Time Machine

Transportation security screeners

Name: Transportation Security Screeners: employment and wages since 2001
Creator: Future History
License: https://futurehistory.earth/terms

In brief

In May 2025, BLS counted 50,290 US transportation security screeners, with median pay of $66,770 a year. Of the BLS counts since 2012, the May 2025 count is the highest. The earliest figure here is an estimate of 28,000 from 2001, not measured the same way as today's count. The last full technology era for transportation security screeners: Advanced Imaging Technology, 2007 to 2013.

Official statistic: latest count and pay, highest count.Researched context: earliest figure.

What the sources say

Official outlook

BLS projects employment to decline 4.2% from 2025 to 2035.

BLS Employment Projections 2025-35

Official statistic

AI exposure studies

23% of this job's tasks are exposed to large language models. Not a forecast of job losses. Eloundou and others, 2023 Official statistic

Data as of BLS OEWS May 2025; BLS Employment Projections 2025-35. BLS publishes these counts as yearly survey snapshots and cautions against reading them as a precise trend. In May 2021 BLS changed how it estimates these counts (a model-based method using three years of survey data) and moved fully to the 2018 occupation codes, so part of a change across 2021 can come from the method rather than the work.

Last updated 11 October 2026.

Cite this page

APA

Future History. (2026, October 11). Transportation security screeners: jobs and pay since 2001 [Data set; data as of BLS OEWS May 2025; BLS Employment Projections 2025-35]. https://futurehistory.earth/timeline/33-9093

Chicago

Future History. "Transportation security screeners: jobs and pay since 2001." Data as of BLS OEWS May 2025; BLS Employment Projections 2025-35. Last modified October 11, 2026. https://futurehistory.earth/timeline/33-9093.

BibTeX

@misc{futurehistory_33_9093, author = {{Future History}}, title = {Transportation security screeners: jobs and pay since 2001}, year = {2026}, month = oct, howpublished = {\url{https://futurehistory.earth/timeline/33-9093}}, note = {Last updated 2026-10-11. Data as of BLS OEWS May 2025; BLS Employment Projections 2025-35}, }

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19752000now

2026

Known then as Airport Security Screener (private contractor, FAA-regulated)

Known then as Federal Security Screener (TSA formation era)

Known then as Transportation Security Officer / Transportation Security Screener (BLS SOC 33-9093)

Known today as Transportation Security Officer / Transportation Security Screener (BLS SOC 33-9093)

Projected to still be called Transportation Security Officer / Transportation Security Screener (BLS SOC 33-9093)

Data from the May 2025 survey

US Employment

50K

Est.

Stated in source: BLS OEWS

Official statistic

Report an error

Median Annual Wage

$66,770

Est.

≈ $65,058 in 2024 prices (derived by us, CPI-adjusted)

Official statistic

Report an error

Beat · 1973

January 5, 1973: the FAA's universal passenger and carry-on screening mandate takes effect. For the first time in U.S. aviation, every passenger on every scheduled commercial flight must pass through a metal detector and every carry-on bag must pass through an X-ray machine. Airlines hire private contractors to staff the checkpoints. The occupation of airport security screener comes into existence as a distinct workforce.

Beat · 1988

December 21, 1988: Pan Am Flight 103 is bombed over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing all 270 aboard. The bomb had been concealed in checked baggage. The disaster exposes the absence of systematic checked-baggage screening and leads to the Aviation Security Improvement Act of 1990, which mandates ETD technology for checked baggage at high-risk airports and tightens screener training standards. For the first time, airport security screeners must work checked-baggage lines as well as passenger checkpoints.

Beat · 1998

Annual screener turnover at major U.S. airports averaged over 100 percent through the late 1990s, according to GAO investigations published around 2000. At some airports, virtually the entire screening workforce turned over every year. The structural cause was pay: private-contractor screeners earned approximately $10,000 per year, less than fast-food workers at the same airports, with no benefits and no job security. A 1999 guilty plea involving screener fraud at Philadelphia International Airport exposed how low-wage staffing translated directly into degraded security.

