# Transportation Security Screeners

US SOC code 33-9093. Markdown version of https://futurehistory.earth/timeline/33-9093

## In brief

In May 2025, [BLS](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm25nat.zip) 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](https://www.encyclopedia.com/social-sciences-and-law/political-science-and-government/us-government/united-states-aviation-security-screeners) 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.

Figures: 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. Source: [BLS Employment Projections 2025-35](https://data.bls.gov/projections/nationalMatrix?queryParams=33-9093&ioType=o) (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](https://github.com/openai/GPTs-are-GPTs/blob/main/data/occ_level.csv) (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.

## Transportation Security Screeners employment and pay by year

- On record since: 1973
- Latest US employment: 50,290 (May 2025). Source: BLS OEWS May 2025 [3]
- Latest US median pay: $66,770 (May 2025). Source: BLS OEWS May 2025 [5]
- Outlook: -4.2% by 2035. Source: BLS Employment Projections 2025-35 [16]

### All 18 years of cited US data

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

## Sources (57)

### Employment series

1. [Encyclopedia.com — "United States Aviation Security Screeners" (pre-TSA private contractor workforce and Argenbright employment)](https://www.encyclopedia.com/social-sciences-and-law/political-science-and-government/us-government/united-states-aviation-security-screeners), Encyclopedia.com
2. [GAO-07-299 — "Aviation Security: TSA's Staffing Allocation Model" (historical 2002 workforce deployment of ~55,000 FTEs)](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-07-299/html/GAOREPORTS-GAO-07-299.htm), Government Accountability Office
3. BLS OEWS, national cross-industry estimates (flat file), Bureau of Labor Statistics. Editions: [2010](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm10nat.zip), [2011](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm11nat.zip), [2012](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm12nat.zip), [2013](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm13nat.zip), [2014](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm14nat.zip), [2015](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm15nat.zip), [2016](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm16nat.zip), [2017](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm17nat.zip), [2018](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm18nat.zip), [2019](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm19nat.zip), [2020](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm20nat.zip), [2021](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm21nat.zip), [2022](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm22nat.zip), [2023](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm23nat.zip), [2024](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm24nat.zip), [2025](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm25nat.zip)

### Wage series

4. [Encyclopedia.com — "United States Aviation Security Screeners" (pre-TSA wage of approximately $10,000 per year)](https://www.encyclopedia.com/social-sciences-and-law/political-science-and-government/us-government/united-states-aviation-security-screeners), Encyclopedia.com
5. BLS OEWS, national cross-industry estimates (flat file), Bureau of Labor Statistics. Editions: [2010](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm10nat.zip), [2011](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm11nat.zip), [2012](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm12nat.zip), [2013](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm13nat.zip), [2014](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm14nat.zip), [2015](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm15nat.zip), [2016](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm16nat.zip), [2017](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm17nat.zip), [2018](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm18nat.zip), [2019](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm19nat.zip), [2020](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm20nat.zip), [2021](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm21nat.zip), [2022](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm22nat.zip), [2023](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm23nat.zip), [2024](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm24nat.zip), [2025](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm25nat.zip)

