DCAReagan National
How long is the TSA security line at DCA right now?
At 12:50 pm Eastern every open standard lane at DCA is 10 minutes or under. The longest standard line is Terminal 1 ( A Gates), 0 to 5 min.
Wait time by checkpoint
| Checkpoint | Standard | PreCheck |
|---|---|---|
| Terminal 1 | ||
| Terminal 1 ( A Gates) | 0 to 5min | no lane |
| Terminal 2 | ||
| Terminal 2 North ( B, C, D, E Gates) | 0 to 5min | 0 to 5min |
| Terminal 2 South ( B, C, D, E Gates) | 0 to 5min | 0 to 5min |
Read from flyreagan.com at 9 minutes ago, next read in 0
How busy DCA security usually is
People screened per hour at each checkpoint, averaged over 175 days of TSA counts, 22 March to 24 October 2026. Green is that checkpoint's quiet hours, red its peak. Find your checkpoint and look along the row for green.
| Checkpoint | 4a | 6a | 8a | 10a | noon, now | 2p | 4p | 6p | 8p | 10p | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Terminal 1 (A Gates) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Terminal 2 North | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Terminal 2 South |
Tap a cell for its count.
Quiet for this checkpointIts busiest hourclosed or no count
On the counted days DCA screened passengers from 4 am to 8 pm. Across DCA the busiest hour is 6 am and the counts fall away after 5 pm. Terminal 2 North and Terminal 2 South screen 81 percent of the people TSA counts at DCA, Terminal 2 North alone 46 percent. Every checkpoint peaks before noon. TSA counts people, not minutes, so this shows when a checkpoint is loaded, not how long you will stand in it.
Which day DCA is busiest
Friday and Thursday are DCA's busiest days of the week, within 0.2 percent of each other and at least 42 percent more than Tuesday, the quietest.
| Rank | Day | People a day | Days counted |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Friday | 37,595 | 23 |
| 2 | Thursday | 37,527 | 23 |
| 3 | Sunday | 35,535 | 23 |
| 4 | Monday | 32,257 | 23 |
| 5 | Wednesday | 31,534 | 25 |
| 6 | Saturday | 26,541 | 23 |
| 7 | Tuesday | 26,490 | 23 |
People screened at DCA on an average day of each kind, from TSA's counts, 22 March to 24 October 2026, with the days around each holiday left out.
Which month DCA is busiest
March was DCA's busiest month in TSA's counts, about 37,000 people a day, 18 percent more than August, the quietest. October, the latest month counted, ran 10 percent below March.
| Rank | Month | People a day | Days counted |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | March | 36,523 | 10 |
| 2 | July | 34,753 | 13 |
| 3 | May | 33,849 | 31 |
| 4 | June | 33,199 | 13 |
| 5 | October | 33,024 | 17 |
| 6 | April | 31,612 | 30 |
| 7 | September | 31,323 | 30 |
| 8 | August | 30,833 | 31 |
People screened at DCA on an average day of each month, holidays included, from TSA's counts, 22 March to 24 October 2026. March, June, July, and October rest on 10, 13, 13, and 17 counted days.
How DCA ran over the holidays
Each day around a holiday against the same day of the week in the three weeks either side, so the season does not read as the holiday. Thanksgiving and Christmas 2026 are not in TSA's counts yet; they run to 24 October 2026.
Memorial Day 2026
Thursday 21 to Tuesday 26 May: the busiest day was Thursday 21 May, 42,977 people, 12 percent above the Thursdays around it. Sunday 24 May was the lightest for its day of the week, 25 percent below the Sundays around it.
Labor Day 2026
Thursday 3 to Tuesday 8 September: the busiest day was Friday 4 September, 40,668 people, 11 percent above the Fridays around it. Sunday 6 September was the lightest for its day of the week, 30 percent below the Sundays around it.
Questions people ask
How busy is DCA airport today?
At 12:50 pm Eastern every open standard lane at DCA is 10 minutes or under. The longest standard line is Terminal 1 ( A Gates), 0 to 5 min. By TSA's counts noon is usually one of the busiest hours at DCA, about 2,300 people an hour across its checkpoints against 2,800 at the 6 am peak. On a normal day DCA screens about 33,000 people, 25th of the 432 airports TSA counts; its largest checkpoint is Terminal 2 North, with 46 percent of them.