Beat · 2001

November 19, 2001: President George W. Bush signs the Aviation and Transportation Security Act (ATSA), passed unanimously by the Senate. The law creates the Transportation Security Administration, requires that all airport screeners be U.S. citizens and federal employees, mandates criminal background checks and drug testing, and sets pay in the range of $23,600 to $35,400. TSA begins with 13 employees in January 2002 and faces a legal deadline of November 19, 2002, to replace all private screeners with trained federal officers. The ramp is compared in the press to the emergency mobilization of World War II.

Beat · 2006

In 2006, shoe removal becomes a standard checkpoint step for all passengers, following the December 2001 shoe-bomb attempt by Richard Reid on American Airlines Flight 63 and continued intelligence about footwear-based threats. Separately, in August 2006, British authorities foil a plot to bomb transatlantic flights using liquid explosives, leading TSA to impose the 3-1-1 liquids restriction (containers no larger than 3.4 oz, in one quart-sized bag) that September. Both rules substantially increase the per-passenger inspection workload at checkpoints and require new screener protocols.

Beat · 2020

March-April 2020: COVID-19 causes a 97 percent drop in checkpoint passenger volumes. At the nadir, TSA screened under 90,000 passengers per day on some April 2020 dates, compared to 2.5 million on a normal day. TSA did not lay off its workforce, retaining screeners on duty in near-empty airports while implementing new protocols: acrylic barrier installation, PPE distribution, social-distancing procedures, and contactless credential checks where possible. By June 2020 screening volumes had recovered to about one million passengers per day. Five hundred TSA employees tested positive for COVID-19, including four who died, making this the most dangerous period in the agency's history.

Beat · 2023

July 2023: TSA implements a landmark pay-equity reform under the fiscal year 2023 omnibus appropriations act, aligning TSO pay bands D through L with GS grades 5 through 15 for the first time. The average pay increase for frontline screeners was approximately 30 percent. TSA's attrition rate dropped 61 percent from October 2022 to the end of fiscal 2023. In May 2024, TSA and the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) signed a new seven-year collective bargaining agreement covering approximately 42,000 TSOs, the longest-duration CBA in agency history. The 2023-24 reforms resolved the most contentious labor grievance in the occupation's twenty-year federal history.

How to read this number

OEWS is a point-in-time survey snapshot, not a continuous time series; BLS advises against using it for year-over-year trend comparison.

Each dot is a cited figure over time; the dotted line only links them (values between aren't measured). Hollow dots are estimates.

Official statistic: Copied by a script from a statistics agency table or a published study's table, not retyped by hand. BLS figures, ONS ASHE figures (UK pay and jobs) and the forecast and exposure tables are also re-checked against that table on every data run. Researched context: Researched from the cited source rather than copied from it by a script, so it is not machine-checked yet. Spot a mistake? Each figure has a “Report an error” link.

How it began · 1973

On January 5, 1973, the Federal Aviation Administration's mandatory universal screening requirement took effect, and the occupation of airport security screener was born as a distinct workforce. The rule had been triggered by a hijacking crisis: as many as eight commercial airliners were seized each year through the 1960s and early 1970s, culminating in November 1972 when three fugitives hijacked Southern Airways Flight 49 and threatened to crash the plane into a nuclear facility. The FAA had been building toward this moment for years. In the late 1960s, engineers George W. Shepherd Jr. and Neil Diepeveen at Philips Broadcast Equipment demonstrated a low-dose X-ray conveyor system at Washington National Airport in September 1970, and walk-through magnetometers from a Delaware company called Infinetics had been quietly tested by the FAA in 1968. On December 5, 1972, the FAA ordered all carriers to screen every passenger and every piece of carry-on luggage by the new year. Airlines hired private security companies to staff the checkpoints, and a new job was created: the person who watched the X-ray monitor and waved passengers through the metal detector. These early screeners were poorly paid, often earning at or barely above minimum wage, working for contractors like Argenbright Security, Globe Aviation, and ICTS. The FAA regulated their conduct but the airlines hired and paid them, which created a deep structural tension between security rigor and labor cost. Turnover ran at over 100 percent annually at major airports through the 1990s. That system held together, imperfectly, for twenty-eight years. Then came September 11, 2001, and everything changed.

