MSPMinneapolis St Paul
How long is the TSA security line at MSP right now?
At 9:50 am Central every open standard lane at MSP is 10 minutes or under. The longest standard line is T1 North, 0 to 5 min.
Wait time by checkpoint
| Checkpoint | Standard | PreCheck |
|---|---|---|
| Terminal 1 | ||
| T1 North | 0 to 5min | no lane |
| T1 South | 0 to 5min | no lane |
| Terminal 2 | ||
| T2 Checkpoint 1 | 0 to 5min | no lane |
| T2 Checkpoint 2 | no lane | 0 to 5min |
Read from mspairport.com at 7 minutes ago, next read in 2
How busy MSP 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 | 9 am, now | 10a | 12p | 2p | 4p | 6p | 8p | 10p | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hotel CP | ||||||||||||||||||||
| P-7 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| P-10 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| T1 North | ||||||||||||||||||||
| T1 South | ||||||||||||||||||||
| T2 Checkpoint 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| T2 Checkpoint 2 |
Tap a cell for its count.
Quiet for this checkpointIts busiest hourclosed or no count
On the counted days MSP screened passengers from 3 am to 8 pm. Across MSP the busiest hour is 5 am and the counts fall away after 5 pm. T1 South and T1 North screen 76 percent of the people TSA counts at MSP, T1 South alone 46 percent. Most checkpoints peak before noon; P-7 runs the other way at 6 pm, P-10 at 3 pm. TSA counts people, not minutes, so this shows when a checkpoint is loaded, not how long you will stand in it.
Which day MSP is busiest
Thursday is MSP's busiest day of the week, about 44,000 people screened on an average one, 49 percent more than Saturday, the quietest.
| Rank | Day | People a day | Days counted |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Thursday | 44,402 | 23 |
| 2 | Sunday | 41,721 | 23 |
| 3 | Friday | 41,616 | 23 |
| 4 | Monday | 40,701 | 23 |
| 5 | Wednesday | 36,489 | 25 |
| 6 | Tuesday | 32,061 | 23 |
| 7 | Saturday | 29,900 | 23 |
People screened at MSP 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 MSP is busiest
July was MSP's busiest month in TSA's counts, about 44,000 people a day, 25 percent more than May, the quietest. October, the latest month counted, ran 14 percent below July.
| Rank | Month | People a day | Days counted |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | July | 44,229 | 13 |
| 2 | March | 42,651 | 10 |
| 3 | June | 39,624 | 13 |
| 4 | August | 39,550 | 31 |
| 5 | October | 38,211 | 17 |
| 6 | September | 36,388 | 30 |
| 7 | April | 35,696 | 30 |
| 8 | May | 35,359 | 31 |
People screened at MSP 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 MSP 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, 46,718 people, 8 percent above the Thursdays around it. Sunday 24 May was the lightest for its day of the week, 30 percent below the Sundays around it.
Labor Day 2026
Thursday 3 to Tuesday 8 September: the busiest day was Thursday 3 September, 42,001 people, 2 percent below the Thursdays around it. Sunday 6 September was the lightest for its day of the week, 27 percent below the Sundays around it.
Questions people ask
How busy is MSP airport today?
At 9:50 am Central every open standard lane at MSP is 10 minutes or under. The longest standard line is T1 North, 0 to 5 min. By TSA's counts 9 am is usually a middling hour at MSP, about 2,400 people an hour across its checkpoints against 3,600 at the 5 am peak. On a normal day MSP screens about 38,000 people, 20th of the 432 airports TSA counts; its largest checkpoint is T1 South, with 46 percent of them.
Does PreCheck have a shorter line at MSP?
Right now PreCheck lanes at MSP read 0 to 5 min. Standard lanes read 0 to 5 min. PreCheck is open at T2 Checkpoint 2; check the sign above before walking to one.
Which MSP checkpoint is fastest right now?
At 9:50 am Central the shortest standard line is at T1 North, T1 South and T2 Checkpoint 1, 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 MSP terminal?
At 9:50 am Central 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?
MSP Airport publishes the MSP wait times at mspairport.com and waittimes.io reads them every 10 minutes. The time on the sign is the last read, in Central 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 MSP quietest?
Over the 175 counted days, 22 March to 24 October 2026, MSP checkpoints screened the most people at 5 am. Between the rushes the counts are lowest at 10 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 MSP?
Over the 175 counted days, 22 March to 24 October 2026, MSP screened passengers from 3 am to 8 pm. T1 North and T1 South run latest. These are the hours TSA counted people, not MSP's published checkpoint hours. Check the airport's own page before an early flight.
What is the busiest day of the week at MSP?
Thursday is MSP's busiest day of the week, about 44,000 people screened on an average one, 49 percent more than Saturday, 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 MSP?
July was MSP's busiest month in TSA's counts, about 44,000 people a day, 25 percent more than May, the quietest. October, the latest month counted, ran 14 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 MSP get on a holiday weekend?
Memorial Day 2026, Thursday 21 to Tuesday 26 May: the busiest day was Thursday 21 May, 46,718 people, 8 percent above the Thursdays around it. Sunday 24 May was the lightest for its day of the week, 30 percent below the Sundays around it. Labor Day 2026, Thursday 3 to Tuesday 8 September: the busiest day was Thursday 3 September, 42,001 people, 2 percent below the Thursdays around it. Sunday 6 September was the lightest for its day of the week, 27 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, DCA, DFW, DTW, EWR, IAH, JAX, JFK, LGA, MCO, MIA, PHL, PHX, PIT, SEA, SFO, SLC
Where the numbers come from
- Wait times
- Published by MSP Airport at mspairport.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.