The U.S. exported over $1.3 trillion in goods in 2020, the second-highest amount worldwide.

While refined petroleum was the top export overall at $58.4 billion, Visual Capitalist's Dorothy Neufeld details below that aircraft exports were actually the highest across 14 states - more than any other form of export.

This infographic from OnDeck shows America's top exports by state, using January 2022 data from the U.S. Census Bureau.

America's Top Exports, by Category

As shown below, Florida, Kansas, and numerous other states all have aircraft (and related parts) as their top export.

Here is the top export category for each state, using 2020 figures.

While the vast majority of the aerospace and defense industry consists of civil aerospace exports, America has also played a significant role in exports of military aircraft. Between 2000-2020, these were worth $99.6 billion, the highest in the world ahead of Russia's $61.5 billion in military exports. This becomes less surprising when you consider that a new fighter jet can often come with a $100 million price tag.

But there were many different, and more interesting, exports. South Dakota's top export is none other than brewing dregs, which is the sediment found in brewing beer. The largest importers of these dregs are Mexico, Vietnam, and South Korea. Often, dregs are sold to farmers for use in animal feed.