You can control almost everything about a trip except the security line. You book the flight, you pick the seat, you set the alarm. Then you round the corner to a line a stretching back to baggage drop, and the buffer you built starts disappearing in real time.
Staffing, technology, and how many first-time flyers are ahead of you determine whether you have time to get a coffee or need to sprint to a gate that's already closing.
To help travelers properly plan out how much time they should build into their travel plans for security, our team compared average TSA wait times and passenger volume at 50 of the busiest airports in the United States, ranking them on both measures separately and checking how closely the two relate.
In this article
The Shortcut
The average TSA wait time at the top 50 airports is 9.9 minutes.
JFK International (JFK) has the longest average TSA wait of the 50 airports analyzed, at 23.1 minutes.
The shortest average TSA wait time is 3.7 minutes at San Antonio International (SAT).
Los Angeles International (LAX) processes more passengers through security than any other airport, averaging 4,305.9 per hour.
Ted Stevens Anchorage International (ANC) processes the fewest passengers on average, at 516.7 per hour.
The Airports With the Longest and Shortest Wait Times
Across the 50 busiest airports in the U.S., the average time passengers wait to get through security at a TSA checkpoint is just under 10 minutes, a relatively short time given that each of these airports averages hundreds or thousands of passengers processed every hour. That wait time is just the overall average, however, and there are some airports where wait times are significantly longer and others where getting through security is much faster.
Longest Average Wait Times Across Major U.S. Airports
1. John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK)
Average wait: 23.1 minutes
2. Chicago O'Hare International Airport (ORD)
Average wait: 20.2 minutes
3. Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR)
Average wait: 17.9 minutes
4. Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport (ANC)
Average wait: 16.3 minutes
5. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL)
Average wait: 14.1 minutes
6. George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH)
Average wait: 13.6 minutes
7. Portland International Airport (PDX)
Average wait: 13.4 minutes
8. San Diego International Airport (SAN)
Average wait: 13.2 minutes
9. Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport (DFW)
Average wait: 13.0 minutes
10. Philadelphia International Airport (PHL)
Average wait: 12.9 minutes
Two major airports have average TSA wait times more than double the overall average. Travelers flying out of New York’s JFK International Airport spend just over 23 minutes getting through security on average, the longest of any airport. Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport is the only other travel hub with an average TSA wait time longer than 20 minutes (20.2).
Shortest Average Wait Times Across Major U.S. Airports
1. San Antonio International Airport (SAT)
Average wait: 3.7 minutes
2. Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport (MSY)
Average wait: 4.1 minutes
3. William P. Hobby Airport (HOU)
Average wait: 4.1 minutes
4. Kansas City International Airport (MCI)
Average wait: 4.2 minutes
5. San Francisco International Airport (SFO)
Average wait: 4.5 minutes
6. Pittsburgh International Airport (PIT)
Average wait: 4.6 minutes
7. Southwest Florida International Airport (RSW)
Average wait: 5.4 minutes
8. Nashville International Airport (BNA)
Average wait: 5.4 minutes
9. Chicago Midway International Airport (MDW)
Average wait: 5.7 minutes
10. Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG)
Average wait: 5.9 minutes
The average security wait time at San Antonio International Airport is just 3.7 minutes, the shortest of any airport we evaluated. It’s also more than 19 minutes shorter than the average wait at JFK, meaning travelers at JFK spend more than six times longer waiting to get through security compared to passengers at San Antonio.
Airports Where TSA Sees the Most (and Fewest) Passengers
Even among the busiest airports in America, there can be significant differences in the number of passengers going through security checkpoints every day. Using official TSA data, our team identified the major airports with the highest and lowest average passenger volumes across the country so you know how crowded your travel day might be.
