DENDenver
When is TSA security busiest at DIA (DEN)?
TSA's counts over 175 days, 22 March to 24 October 2026, put DIA's busiest hour at 9 am, with the counts falling away after 5 pm. Denver (DEN) publishes a live wait time at flydenver.com; its terms do not let another site show it, so this page carries no number for right now.
How busy DIA 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 | 8 am, now | 10a | 12p | 2p | 4p | 6p | 8p | 10p | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| East | ||||||||||||||||||||
| North | ||||||||||||||||||||
| West |
Tap a cell for its count.
Quiet for this checkpointIts busiest hourclosed or no count
On the counted days DIA screened passengers from 3 am to 10 pm. Across DIA the busiest hour is 9 am and the counts fall away after 5 pm. West screens 53 percent of the people TSA counts at DIA, East 47 percent. Most checkpoints peak before noon; North runs the other way at 6 pm. TSA counts people, not minutes, so this shows when a checkpoint is loaded, not how long you will stand in it.
Which day DIA is busiest
Sunday is DIA's busiest day of the week, about 76,000 people screened on an average one, 40 percent more than Tuesday, the quietest.
| Rank | Day | People a day | Days counted |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sunday | 76,447 | 23 |
| 2 | Thursday | 73,688 | 23 |
| 3 | Friday | 70,360 | 23 |
| 4 | Monday | 69,885 | 23 |
| 5 | Wednesday | 59,221 | 25 |
| 6 | Saturday | 55,273 | 23 |
| 7 | Tuesday | 54,783 | 23 |
People screened at DIA 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 DIA is busiest
July was DIA's busiest month in TSA's counts, about 77,000 people a day, 34 percent more than April, the quietest. October, the latest month counted, ran 10 percent below July.
| Rank | Month | People a day | Days counted |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | July | 76,999 | 13 |
| 2 | June | 70,952 | 13 |
| 3 | October | 69,245 | 17 |
| 4 | August | 68,076 | 31 |
| 5 | May | 65,682 | 31 |
| 6 | September | 65,389 | 30 |
| 7 | March | 60,828 | 10 |
| 8 | April | 57,567 | 30 |
People screened at DIA 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 DIA 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 Friday 22 May, 80,549 people, 13 percent above the Fridays around it. Sunday 24 May was the lightest for its day of the week, 17 percent below the Sundays around it.
Labor Day 2026
Thursday 3 to Tuesday 8 September: the busiest day was Monday 7 September, 90,766 people, 25 percent above the Mondays around it. Sunday 6 September was the lightest for its day of the week, 29 percent below the Sundays around it.
Questions people ask
How busy is DIA airport today?
Denver publishes today's live wait at flydenver.com; this page does not carry it. By TSA's counts 8 am is usually one of the busiest hours at DIA, about 5,600 people an hour across its checkpoints against 5,700 at the 9 am peak. On a normal day DIA screens about 66,000 people, 12th of the 432 airports TSA counts; its largest checkpoint is West, with 53 percent of them.
When is TSA security at DIA quietest?
Over the 175 counted days, 22 March to 24 October 2026, DIA checkpoints screened the most people at 9 am. The counts 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 DIA?
Over the 175 counted days, 22 March to 24 October 2026, DIA screened passengers from 3 am to 10 pm. East opens first and West runs latest. These are the hours TSA counted people, not DIA's published checkpoint hours. Check the airport's own page before an early flight.
What is the busiest day of the week at DIA?
Sunday is DIA's busiest day of the week, about 76,000 people screened on an average one, 40 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 DIA?
July was DIA's busiest month in TSA's counts, about 77,000 people a day, 34 percent more than April, the quietest. October, the latest month counted, ran 10 percent below July. 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 DIA get on a holiday weekend?
Memorial Day 2026, Thursday 21 to Tuesday 26 May: the busiest day was Friday 22 May, 80,549 people, 13 percent above the Fridays around it. Sunday 24 May was the lightest for its day of the week, 17 percent below the Sundays around it. Labor Day 2026, Thursday 3 to Tuesday 8 September: the busiest day was Monday 7 September, 90,766 people, 25 percent above the Mondays around it. Sunday 6 September was the lightest for its day of the week, 29 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.
Does DIA publish a live TSA wait time?
Yes, at flydenver.com, the airport's own site. Its terms do not let another site show it, so this page carries no number and never predicts one: flydenver.com is where to look before you leave.
Does PreCheck have a shorter line at DIA?
This page has no lane-by-lane wait time for DIA; flydenver.com publishes the airport's own. TSA's counts are per checkpoint and do not separate PreCheck from standard lanes; the map above shows when each checkpoint is loaded, whichever lane you join.
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, DCA, DFW, DTW, EWR, IAH, JAX, JFK, LGA, MCO, MIA, MSP, PHL, PHX, PIT, SEA, SFO, SLC
Where the numbers come from
- Wait times
- Denver publishes them at flydenver.com. Its terms do not let another site show it, so waittimes.io does not read the page.
- 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.