WASHINGTON — The next time you go through airport security, check those gray or white bins where you unload your pockets. Last year, the Transportation Security Administration collected $531,395.22 in change left behind at checkpoints.
Federal law requires the TSA to report the amount of unclaimed money it keeps every year to Congress. The fiscal 2012 report, obtained by The Washington Post, shows the agency collected about $499,000 in U.S. currency — and another $32,000 in foreign currency — at its checkpoints.
The top 10 U.S. airports in collections of loose change at TSA checkpoints in 2012:
o Miami International Airport: $39,613.
o McCarran International Airport, Las Vegas: $26,900.
o O’Hare International Airport, Chicago: $22,115.
o Los Angeles International Airport: $21,916.
o John F. Kennedy International, New York: $21,201.
o Dallas-Fort Worth International: $20,190.
o San Francisco International Airport: $19,873.
o Washington Dulles International Airport: $16,536.
o Logan International Airport, Boston: $16,405.
o George Bush Intercontinental Airport, Houston: $16,081.
— The Washington Post
TSA outposts at hub airports, such as John F. Kennedy International in New York or Dallas-Fort Worth International in Texas, collect cash from smaller regional airports, then forward it to TSA headquarters in Arlington, Va. Passengers entering Miami International Airport left the largest amount of change at security last year, $39,613, while people leaving Las Vegas — perhaps flush with slot machine winnings — forgot $26,900.21.
In total, TSA agents collected more than $10,000 in pocket change at each of 14 major airports across the country, in such cities as San Francisco, Phoenix, New York, Dallas and Atlanta.
