The Corridor
The busiest land port in the Western Hemisphere. $354 billion in trade. ~6 million commercial truck crossings. Two nations, four bridges, one corridor.
Data current as of March 2026 · Full-year 2025 figures
Trade Pulse
$0B
Annual Trade Value (2025)
Monthly trade trend, 2024–2025 · U.S. Census Bureau / TCBEED, TAMIU
Tariff Environment
Industrial Footprint
0M SF
Projected Industrial Market
86 permits, $470M invested (2024)
Read the storyEmployment Exposure
0,000
Corridor-Connected Jobs
4.3M jobs exposed nationally under USMCA disruption
See full analysisNuevo Laredo
28,500
Maquiladora/IMMEX Workers
Data México (INEGI) · ICCE Nuevo Laredo · ENOE Q1 2025 · Censo 2020
Bridge Activity
~6M
Commercial trucks · 2025 est.
12.9M
Passenger vehicles · 2025 est.
5.5M
Pedestrians · 2025 est.
BTS · City of Laredo Bridge System · Both directions
The People
~0K
Combined Metro Population
U.S. Census Bureau · INEGI · Texas Workforce Commission
Continental → State → Corridor
Binational Corridor
Two cities, one workforce of 270,000
Laredo, Texas
Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas
Population
Workforce
Combined Trade-Related Jobs
Rio Grande
Over 740,000 people. More than 270,000 workers. The customs brokers, transport companies, maquiladora operators, and logistics professionals on both sides of the Rio Grande function as one integrated economy. The border runs through it. The supply chain doesn't stop.
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau (2024), Texas Workforce Commission, Data México (INEGI), ICCE Nuevo Laredo Prontuario 2025
2015–2025
Truck crossings grew from 4 million to 6 million
Commercial truck crossings at Laredo (both directions) grew from 4 million to ~6 million in a decade — almost 6 million truck crossings annually. The northbound-southbound split runs roughly 48/52, with more trucks heading south than north.
Source: BTS Transborder Freight Data, City of Laredo Bridge System. Both northbound and southbound crossings. 2025 estimated full year.
U.S. Port of Entry Rankings
Laredo is the #1 port for U.S.-Mexico trade
Laredo ranks #3 among all U.S. ports of entry by total world trade ($354B), behind Chicago ($420B) and JFK ($384B). But for USMCA trade ($342B) and U.S.-Mexico trade ($341B, 97% tied to Mexico), Laredo is #1.
Source: BTS 2025, inbound truck crossings from Mexico by port of entry.
Calendar Year 2025
$354 billion in machinery, vehicles, and electronics
$0B
Annual trade value through Port Laredo (2025)
Machinery, vehicles, electronics. This is a manufacturing supply chain corridor, not a commodity corridor. The import-export asymmetry tells the story: components flow south, finished goods flow north.
Imports ($B)
Exports ($B)
Machinery & Parts
Vehicles & Parts
Electrical Equipment
Furniture, Bedding
Plastics
Mineral Fuel, Oil
85% of corridor trade moves by truck
85% of $354B in trade moves by truck. That's $293 billion on wheels. The corridor lives and dies by its bridges.
85%
Truck
$293B
13%
Rail
$46B
1.5%
Air/Other
$4.9B
Commodity breakdown: Texas Center Economic Outlook Report, Vision 2026. Total trade value: TCBEED, TAMIU / U.S. Census Bureau, calendar year 2025.
2013–2024
Industrial investment jumped from $72.5M to $470M
Between 2013 and 2024, warehouse and industrial park development permits in Laredo nearly tripled. Annual investment value jumped from $72.5 million to $470 million, with the peak in 2024. The capital is arriving.
Source: City of Laredo Building Development Services, warehouse and industrial park permits. From Texas Center Economic Outlook Report, Vision 2026.
2025 Monthly
Crossings peak in March and October
Seasonal patterns show peak activity in March and October, with lighter volume in February and December.
