland is in that position, and the figure that applies there was written for a group we could not confirm.
- Where one carrier is the whole sample. Seattle and Tacoma have exactly one line, and a single line is not a median.
- Below the port level. Inside one bay the same carrier charges $210 or $270 depending on the berth, and terminal storage is unread everywhere here.
- When comparing the volume figures. Three of the four share June 2026; Long Beach published no June figure at all, so its half-year total cannot join them.
How often these West Coast figures change, measured on the one revision we saw
The only tariff revision observed inside our reading window landed on this coast. The HMM tariff in force expired 07/31/2026 with its successor already filed effective 08/01/2026, and the successor moved exactly two lines — Seattle and Tacoma — by $2 on the first paid day, $4 on the second tier and $8 on the third.
Two dollars is not a story about the market; it is a demonstration that these figures move by amendment, that an amendment can be on file before the version it replaces expires, and that a rate without a date beside it cannot be trusted a month later.
Questions about West Coast ports and imports
Which West Coast port is best for imports?
Rankable on cost since 08/01/2026: four ports, 58 lines. Seattle with Tacoma sits at $260, Oakland at $275, Los Angeles at $285 and Long Beach at $295 — and the two San Pedro Bay ports are priced together by most carriers anyway.
What is the biggest shipping port on the west coast?
No size ranking is published here. Three of the four did publish the same month, June 2026 in TEU: Los Angeles 1,002,734, the Seattle-Tacoma alliance 262,546 and Oakland 181,356. Long Beach published no June figure at all, and three numbers from one month are not a ranking.
What are the two major ports in California?
Los Angeles and Long Beach. But most of the nine tariffs price them as one group, so for an invoice they behave more like one port than two.
How much is demurrage on the West Coast?
A median of $255 at Los Angeles and $280 at Long Beach, fourteen tariff lines each, $255 at Oakland over eleven and $260 at Seattle with Tacoma over nineteen. The coast spans $35 on the median and the widest port inside itself spans far more than that.
Is Oakland cheaper than Los Angeles?
Yes, and by more than any port pair on this coast: $255 against $275, both over lines that name their port. Oakland holds the cheapest median in the country. Until 01/08/2026 this answer was that no line named Oakland, which was an absence of a line rather than a cheaper or dearer rate.
Are Seattle and Tacoma one port?
They have been counted as the Northwest Seaport Alliance since 2015: the volume figure is joint, and the one HMM tariff line we read names both together.
Did West Coast demurrage go up in 2026?
With one carrier, yes. HMM raised Seattle and Tacoma from 263, 313 and 413 to 265, 317 and 421 effective 1 August 2026. Nothing else in the nine documents changed.
Which West Coast port is growing?
In June 2026 the Seattle-Tacoma alliance fell 4.4% and it is the only one of the three that did. On the import measure Los Angeles was up 13% and Oakland up 11.1%; Oakland's 7.7% is its total and does not belong beside them. The two ports also use different words — loaded imports there, full imports here — and we have read no definition from either. One month is not a trend.
The West Coast is where this site has read least on cost and most on volume, and both halves of that sentence describe our own work rather than the ports. The four profiles and the two comparisons are linked above.