Cited forecasts · present → 2035

Will AI replace transportation security screeners? What the research says

Each figure is stated by the named source; we publish no forecasts of our own. Where sources disagree, we show the disagreement rather than an average.

Each figure is stated by the named source; we publish no forecasts of our own. Where sources disagree, the spread is the honest signal.

What published forecasts say

Forecast change in the number of people doing this work, as published by each named source. Bars share one scale on every role, centred on zero and reaching the end at ±30%. Grey marks a small change, 3% or less either way.

BLS Employment Projections 2025-35
Target year 2035
-4.2%
BLS National Employment Matrix, 2025-35 cycle, line for SOC 33-9093 (Transportation security screeners): 53.5 thousand jobs in 2025, projected 51.2 thousand in 2035, a change of -2.2 thousand (-4.2%). Matrix employment counts all jobs in the occupation, including self-employed workers. The average for all occupations in this cycle is +3.5%.
Official statisticReport an error

How exposed is this work to AI (research measures)

Scores as published by each study. Each row says what it measures. These measure what AI could technically do, not forecasts of jobs lost.

Eloundou et al. (2023), "GPTs are GPTs"
2023 study · Share of tasks exposed to LLMs (β, human-rated)
23%
of tasks
What this measures
Published occupation-level exposure from the paper's occ_level.csv for O*NET-SOC 33-9093.00 Transportation Security Screeners. Shown: human-rated β = 0.23, the share of the occupation's tasks an LLM could do in at least half the time at equal quality, counting tasks that need LLM-powered software at half weight (β = E1 + 0.5 × E2). Other published measures for this occupation: human-rated α (LLM alone) 0.04 and γ (all LLM-assisted) 0.42; GPT-4-rated β 0.26. This measures how much of the work an LLM could touch, not how many jobs disappear.
Official statisticReport an error

Today, in this role

What's changing day to day for transportation security screeners

Three parts of your work where AI is already doing real lifting, and what stays yours.

AI is sitting alongside you here Inspect carry-on items, using x-ray viewing equipment…

, to determine whether items contain objects that warrant further investigation.^[2]

Where your edge is

AI is sitting alongside you here Search carry-on or checked baggage by hand when it is suspected…

to contain prohibited items such as weapons.^[2]

Where your edge is

AI is sitting alongside you here Check passengers' tickets to ensure that they are valid…

, and to determine whether passengers have designations that require special handling, such as providing photo identification.^[2]

Where your edge is

Tools of the era

How has the work of transportation security screeners changed since 1973?

The tools that defined the work, one line per era. Select an era to see how it reshaped the work.

