Economic Impact

Marine cargo operations through The Northwest Seaport Alliance provide significant jobs and revenue to Washington state, a state where 40% of jobs are tied to trade.

A study released in July 2025 highlights the 2023 impact of the marine cargo operations in our North and South Harbors:

• Supported 52,100 jobs
• Contributed nearly $14 billion in business output
• Produced more than $4.4 billion in labor income
• Generated $134 million in state taxes

The study focused on direct, indirect and induced jobs.

• 18,000 direct jobs: These include trucking companies and railroads moving cargo to and from terminals, and warehouses, longshore workers, steamship agents and freight forwarders.
• 11,800 indirect jobs: These jobs are generated in supporting industries and suppliers, and include office supply firms, maintenance and repair firms, and parts and equipment suppliers.
• 22,910 induced jobs: These are jobs created by people directly employed by marine cargo operations re-spending their wages in the community on housing, food and other consumer goods.

In 2023, nearly 3 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) carrying 22 million metric tons of containerized cargo were handled at NWSA facilities across the ports of Seattle and Tacoma, directly supporting 16,100 jobs, $1.8 billion in labor income (including wages and monetized benefits) and $6.3 billion in business output.

In addition to containers, the NWSA imports automobiles and handles breakbulk and other marine cargo. In 2023, the NWSA handled 1.3 million metric tons of breakbulk, bulk and other noncontainerized cargo, supporting thousands of additional jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars in additional income.

The average annual wage paid by the NWSA was $117,300 in 2023. It is estimated for every 35 TEUs of containerized cargo handled by the NWSA, one job is supported throughout Washington state. Each direct job in the NWSA automotive operations sector was associated with an additional 2.1 jobs in the state. Data from 2023 shows for every 50 automobiles imported through the NWSA, one job is supported throughout the statewide economy.

The economic impact study was completed in 2025 by Community Attributes Inc., a Seattle-based research agency that specializes in community and economic development, strategic planning and nonprofit advisory services.

View the study materials: 

• NWSA fact sheet
• Full combined study report: The NWSA, Port of Seattle, Port of Tacoma