### Tool eras

6. [Smithsonian Lemelson Center — "The Two Inventors Who Made Airline Travel Safer" (Shepherd and Diepeveen, Philips X-ray conveyor, 1970 Washington National Airport demo)](https://invention.si.edu/invention-stories/two-inventors-who-made-airline-travel-safer), Smithsonian Institution / Lemelson Center
7. [HISTORY.com — "When Flying Involved Little to No Airport Security" (FAA January 5, 1973 screening mandate)](https://www.history.com/articles/airport-security-timeline), HISTORY
8. [Syracuse University Library — "Improvements in Civil Aviation Security Since Pan Am 103" (ETD and post-Lockerbie reform history)](https://library.syracuse.edu/digital/guides_pa103/pdf/103PUB0007.pdf), Syracuse University Library
9. [TSA.gov — "This Day in TSA History: November 19, 2001" (ATSA signing and TSA creation)](https://www.tsa.gov/about/employee-stories/day-tsa-history-november-19-2001), Transportation Security Administration
10. [Encyclopedia.com — "United States Aviation Security Screeners" (federalization timeline and workforce expansion)](https://www.encyclopedia.com/social-sciences-and-law/political-science-and-government/us-government/united-states-aviation-security-screeners), Encyclopedia.com
11. [Congressional Research Service R42750 — "Airport Body Scanners: The Role of Advanced Imaging Technology in Airline Passenger Screening"](https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/R42750), Congressional Research Service / Congress.gov
12. [Federal Register 2013-07023 — "Passenger Screening Using Advanced Imaging Technology" (ATR mandate and Rapiscan removal)](https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2013/03/26/2013-07023/passenger-screening-using-advanced-imaging-technology), Federal Register / DHS
13. [TSA.gov press release — "CLEAR becomes TSA's third official TSA PreCheck enrollment provider" (April 30, 2024; membership reported at more than 19 million passengers)](https://www.tsa.gov/news/press/releases/2024/04/30/clear-becomes-tsas-third-official-tsa-precheckr-enrollment-provider), Transportation Security Administration
14. [Wikipedia — TSA PreCheck (program history, October 2011 pilot, December 2013 public launch)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TSA_PreCheck), Wikipedia
15. [TSA.gov factsheet — Technology (CT scanners, CAT readers, AIT millimeter-wave deployment overview)](https://www.tsa.gov/news/press/factsheets/technology), Transportation Security Administration

### Forecasts and exposure studies

16. [BLS Employment Projections 2025-35, National Employment Matrix: 33-9093 Transportation security screeners (2025: 53.5 thousand; 2035: 51.2 thousand; -4.2%)](https://data.bls.gov/projections/nationalMatrix?queryParams=33-9093&ioType=o), Bureau of Labor Statistics
17. [Eloundou, Manning, Mishkin & Rock (2023), "GPTs are GPTs", occupation-level exposure data occ\_level.csv (O\*NET-SOC 33-9093.00, human-rated β 0.23)](https://github.com/openai/GPTs-are-GPTs/blob/main/data/occ_level.csv), OpenAI

### Historical notes

18. [HISTORY.com — "When Flying Involved Little to No Airport Security" (FAA January 5, 1973 mandate)](https://www.history.com/articles/airport-security-timeline), HISTORY
19. [Syracuse University Library — "Improvements in Civil Aviation Security Since Pan Am 103"](https://library.syracuse.edu/digital/guides_pa103/pdf/103PUB0007.pdf), Syracuse University Library
20. [Encyclopedia.com — "United States Aviation Security Screeners" (high turnover and 1999 Argenbright fraud case)](https://www.encyclopedia.com/social-sciences-and-law/political-science-and-government/us-government/united-states-aviation-security-screeners), Encyclopedia.com
21. [TSA.gov — "This Day in TSA History: November 19, 2001"](https://www.tsa.gov/about/employee-stories/day-tsa-history-november-19-2001), Transportation Security Administration
22. [NBC News — "TSA says 500 of its employees have tested positive for COVID-19" (May 2020)](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/tsa-says-500-its-employees-have-tested-positive-covid-19-n1195566), NBC News
23. [AFGE — "Historic Victory: TSA Officers to Get an Average 30% Pay Raise, Expanded Rights Under Title 5"](https://www.afge.org/article/historic-victory-tsa-officers-to-get-an-average-30-pay-raise-expanded-rights-under-title-5/), American Federation of Government Employees

### Predecessors & successors

24. [Encyclopedia.com — "United States Aviation Security Screeners" (private-sector predecessor workforce)](https://www.encyclopedia.com/social-sciences-and-law/political-science-and-government/us-government/united-states-aviation-security-screeners), Encyclopedia.com
25. [TSA.gov — TSA at a Glance (veteran hiring and workforce composition)](https://www.tsa.gov/news/press/factsheets/tsa-glance), Transportation Security Administration

### Present-day analysis

- [Eloundou et al. 2024 — GPTs are GPTs (Science)](https://arxiv.org/abs/2303.10130), accessed 2026-05-21
- [O\*NET 30.3 — US Department of Labor](https://www.onetcenter.org/database.html), accessed 2026-05-21

How to read these figures: https://futurehistory.earth/methodology. Every figure links to its own source; gaps stay gaps.