The Cheapest US Airports to Fly Into, Ranked by What Passengers Actually Paid

Myrtle Beach International (MYR) is the cheapest major US airport to fly into, at an average fare of $180 per one-way trip between April 2025 and March 2026. Long Beach ($191), Oakland ($197) and Chicago Midway ($200) follow.

This ranking comes from the US Department of Transportation’s Domestic Airline Consumer Airfare Report, Table 7, which gives the average fare paid at each airport in the country’s 1,000 busiest city-pair markets. We combined its four latest quarters, weighted by passengers, and ranked the 75 airports with the most fare-paying passengers in that table.

One caveat changes how to read the top of the list. Spirit Airlines stopped flying on May 2, 2026, a month after this data ends, and it was the cheapest carrier on a large share of routes at Myrtle Beach, Fort Lauderdale and Orlando.

Why not use a fare search site? Flight search tools show the cheapest fare someone could have booked on a given day. DOT’s figure is what passengers really paid across every ticket sold, which is the better guide to where your money goes further, year round.

1. Myrtle Beach International (MYR), South Carolina: $180

Myrtle Beach International posted the lowest average fare of any major US airport, $180 per one-way trip, and the lowest in the July to September 2025 quarter at $162. It is also the smallest airport in the top five, 73rd of the 75 by passengers.

Its fares were built on leisure carriers. In January to March 2026, Spirit was the lowest-fare airline on routes carrying 41% of Myrtle Beach passengers, Southwest on 29% and Breeze on 9%. The New York area route averaged $154 for about 733 passengers a day.

That is why MYR’s top spot is the least secure on this list. With Spirit gone since May 2026, its cheapest seats on several routes left with it, and the next DOT tables will show how much of the gap Southwest, Breeze and the legacy carriers fill.

2. Long Beach (LGB), California: $191

Long Beach Airport averaged $191, and in January to March 2026 alone it was the cheapest airport in the field at $204. Southwest was the largest airline on routes carrying 91% of its passengers.

Compare that with Los Angeles International, 71st of 75 at $278. Flying into Long Beach instead of LAX saved an average of $87 per trip, the second-biggest second-airport discount in the data. Its Las Vegas route averaged $145.

3. Oakland (OAK), California: $197

Oakland International averaged $197 across the year. Southwest was the largest carrier on routes carrying 93% of its passengers, with Alaska a distant second.

Across the bay, San Francisco International averaged $297, second-most expensive of the 75. That $100 gap is the widest between any two airports in the same metro area in this data. Oakland to Las Vegas, its busiest route in the table at about 1,327 passengers a day, averaged $189.

4. Chicago Midway (MDW), Illinois: $200

Chicago Midway averaged $200, against $233 at O’Hare. Southwest was the largest airline on routes carrying 95% of Midway passengers.

Midway is the only Southwest airport in the top 15 where a second low-fare airline shows up strongly. Frontier was the cheapest carrier on routes carrying 36% of Midway passengers in early 2026, and Southwest on 63%. Midway to Boston averaged $153.

5. Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood (FLL), Florida: $205

Fort Lauderdale averaged $205, against $251 at Miami International. It had some of the cheapest routes in the data: Atlantic City averaged $104 and Asheville $106 in early 2026.

Those fares belonged to Spirit. It was the lowest-fare airline on routes carrying 66% of Fort Lauderdale passengers in January to March 2026, the highest Spirit share of any airport on this list. Fort Lauderdale was Spirit’s biggest station, so no airport on this list has more to lose from its shutdown.

6. Orlando International (MCO), Florida: $207

Orlando International is the surprise of the list: it carried more fare-paying passengers than any other airport in DOT’s table, and still averaged just $207. Busy and cheap usually do not go together.

Several airlines compete hard here. Southwest, JetBlue and Delta were the largest carriers on the most traffic, while Spirit (37% of passengers) and Frontier (28%) set the lowest fares. Orlando to Atlantic City averaged $104 and to New Haven $117 in early 2026.

Orlando should hold up better than Fort Lauderdale after Spirit’s exit, because Frontier was already the low-fare carrier on more than a quarter of its traffic. That is a reasoned expectation, not yet a number DOT has published.

7. Dallas Love Field (DAL), Texas: $214

Dallas Love Field averaged $214, while Dallas/Fort Worth International averaged $260. Love Field is Southwest’s home airport: it was the largest carrier on routes carrying essentially all of DAL’s passengers.

One airline and still cheap is unusual, and it says more about Southwest’s pricing than about competition at the airport. Love Field to Denver averaged $185 for about 951 passengers a day.