Highest Average Passenger Volume
1. Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)
Average passenger volume: 4,305.9 per hour
2. John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK)
Average passenger volume: 4,282.0 per hour
3. Chicago O'Hare International Airport (ORD)
Average passenger volume: 4,216.7 per hour
4. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL)
Average passenger volume: 3,753.8 per hour
5. Denver International Airport (DEN)
Average passenger volume: 3,320.5 per hour
6. Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport (DFW)
Average passenger volume: 3,230.7 per hour
7. San Francisco International Airport (SFO)
Average passenger volume: 3,216.9 per hour
8. Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR)
Average passenger volume: 3,039.5 per hour
9. Orlando International Airport (MCO)
Average passenger volume: 3,033.8 per hour
10. Boston Logan International Airport (BOS)
Average passenger volume: 2,998.1 per hour
America’s three largest cities by population size are represented at the top of the list, with Los Angeles International leading the way with an average of more than 4,300 passengers going through security every hour. New York City’s JFK is second at 4,282 passengers per hour, while Chicago’s O’Hare International takes the bronze with 4,216.7 passengers through TSA per hour. No other airport tops 4,000 travelers per hour.
Lowest Average Passenger Volume
1. Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport (ANC)
Average passenger volume: 516.7 per hour
2. Kahului Airport (OGG)
Average passenger volume: 551.1 per hour
3. Southwest Florida International Airport (RSW)
Average passenger volume: 579.4 per hour
4. Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG)
Average passenger volume: 638.9 per hour
5. Palm Beach International Airport (PBI)
Average passenger volume: 669.3 per hour
6. Dallas Love Field (DAL)
Average passenger volume: 679.8 per hour
7. Indianapolis International Airport (IND)
Average passenger volume: 687.4 per hour
8. William P. Hobby Airport (HOU)
Average passenger volume: 730.3 per hour
9. Kansas City International Airport (MCI)
Average passenger volume: 753.8 per hour
10. Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport (MSY)
Average passenger volume: 753.9 per hour
Among major American airports, a pair of hubs located outside the contiguous United States have the lowest average passenger volumes at TSA checkpoints. Alaska’s Ted Stevens International Airport, located in Anchorage, Alaska, averages a little more than 515 passengers through security per hour, the lowest rate of any airport in this analysis. Kahului Airport, located on the Hawaiian island of Maui, has the second-lowest rate, at nearly 550 passengers per hour on average.
How Passenger Volume Impacts TSA Wait Times
There’s a moderate relationship between passenger volume and TSA wait time: every additional 1,000 passengers per hour corresponds to roughly 2.3 more minutes of wait time at security, on average. But there are certainly some airports that break from this trend.
Airports With More Passengers but Shorter Lines
On a positive note for travelers in San Francisco, San Francisco International Airport has the sharpest positive exception, as the average TSA wait time is just 4.5 minutes (the fifth-shortest of any airport) despite processing more than 3,300 travelers per hour on average (the seventh-most in the country). By comparison, Orlando International, which is another exception, has an average wait time double that of San Francisco despite lower passenger volume.
Airports With Fewer Passengers but Longer Lines
On the flip side, Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport has an above-average wait time (one of the five highest in the country) despite the lowest passenger volume of any major airport in the United States. While not quite as drastic as Anchorage, every airport on the list above features the same mix: wait times higher than the overall average despite below-average passenger volume.
Find Your Airport: Complete TSA Wait Time and Passenger Volume Data (2026)
The full breakdown of average TSA wait time and average passenger volume across all 50 airports:
Streamline Your Airport Experience
Track wait times before heading to the airport. The MyTSA app is one of the top apps for frequent flyers because it uses historical data from real travelers to estimate how long passengers can expect to wait at any hour of the day at hundreds of airports, which can help budget the right amount of time to get through security.
Become a Trusted Traveler. There are a number of programs out there that can make security screenings quicker and more efficient. Finding the right Trusted Traveler program for your travel needs can save time whenever you take to the air. And once you're through security, an airport lounge can make any leftover wait time feel a lot less like wasted time.
Reduce your luggage amount. The more luggage you take through a TSA checkpoint, the longer it takes to get through. Shipping your luggage ahead of your trip reduces how much needs to be scanned and checked, and can even be more affordable than checking it.
Methodology
Wait time figures come from TSA's own crowdsourced/historical wait time estimates as displayed in the MyTSA app. These figures are based on wait times reported by travelers over the last 8 weeks. Throughput figures come from TSA's FOIA Electronic Reading Room, averaging checkpoint passenger volume by hour and airport across the most recent 8 weeks of reports. Both datasets cover the same time frame, mid-June to mid-August, 2026. For this analysis, we examined the 50 busiest U.S.-based airports by average hourly passenger volume, calculated using TSA throughput data.
