Busiest Airports by State 2026

What Are The Largest Airports in the United States?

There are many large airports in the United States, including more than 5,000 public airports. When looking at the largest airports in the U.S., the biggest airport in the entire US is Denver International Airport. Denver International Airport measures a total size of 137.26 square kilometers or 33,917 acres. This makes it the third-largest airport in the entire world, behind only Beijing Daxing International Airport and King Fahd International Airport.

Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport is the second-largest airport in the US, followed by Washington Dulles International Airport, Orlando International Airport, George Bush Intercontinental, and Salt Lake City International Airport. O’Hare International Airport in Chicago is the seventh-largest airport in the US at 7,627 acres in size. San Francisco International Airport, John F. Kennedy International Airport, and Detroit Metropolitan Airport round out the top ten biggest airports in the US, in that order.

What Are the Busiest Airports in the United States?

As you will see, just because an airport is large does not mean it will have the most travelers throughout the year. The five busiest airports are below.

Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport

The busiest airport in the US is actually Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. The Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport has roughly 104 million passengers yearly. The primary reason that this airport is the busiest one in the US is that its favorable geographic location makes it an ideal connection hub. It serves over 225 destinations through 18 domestic and international carriers. Interestingly, despite how busy this airport is, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport has been voted the most efficient airport in the world for 18 years in a row.

Los Angeles International Airport

Los Angeles International Airport is the second-busiest airport in the US. About 84.5 million passengers pass through this airport each year. One of the reasons for this is that LAX, as it is commonly known, serves as the gateway to Los Angeles, California. LAX receives plenty of passenger traffic from overseas. Its location on the west coast makes it a popular airport for Asian travelers.

O’Hare International Airport

The O’Hare International Airport in Chicago is the third-busiest airport in the United States. However, this airport, also called Chicago O’Hare, was actually the busiest airport in the US from 1963 up until 1998. O’Hare International Airport was also the first major airport that was planned in the post-World War 2 era. The O’Hare International Airport gets approximately 79.8 million passengers each year.

Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport

The fourth-busiest airport in the US is the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. This airport is commonly referred to as DFW. Sixty-seven million passengers are the approximate figure for the passenger traffic that Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport receives annually. However, Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport is quite large, so much so that it has its own postal service designation and its own zip code. That zip code is 75261. It is also aware of the environmental impact of such a large business and is the largest carbon-neutral airport in the world.

Denver International Airport

The Denver International Airport is the fifth-busiest airport in the US, despite being the largest airport in the US. This airport also has the longest public-use runway in all of North America. A total of approximately 61 million passengers travel through Denver International Airport each year. The Denver International Airport serves quite a few destinations, 215 in total, and this number includes 189 US destinations. Although this is already the largest airport in the country, an expansion is currently in the works with concourse updates and outdoor decks.