Transportation Security Screeners
Conduct screening of passengers, baggage, or cargo to ensure compliance with Transportation Security Administration (TSA) regulations. May operate basic security equipment such as x-ray machines and hand wands at screening checkpoints.
A wage reference for United States.
Published wage percentiles describe a distribution within the source occupation group. They provide context for a career decision; employer packages and job offers have their own terms.
This wage group may include multiple detailed occupations. The figures are for the source group, which may be broader than Transportation Security Screeners. They are not an exact-title, employer, experience or seniority match.
May 2025 · USD · United States. Annual and hourly figures are shown only when the source publishes them; neither is calculated from the other.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics occupational wage data, distributed through the O*NET® OnLine service.
Annual wage thresholds
USD per year
Hourly wage thresholds
USD per hour
| Percentile | Annual wage (USD/year) | Hourly wage (USD/hour) |
|---|---|---|
| 10th | $44,700 | $21.49 |
| 25th | $57,050 | $27.43 |
| 50th · Median | $66,770 | $32.10 |
| 75th | $72,820 | $35.01 |
| 90th | $78,350 | $37.67 |
“≥” means at least the published amount; “≤” means at most that amount. These are bounds, not exact values. “Not published” means the source did not provide that figure. Occupational wages follow the source definition and do not establish an employer’s base salary, equity or total compensation.
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Compare an entered wage with the published thresholds for United States. Your entry stays on this page.
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What this career involves.
Occupation definitions describe common work. Responsibilities and requirements vary by employer and specific job.
Selected title examples
Expand more title examples (10)
Typical tasks
- Inspect carry-on items, using x-ray viewing equipment, to determine whether items contain objects that warrant further investigation.
- Search carry-on or checked baggage by hand when it is suspected to contain prohibited items such as weapons.
- 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.
- Test baggage for any explosive materials, using equipment such as explosive detection machines or chemical swab systems.
- Perform pat-down or hand-held wand searches of passengers who have triggered machine alarms, who are unable to pass through metal detectors, or who have been randomly identified for such searches.
- Notify supervisors or other appropriate personnel when security breaches occur.
Expand more tasks (20)
- Send checked baggage through automated screening machines, and set bags aside for searching or rescreening as indicated by equipment.
- Decide whether baggage that triggers alarms should be searched or should be allowed to pass through.
- Follow those who breach security until police or other security personnel arrive to apprehend them.
- Inform other screeners when baggage should not be opened because it might contain explosives.
- Inspect checked baggage for signs of tampering.
- Ask passengers to remove shoes and divest themselves of metal objects prior to walking through metal detectors.
- Close entry areas following security breaches or reopen areas after receiving notification that the airport is secure.
- Challenge suspicious people, requesting their badges and asking what their business is in a particular areas.
- Patrol work areas to detect any suspicious items.
- Contact police directly in cases of urgent security issues, using phones or two-way radios.
- Record information about any baggage that sets off alarms in monitoring equipment.
- Watch for potentially dangerous persons whose pictures are posted at checkpoints.
- Contact leads or supervisors to discuss objects of concern that are not on prohibited object lists.
- Confiscate dangerous items and hazardous materials found in opened bags and turn them over to airlines for disposal.
- Monitor passenger flow through screening checkpoints to ensure order and efficiency.
- Inform passengers of how to mail prohibited items to themselves, or confiscate these items.
- Provide directions and respond to passenger inquiries.
- Direct passengers to areas where they can pick up their baggage after screening is complete.
- View images of checked bags and cargo, using remote screening equipment, and alert baggage screeners or handlers to any possible problems.
- Locate suspicious bags pictured in printouts sent from remote monitoring areas, and set these bags aside for inspection.
Skills used in this work
- Monitoring
- Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
- Speaking
- Talking to others to convey information effectively.
- Active Listening
- Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
- Coordination
- Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
- Critical Thinking
- Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
- Social Perceptiveness
- Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
Expand more skills (29)
- Judgment and Decision Making
- Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
- Persuasion
- Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.
- Reading Comprehension
- Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
- Service Orientation
- Actively looking for ways to help people.
- Active Learning
- Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
- Instructing
- Teaching others how to do something.
- Writing
- Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
- Complex Problem Solving
- Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
- Operations Monitoring
- Watching gauges, dials, or other indicators to make sure a machine is working properly.
- Negotiation
- Bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences.
- Operation and Control
- Controlling operations of equipment or systems.
- Time Management
- Managing one's own time and the time of others.
- Learning Strategies
- Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.
- Management of Personnel Resources
- Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, identifying the best people for the job.
- Quality Control Analysis
- Conducting tests and inspections of products, services, or processes to evaluate quality or performance.
- Systems Evaluation
- Identifying measures or indicators of system performance and the actions needed to improve or correct performance, relative to the goals of the system.
- Troubleshooting
- Determining causes of operating errors and deciding what to do about it.
- Systems Analysis
- Determining how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect outcomes.
- Equipment Maintenance
- Performing routine maintenance on equipment and determining when and what kind of maintenance is needed.
- Equipment Selection
- Determining the kind of tools and equipment needed to do a job.
- Management of Material Resources
- Obtaining and seeing to the appropriate use of equipment, facilities, and materials needed to do certain work.
- Mathematics
- Using mathematics to solve problems.
- Operations Analysis
- Analyzing needs and product requirements to create a design.
- Science
- Using scientific rules and methods to solve problems.
- Management of Financial Resources
- Determining how money will be spent to get the work done, and accounting for these expenditures.
- Repairing
- Repairing machines or systems using the needed tools.
- Programming
- Writing computer programs for various purposes.
- Installation
- Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or programs to meet specifications.
- Technology Design
- Generating or adapting equipment and technology to serve user needs.
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