Americans Leave A Huge Chunk Of Change At Airport Security Checkpoints
Here’s what it means for the debate over getting rid of pennies.
Should the , nickels and dimes? The debate has gone on for years. Many people argue for on . Others call for because the government loses money minting low-value coins.
One way to resolve the debate is to check whether people are still using small-value coins. And there’s an unlikely source of information showing how much people are using pocket change: the , or TSA. Yes, the same people who screen passengers at airport checkpoints can answer whether people are still using coins — and whether that usage is trending up or down over the years.
Each year, the to Congress is left behind at checkpoints. A decreasing amount of change would suggest fewer people have coins in their pockets, while a steady or increasing amount indicates people are still carrying coins.
The shows that during 2023, air travelers left almost US$1 million in small change at checkpoints. This is roughly double the amount left behind in 2012.
At first glance, this suggests more people are carrying around and using coins. But as a who studies both and — as well as a keen observer of habits while lining up at airport checkpoints — I know the story is more complicated than these numbers suggest.
What Gets Left Behind?
More than in the U.S., passing through . Each flyer going through a checkpoint is from their pockets such as wallets, phones, keys and coins in either a bin or their carry-on bag. Not everyone remembers to pick up all their items on the other side of the scanner. About are left behind each month, the TSA estimates.
For expensive or identifiable items such as cellphones, wallets and laptops, the department. For coins and the occasional paper bills that end up in the scanner bins, TSA has a different procedure. It collects all that money, catalogs the amount and periodically to improve security operations.
That money adds up, with travelers leaving behind almost $10 million in change over the past 12 years.
The amount of money left varies by airport. JFK International Airport in New York City is consistently in one of the , with travelers leaving almost $60,000 behind in 2022. , which serves Las Vegas, also sees a large amount of money left behind. , is often near the bottom of the list, with only about $100 lost in 2022.
People lose money while going through security for a few reasons. First, some , and in their rush to avoid missing their plane, they don’t pick up everything after screening. Second, sometimes , leaving people to again scramble to make up time. And finally, TSA checkpoints are often confusing and noisy places, especially for new or infrequent travelers. Making it more confusing is that , which distract travelers who only quickly glance to check for all their items.
How Much Is Lost?
TSA keeps careful track of how much is lost because the agency is at checkpoints. TSA records show people left behind half a million dollars in 2012. This rose to almost a million in 2018. The drop in travel due to the Covid-19 pandemic reduced the figure back to half a million in 2020. In 2023, people left $956,000.
These raw figures need two adjustments to accurately track trends in coins lost. First, the numbers need to be adjusted for inflation. From 2012 to 2023, the by 33%. This means a dollar of change in 2012 purchased one-third more than it did 12 years later.
Second, the number of people flying and passing through TSA screening has changed dramatically over time. In 2012, about went through the checkpoints. By 2023, that had risen to 859 million people, which is about 1,000 people every 30 seconds across the entire U.S. when airports .
Adjusting for both inflation and the number of people screened shows no change in the amount of money lost. My calculations show back in 2012 about $1.10 in coins was lost for every 1,000 people screened. In 2023, about one penny more, or $1.11, was lost per 1,000.
The peak year for money being lost was 2020, when $1.80 per 1,000 people was left behind. This was likely due to people out of misplaced fear they could contact Covid-19. During the pandemic, people in general carried less money.
The world is . The data from TSA checkpoints, however, clearly shows people are carrying coins at roughly the same rate as back in 2012. This suggests Americans are still using physical money, at least for making small payments — and that the drive to get rid of pennies, nickels and dimes should hold off a while longer.
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