The Washington Post analyzed data from more than 450 U.S. airports with at least 1,000 passenger departures in 2024. Their ranking considered factors like TSA complaints, number of gates, crowding, empty seats per flight, parking availability, and even reader feedback on “cool extras.” They also drew on outside sources—TravelTime, Mapbox, Cirium, and Yelp—to capture service quality, on-time performance, dining, and shopping.

From that information, they compiled a list of the 50 best airports. This chart highlights the top 20.