Source: BTS monthly data, approximate seasonal distribution from 2025 annual total.
Policy Research
Frameworks for the Future
Data Sources & Methodology
Last updated: March 16, 2026
Truck crossing data: U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), Border Crossing/Entry Data, collected by U.S. Customs and Border Protection at the port of Laredo. Monthly data released with approximately 2-month lag. Annual figures are calendar year totals. Totals include both northbound and southbound crossings from BTS and City of Laredo Bridge System.
Trade value estimates: The $354B figure represents full calendar year 2025 total international trade through Port Laredo, per data analyzed by Texas Center for Border Economic and Enterprise Development, TAMIU from U.S. Census Bureau figures. The broader Laredo Customs District recorded $481.8 billion in total trade activity in 2025. Year-over-year growth was 4.4% ($14.94 billion increase over 2024).
Commodity data: Texas Center Economic Outlook Report, Vision 2026. Top commodity categories by 2-digit HS code, Nov 2024 – Oct 2025 rolling period.
Industrial market data: From published analysis in "Building on Trade: Laredo's Billion-Dollar Industrial Moment" (Covarrubias, 2026), sourced from Webb County Appraisal District records and commercial real estate market reports. Development permit data from City of Laredo Building Development Services.
Employment exposure: From the TAMIU Texas Center trilateral employment vulnerability analysis (Covarrubias & Lozano, 2025).
Laredo demographic data: U.S. Census Bureau (2024 estimate), Texas Workforce Commission Labor Market Information.
Nuevo Laredo data: Data México (INEGI), ICCE de Nuevo Laredo Prontuario Socioeconómico 2025, IMSS employment statistics.
Trade outlook data: TAMIU Texas Center for Border Economic and Enterprise Development, Economic Outlook Report, Vision 2026 (Volume 19, Issue 1, January 2026), sourced from U.S. Census Bureau Economic Indicators Division and U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics. U.S.-Mexico total trade hit a record $872.8 billion in 2025 (FreightWaves / BTS).
International bridge data: U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics, City of Laredo Bridge System. Figures include both northbound and southbound crossings.
Tariff status: Reflects tariff posture as of last page update. See Tariffs Dev for current tracking.
This dashboard presents curated data for contextual understanding. It is not a real-time data feed. All figures are from public U.S. government sources unless otherwise noted.
TCBEED Border Conditions Index
Border activity, in one number
One composite of what actually moves at the border: bilateral goods trade, Laredo truck crossings, and logistics payrolls. Calendar 2023 = 100.
Live · U.S. Census Bureau · 2025 full year
Where Laredo’s imports really come from
Querying the Census Bureau. This one digs deep; give it up to a minute.
From the Columns
All Border Economics writing →Mar 30, 2026
Four Apartments, Two Countries, and Fifty Years of Asking Why
By Daniel Covarrubias, Ph.D. In a small town straddling the border between Belgium and the Netherlands, there s an apartment building with two front doors that open into the same atrium. [ ]
Feb 25, 2026
Building on Trade: Laredo’s Billion-Dollar Industrial Moment
By Daniel Covarrubias, Ph.D. In 2018, Laredo’s industrial market looked much as it had for years. The city’s inventory of warehouse and logistics space ranged from 36 to 40 million [ ]
Nov 19, 2025
Beyond the Gateway: Why Laredo s Next Chapter Is Distribution, Not Just Transit
By Daniel Covarrubias, Ph.D. Gastón Cedillo-Campos, Ph.D. Every day, close to 10,000 northbound trucks cross through Laredo carrying billions in merchandise: automotive parts, electronics, machinery, and consumer goods flowing [ ]
Cite this dashboard
Covarrubias, D. (2026). The Corridor: Laredo-Nuevo Laredo Trade Intelligence. Trade, Tech & Data Lab, Texas A&M International University. https://labs.drdanielcovarrubias.com/corridor