Walk-through magnetometer and X-ray conveyor (FAA mandate, January 5, 1973)
The FAA's January 1973 universal screening mandate created the occupation. Every commercial passenger had to walk through a magnetometer; every carry-on bag had to pass through an X-ray machine monitored by a screener. The technology had been developed in the late 1960s: George Shepherd and Neil Diepeveen at Philips built and demonstrated the first airport X-ray conveyor at Washington National Airport in September 1970, and walk-through magnetometers from Infinetics had been tested by FAA evaluators since 1968. The physical act of watching grayscale X-ray images on a monitor and reading passengers as they walked through a metal detector defined the entire job for the first three decades of its existence.
Effect on the work
Created the occupation from scratch. Before January 1973 there was no organized profession of airport security screener; after it there was a workforce of tens of thousands employed by airline-contracted private security firms at every major U.S. airport.
Explosives-trace detection and Pan Am 103 aftermath (FAA 1988 reforms)
The bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, on December 21, 1988, killed hundreds of people and exposed the inadequacy of the existing checkpoint model. A bomb had been placed in checked baggage, not carry-on. Congress responded with the Aviation Security Improvement Act of 1990, which required FAA-approved explosive-detection systems for checked baggage at high-risk airports and expanded screener training requirements. Chemical trace-detection wands and explosive-trace-detection (ETD) portals entered screener workflows during the 1990s, adding a second layer of physical inspection to the job and requiring new skill in reading chemical-detection readouts. The FAA also launched its Explosives Detection Canine Team Program in 1972 after a bomb-sniffing dog located a device on a TWA flight; this expanded through the 1990s as a supplementary detection layer.
Federalization and post-9/11 checkpoint expansion (ATSA, November 19, 2001)
The Aviation and Transportation Security Act, signed November 19, 2001, abolished the private-contractor model and created a federal workforce of Transportation Security Officers under a new agency, the Transportation Security Administration. Every screener now had to be a U.S. citizen, pass a criminal background check, and complete federal training. TSA deployed to all commercial airports by the ATSA deadline of November 19, 2002, one year to the day from the law's signing. In 2003 TSA moved from the Department of Transportation into the newly created Department of Homeland Security. Screeners' tools were now federal government property: standardized walk-through magnetometers, X-ray machines, and trace-detection equipment, managed under TSA procurement rather than airline contracts. Shoe removal became a standard checkpoint step in 2006, following the 2001 shoe-bomb attempt by Richard Reid, adding a new procedural element to every screening lane.
Effect on the work
Headcount expanded from approximately 28,000 private-sector screeners in September 2001 to 55,000 federal screeners by November 2002, a near-doubling in twelve months. Pay roughly tripled from private-sector levels of approximately $10,000 per year to a federal starting range of $23,600 to $35,400 under the ATSA mandate.
Advanced Imaging Technology (AIT): backscatter X-ray then millimeter-wave scanners
TSA began deploying Advanced Imaging Technology (AIT) body scanners in 2007, initially testing X-ray backscatter units manufactured by Rapiscan in the secondary screening position before expanding to primary screening. Millimeter-wave scanners, which use non-ionizing radio-frequency energy, were deployed alongside backscatter units from 2008. AIT shifted a key screener task from a hands-on pat-down to a remote image review: a separate screener in a remote viewing room read the body image (which at that time showed anatomical detail), then communicated alarm locations to the floor officer. Public and congressional objections to the anatomical imaging and health concerns about ionizing radiation from backscatter units eventually led Congress to mandate Automatic Target Recognition (ATR) software that displayed a generic human outline rather than an individual's body image. When Rapiscan failed to meet the ATR deadline by June 2013, all backscatter units were removed from U.S. airports. Millimeter-wave scanners with ATR became the sole AIT technology at U.S. checkpoints from 2013 onward.
Effect on the work
AIT did not reduce screener headcount, but it changed how screeners were deployed: the image-reviewer role was a new function created by the technology, requiring a screener positioned away from the lane. The shift also reduced the frequency of full-contact pat-downs for passengers who cleared AIT, though an alarm on the generic ATR figure still required a targeted physical inspection.
TSA PreCheck and trusted-traveler risk-based screening (pilot October 2011, public program December 2013)
TSA PreCheck launched as a pilot in October 2011 and opened to general public enrollment in December 2013. Enrolled travelers pass through dedicated lanes where they keep shoes, belts, and jackets on, leave laptops in bags, and do not receive AIT body screening. By 2024, TSA PreCheck had surpassed tens of millions of active members and accounted for a growing share of checkpoint throughput. For screeners, PreCheck created a lane bifurcation that changed the texture of the job: standard lanes concentrate the more complex, higher-contact screening interactions while PreCheck lanes are faster and lower-intervention. Screeners rotate between lane types. The program also created new career adjacencies in trusted-traveler program management and risk-based intelligence integration.
CT scanners, credential-authentication technology, and AI-assisted threat recognition (2020s checkpoint modernization)
TSA's 2020s technology modernization program deploys computed tomography (CT) scanners at carry-on checkpoints, which produce three-dimensional images that screeners can rotate and manipulate, replacing the flat two-dimensional X-ray image that has defined the job since 1973. CT units allow laptops and liquids to remain in bags at equipped checkpoints, reducing the manual reorganization step. Credential Authentication Technology (CAT) readers verify identification documents and passenger reservation data automatically, replacing the manual ID-document inspection that screeners previously performed. Facial-comparison technology integrated into CAT-2 readers (deployed from 2022) matches the traveler's face to their ID photo without requiring the screener to make a visual judgment. Artificial-intelligence assisted threat-recognition software is being integrated into the CT image stream to flag potential threats automatically, with the screener reviewing flagged items. Together these tools shift the screener role toward system supervision and exception handling rather than primary visual inspection.