Does PreCheck have a shorter line at DCA?
Right now PreCheck lanes at DCA read 0 to 5 min. Standard lanes read 0 to 5 min. PreCheck is open at Terminal 2 North ( B, C, D, E Gates) and Terminal 2 South ( B, C, D, E Gates); check the sign above before walking to one.
Which DCA checkpoint is fastest right now?
At 12:50 pm Eastern the shortest standard line is at Terminal 1 ( A Gates), Terminal 2 North ( B, C, D, E Gates) and Terminal 2 South ( B, C, D, E Gates), 0 to 5 min. The sign above lists every checkpoint and lane the airport publishes, longest and shortest alike.
How long is the TSA line at each DCA terminal?
At 12:50 pm Eastern the standard wait is 0 to 5 min at Terminal 1 and 0 to 5 min at Terminal 2. The sign above lists each terminal on its own, with every checkpoint it has and its PreCheck lane.
How current is this number?
Reagan National Airport publishes the DCA wait times at flyreagan.com and waittimes.io reads them every 10 minutes. The time on the sign is the last read, in Eastern time. A number older than 30 minutes says so, and a feed silent for 2 hours shows when it last published instead of a number. Nothing here is predicted.
When is TSA security at DCA quietest?
Over the 175 counted days, 22 March to 24 October 2026, DCA checkpoints screened the most people at 6 am. Between the rushes the counts are lowest at 11 am, and they fall away after 5 pm. Each row of the map above is one checkpoint scaled to its own peak, so its green hours are the ones to aim for. Counts say when a checkpoint is loaded, not how long the line is.
What time does TSA open at DCA?
Over the 175 counted days, 22 March to 24 October 2026, DCA screened passengers from 4 am to 8 pm. Terminal 2 North runs latest. These are the hours TSA counted people, not DCA's published checkpoint hours. Check the airport's own page before an early flight.
What is the busiest day of the week at DCA?
Friday and Thursday are DCA's busiest days of the week, within 0.2 percent of each other and at least 42 percent more than Tuesday, the quietest. Averaged over 163 days of TSA counts, 22 March to 24 October 2026, with the days around each holiday left out.
Which month is busiest at DCA?
March was DCA's busiest month in TSA's counts, about 37,000 people a day, 18 percent more than August, the quietest. October, the latest month counted, ran 10 percent below March. Averaged over 175 days of TSA counts, 22 March to 24 October 2026. March, June, July, and October rest on 10, 13, 13, and 17 counted days.
How busy does DCA get on a holiday weekend?
Memorial Day 2026, Thursday 21 to Tuesday 26 May: the busiest day was Thursday 21 May, 42,977 people, 12 percent above the Thursdays around it. Sunday 24 May was the lightest for its day of the week, 25 percent below the Sundays around it. Labor Day 2026, Thursday 3 to Tuesday 8 September: the busiest day was Friday 4 September, 40,668 people, 11 percent above the Fridays around it. Sunday 6 September was the lightest for its day of the week, 30 percent below the Sundays around it. Each day is set against the same day of the week in the three weeks either side. Thanksgiving and Christmas 2026 are not in TSA's counts yet; they run to 24 October 2026.
Other airports
Every covered airport, ranked by its line right now, is on the national page, with the airports that have no live number here under it. The busiest airports by people screened lists every code TSA counts.
ATL, BOS, BWI, CLE, CLT, DAL, DFW, DTW, EWR, IAH, JAX, JFK, LGA, MCO, MIA, MSP, PHL, PHX, PIT, SEA, SFO, SLC
Where the numbers come from
- Wait times
- Published by Reagan National Airport at flyreagan.com. We read the page every 10 minutes and show the time of the last read. A reading older than 30 minutes is marked as such.
- Usual busyness
- TSA's own hourly passenger counts per checkpoint, published weekly in its FOIA reading room. This page uses 175 days of counts, 22 March to 24 October 2026. Public domain.
- Who reads them
- Arcane Digital, which runs waittimes.io, reads every feed every 10 minutes with its own collector and stores the time of each read. The day's reads are checked every night for a feed that has stopped or thinned, and one person reads that report the next morning. Nobody types a number in.
- What we never do
- Predict a wait in minutes, or show an old number as if it were current.
- Every feed
- How each one is read, the TSA counts and who to write to: the sources page.