DEN East Security security wait times: what to expect
From October 12 to November 9 we logged 144,986 security checkpoint readings at DEN East Security. The standard lane averaged 9 minutes, and TSA PreCheck averaged 6 minutes. 74% of standard-lane readings were 10 minutes or less, and 5% were over half an hour.
That is in line with DEN as a whole.
When the line is longest
The standard line at East Security is longest around 9 AM, when it has averaged 26 minutes, and shortest around 1 AM, at 3 minutes. By day of the week, Friday has been the heaviest (12 minutes on average) and Saturday the lightest (6 minutes).
| Time of day | Standard | PreCheck |
|---|---|---|
| Early morning (4–8 AM) | 11 min | 7 min |
| Morning (8 AM–noon) | 18 min | 9 min |
| Midday (noon–4 PM) | 11 min | 7 min |
| Evening (4–8 PM) | 8 min | 6 min |
| Night (8 PM–4 AM) | 3 min | 4 min |
Average wait across the last 28 days. A dash means the lane is usually closed then.
PreCheck at East Security
Over the same period PreCheck saved 3 minutes on average compared with the standard lane, and 15 minutes at the 9 AM peak. With long standard-lane waits that common, PreCheck makes a real difference here.
How early to arrive
To plan your arrival, use the worst hour rather than the average: at East Security that is 26 minutes in the standard lane around 9 AM. Allow that on top of your airline's check-in and bag-drop deadlines, and more on Fridays and holiday weekends. The live board above shows what the line is doing right now, and the chart projects the next 12 hours.
Other terminals at DEN
| Terminal | Standard avg | PreCheck avg | Busiest hour |
|---|---|---|---|
| West Security | 9 min | 6 min | 8 AM |
Where these numbers come from
Each airport publishes its own checkpoint wait estimates. This site reads them every minute and keeps every reading. Closed lanes are left out of the averages, and times are local to the airport. The averages above cover the last 28 days and are recalculated every hour. The posted wait is the airport's estimate, not a timed measurement, so treat it as a guide.
The full archive is free to download as an open dataset, and the about page explains who runs the site and why.