Transportation Security Screeners salary

SOC 33-9093 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$66,770

per year, nationally

Middle half

$57,050–$72,820

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

50,290

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

-6.0%

4,700 openings/yr

What the range looks like

A single median hides most of what a job pays. The bar below is the full national range: the wash spans the 10th to 90th percentile, the solid bar is the middle half, and the tick is the median.

$44,700$78,350

10th: $44,700
25th: $57,050
Median: $66,770
75th: $72,820
90th: $78,350

Getting in

Typical education to enter: High school diploma or equivalent
Related work experience: None
On-the-job training: Short-term on-the-job training

Entry requirements describe what is typical, not mandatory. Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2024–34.

Where transportation security screeners earn the most

Nominal pay and pay adjusted for local prices rank states differently — a high-wage state with high costs can be worse off in real terms than a middling one. Switch between the two below.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	State	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	New Hampshire	$76,130	104.2	80	0.38×
2	New Jersey	$74,400	108.8	1,200	0.87×
3	California	$73,610	110.7	5,410	0.92×
4	Massachusetts	$73,510	105.8	1,380	1.18×
5	Maryland	$72,240	105.0	570	0.64×
6	New York	$72,010	107.9	4,240	1.35×
7	Colorado	$71,530	103.1	1,250	1.35×
8	Rhode Island	$71,510	102.3	160	0.96×
9	Alaska	$71,390	102.4	440	4.19×
10	Illinois	$70,570	100.0	1,970	1.00×
11	Hawaii	$70,160	110.0	1,010	4.96×
12	Virginia	$69,910	101.1	1,870	1.40×
13	Texas	$68,640	97.1	4,300	0.95×
14	Michigan	$67,390	96.2	1,070	0.75×
15	Pennsylvania	$67,330	97.6	1,460	0.74×
16	Minnesota	$67,290	98.6	740	0.77×
17	Georgia	$66,770	96.3	1,850	1.17×
18	Ohio	$65,870	92.8	690	0.38×
19	Vermont	$65,460	98.0	80	0.76×
20	North Carolina	$64,540	94.3	1,300	0.81×
21	Nevada	$64,500	100.0	1,350	2.69×
22	Arizona	$64,330	100.7	1,380	1.32×
23	New Mexico	$63,810	92.2	200	0.72×
24	Alabama	$63,770	88.8	260	0.38×
25	Florida	$63,130	103.4	6,920	2.16×
26	Kansas	$63,130	90.1	120	0.27×
27	Kentucky	$63,130	90.2	510	0.79×
28	Louisiana	$63,130	88.2	460	0.74×
29	Maine	$63,130	97.0	160	0.76×
30	Idaho	$63,130	95.5	250	0.89×
31	Mississippi	$63,130	87.0	170	0.45×
32	South Carolina	$63,130	93.7	480	0.65×
33	West Virginia	$63,130	89.5	90	0.41×
34	Wisconsin	$63,130	94.1	540	0.56×
35	Nebraska	$61,710	90.1	290	0.87×
36	Indiana	$61,670	93.3	460	0.44×
37	Iowa	$61,590	87.8	220	0.43×
38	Utah	$61,110	98.9	510	0.90×
39	Wyoming	$61,110	92.7	90	1.02×
40	Tennessee	$61,110	91.9	840	0.79×
41	Arkansas	$61,110	86.9	190	0.44×
42	South Dakota	$55,530	88.6	60	0.41×
43	North Dakota	$54,950	89.0	170	1.23×
44	Montana	$54,770	94.6	330	1.99×
45	Missouri	$51,210	90.8	930	0.98×

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. States where transportation security screeners wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for transportation security screeners

The 40 highest-paying metros with a published estimate. BLS suppresses roughly half of all occupation-by-metro cells, so a metro absent here has no local figure rather than a low one.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	Metro area	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ	$79,210	100.0	50	0.41×
2	Salinas, CA	$78,940	109.0	40	0.65×
3	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	$78,940	110.4	320	0.88×
4	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$78,940	115.6	350	0.46×
5	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$76,130	108.3	1,250	1.43×
6	Manchester-Nashua, NH	$76,130	105.7	80	1.18×
7	Trenton-Princeton, NJ	$74,400	103.2	50	0.69×
8	Flint, MI	$74,130	93.0	50	1.10×
9	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$73,610	113.6	2,670	1.32×
10	Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA	$73,610	106.4	500	0.90×
11	Kiryas Joel-Poughkeepsie-Newburgh, NY	$73,210	109.4	50	0.53×
12	Kahului-Wailuku, HI	$72,510	109.4	160	6.50×
13	New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$72,340	112.6	4,610	1.50×
14	Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD	$72,240	104.5	550	1.25×
15	San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA	$72,130	111.9	690	1.39×
16	Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO	$71,530	105.8	990	1.91×
17	Providence-Warwick, RI-MA	$71,510	101.8	170	0.72×
18	Portland-South Portland, ME	$71,510	101.9	80	0.80×
19	San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA	$71,240	108.6	50	1.17×
20	Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA	$71,240	108.8	70	1.14×
21	Bellingham, WA	$70,970	103.3	40	1.42×
22	Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN	$70,570	103.6	1,780	1.22×
23	Akron, OH	$70,180	93.4	50	0.52×
24	Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA	$69,990	106.7	370	1.05×
25	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	$69,910	108.9	1,360	1.34×
26	Dayton-Kettering-Beavercreek, OH	$69,720	92.7	50	0.45×
27	Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI	$69,640	100.3	680	1.11×
28	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	$68,830	104.8	650	1.03×
29	Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX	$68,640	103.1	1,690	1.29×
30	Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD	$67,330	102.6	930	0.99×
31	Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach, FL	$67,200	99.4	50	0.70×
32	Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA	$66,770	100.1	1,570	1.68×
33	Shreveport-Bossier City, LA	$66,190	84.8	40	0.72×
34	Richmond, VA	$65,960	97.9	160	0.74×
35	Raleigh-Cary, NC	$65,940	98.2	400	1.66×
36	Cleveland, OH	$65,940	93.9	270	0.82×
37	Urban Honolulu, HI	$65,920	111.0	610	4.20×
38	Huntsville, AL	$65,750	93.1	60	0.73×
39	Burlington-South Burlington, VT	$65,460	100.9	70	1.78×
40	Pittsburgh, PA	$65,270	94.7	310	0.87×

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. Metro areas where transportation security screeners wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Similar occupations

Other jobs in the same field, with what each pays nationally.

Security Guards$38,020
Lifeguards, Ski Patrol, and Other Recreational Protective Service Workers$33,580
Crossing Guards and Flaggers$38,100
Protective Service Workers, All Other$42,540
School Bus Monitors$35,100
Private Detectives and Investigators$51,220
Animal Control Workers$45,660
Gambling Surveillance Officers and Gambling Investigators$43,370

Transportation Security Screeners salary

What the range looks like

Getting in

Where transportation security screeners earn the most

Best paying metro areas for transportation security screeners

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