8. Hollywood Burbank (BUR), California: $215

Hollywood Burbank Airport averaged $215, making it the second Los Angeles area airport in the top 10. Southwest was the largest carrier on 62% of its traffic, with Alaska and United behind it.

Burbank to Las Vegas carried about 1,096 passengers a day at an average of $177. Burbank and Long Beach both beat LAX by more than $60 a trip.

9. Buffalo Niagara (BUF), New York: $217

Buffalo Niagara International averaged $217 and is the only airport in the top 10 with no single dominant low-fare airline. American, JetBlue and Frontier each set the lowest fare on a quarter to a third of its traffic.

Its New York area route averaged $160 for about 1,003 passengers a day.

10. Tampa International (TPA), Florida: $217

Tampa International tied Buffalo at $217 on a far bigger schedule, 17th of the 75 by passengers. Frontier set the lowest fare on routes carrying 32% of its passengers, Southwest on 22% and Spirit on 14%.

Tampa’s prices swing with the season. It averaged $193 in July to September 2025 and $242 in January to March 2026, when northern visitors push Florida demand up.

11. Rhode Island T.F. Green (PVD), Providence: $221

Providence averaged $221, against $252 at Boston Logan. It is the only airport on the list where Breeze Airways sets the pace: Breeze was the lowest-fare carrier on routes carrying 43% of PVD passengers.

Providence to Raleigh-Durham averaged $137 in early 2026, one of the cheapest regular routes in the Northeast.

12. Raleigh-Durham (RDU), North Carolina: $221

Raleigh-Durham International averaged $221, even though Delta was the largest carrier on routes carrying 46% of its passengers. Southwest and Frontier kept fares down, each the cheapest airline on more than a quarter of RDU’s traffic.

Its busiest route in the table, to the New York area, carried about 2,912 passengers a day at an average of $164.

13. Denver International (DEN), Colorado: $222

Denver International is the cheapest true hub in the country at $222, and the fourth busiest airport in DOT’s table. United carried the most passengers, but Frontier set the lowest fare on routes carrying 66% of them.

Denver is Frontier’s home base, and Southwest has a big operation here too, so three large airlines fight over the same travelers. Denver to San Diego averaged $169 for about 2,078 passengers a day. For the airport itself, see where Denver lands among the best airports in the US.

14. Sarasota-Bradenton (SRQ), Florida: $224

Sarasota-Bradenton International averaged $224 with an unusually even mix of airlines. Southwest, Allegiant and American each set the lowest fare on between a fifth and just over a quarter of its traffic.

Allegiant’s role shows in the routes: Sarasota to Akron-Canton, Ohio averaged $128 in early 2026. For Tampa Bay travelers, SRQ is a real alternative to TPA at nearly the same price.

15. Houston Hobby (HOU), Texas: $224

Houston Hobby averaged $224, against $256 at George Bush Intercontinental. Like Love Field, it is a Southwest airport, with Southwest the largest carrier on routes carrying 99% of its passengers.

Just missing the cut: Las Vegas at $227, then New Orleans, San Jose, Charleston, Cleveland and Baltimore/Washington, all at $231.

The second-airport rule: how much you save

The clearest pattern in the data: in a metro area with two or more airports, the smaller one is almost always cheaper. Five of the top 15 are second airports run largely by Southwest.

Part of the gap is likely the trip mix, since main airports carry more long-haul and premium-cabin passengers. The rest is the airline mix: every cheaper airport in this table is one where Southwest or a low-fare carrier is the cheapest airline on the largest share of traffic.

Check what the fare includes before you book, because bag and seat fees can erase a $30 saving. Our checked bag fee ranking shows the real price gap.

The most expensive major airports to fly into

At the other end, Birmingham, Alabama, averaged $299, the highest of the 75. San Francisco ($297), New York JFK ($293), Salt Lake City ($284) and Los Angeles ($278) round out the bottom five.

The average across all 75 airports was $245. Anywhere under about $220 is a genuinely cheap place to fly into, and anywhere near $300 means you should check a second airport nearby.

When fares were cheapest

Timing mattered as much as the airport. July to September 2025 was the cheapest of the four quarters at 71 of the 75 airports, and the other four were cheapest in April to June 2025.

Every top-15 airport cost more in January to March 2026 than it had the previous summer. Some of that was season, and some was the general rise in fares we cover in why flights got so expensive.

If you want to understand why the carriers behind these fares can sell seats so cheaply, our explainer on how ultra-low-cost airlines make money covers the model.