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Transportation Security Screeners employment and pay by year

On record since1973

Latest US employment50,290 (May 2025)Source: BLS OEWS May 2025Official statisticReport an error

Latest US median pay$66,770 (May 2025)Source: BLS OEWS May 2025Official statisticReport an error

Outlook-4.2% by 2035Source: BLS Employment Projections 2025-35Official statisticReport an error

View all 18 years of cited US data, each linked to its source

Transportation Security Screeners in the US: employment and pay by year, with sources
Year	US employment	Annual pay (median unless marked)	Source	Report
2001	28,000	$10,000	Est., Encyclopedia.com [1] Researched context	Report
2002	55,000	$29,500	Est., GAO-07-299 (employment)[2] Researched contextEst., Encyclopedia.com (pay)[4] Researched context	Report
2010	42,430	$37,070	BLS OEWS May 2010 [3] Official statistic	Report
2011	45,320	$36,910	BLS OEWS May 2011 [3] Official statistic	Report
2012	47,200	$36,850	BLS OEWS May 2012 [3] Official statistic	Report
2013	45,790	$37,090	BLS OEWS May 2013 [3] Official statistic	Report
2014	43,220	$38,090	BLS OEWS May 2014 [3] Official statistic	Report
2015	41,820	$39,310	BLS OEWS May 2015 [3] Official statistic	Report
2016	42,750	$39,680	BLS OEWS May 2016 [3] Official statistic	Report
2017	42,470	$40,580	BLS OEWS May 2017 [3] Official statistic	Report
2018	45,250	$41,490	BLS OEWS May 2018 [3] Official statistic	Report
2019	46,730	$41,770	BLS OEWS May 2019 [3] Official statistic	Report
2020	46,850	$44,300	BLS OEWS May 2020 [3] Official statistic	Report
2021	48,320	$45,470	BLS OEWS May 2021 [3] Official statistic	Report
2022	47,550	$47,710	BLS OEWS May 2022 [3] Official statistic	Report
2023	47,950	$50,020	BLS OEWS May 2023 [3] Official statistic	Report
2024	46,340	$63,360	BLS OEWS May 2024 [3] Official statistic	Report
2025	50,290	$66,770	BLS OEWS May 2025 [3] Official statistic	Report

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See all roles in Protective Services

Walk-through magnetometer and X-ray conveyor (FAA mandate, January 5, 1973) (1973 to 2001)

Explosives-trace detection and Pan Am 103 aftermath (FAA 1988 reforms) (1988 to 2001)

Federalization and post-9/11 checkpoint expansion (ATSA, November 19, 2001) (2001 to 2007)

Advanced Imaging Technology (AIT): backscatter X-ray then millimeter-wave scanners (2007 to 2013)

TSA PreCheck and trusted-traveler risk-based screening (pilot October 2011, public program December 2013) (2011 to 2023)

CT scanners, credential-authentication technology, and AI-assisted threat recognition (2020s checkpoint modernization) (2023 to present)

Transportation Security Screeners employment and pay by year

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