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Food truck earnings

How Much Does a Food Truck Make?

Food trucks with employees averaged $297,317 in yearly sales in the 2022 Economic Census. Here is how that varies by state, and what a new truck can expect to keep.

By Main Street Plans research · Updated October 12, 2026 · Figures from the U.S. Census Bureau and Bureau of Labor Statistics
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The national picture

$297,317
Avg. yearly sales, with employees (2022)
2.9
Employees per business
23.4%
Payroll as a share of sales
12,487
Businesses with employees (2023)

Average sales by state

Bar chart of average yearly sales for food trucks in the top states
The twelve states with the highest average yearly sales for businesses with employees.
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StateAvg. yearly salesBusinesses
1. California$473,7041,329
2. Hawaii$462,411178
3. Arizona$384,895297
4. Georgia$358,983216
5. Massachusetts$351,166274
6. District of Columbia$344,07713
7. Connecticut$325,678114
8. New Jersey$317,878232
9. Tennessee$317,583274
10. Texas$312,3821,140
11. Ohio$309,591359
12. Oregon$306,717498
13. Washington$300,483411
14. Maryland$298,804178
15. Nevada$289,378147
Show all 51 states
1. California$473,704
2. Hawaii$462,411
3. Arizona$384,895
4. Georgia$358,983
5. Massachusetts$351,166
6. District of Columbia$344,077
7. Connecticut$325,678
8. New Jersey$317,878
9. Tennessee$317,583
10. Texas$312,382
11. Ohio$309,591
12. Oregon$306,717
13. Washington$300,483
14. Maryland$298,804
15. Nevada$289,378
16. New York$289,075
17. Colorado$288,728
18. Florida$284,804
19. Minnesota$270,661
20. Illinois$264,226
21. Alaska$261,300
22. Pennsylvania$258,476
23. North Dakota$253,083
24. Virginia$244,735
25. Louisiana$241,255
26. Indiana$239,427
27. Alabama$239,088
28. Delaware$238,800
29. Missouri$236,401
30. Utah$226,211
31. Oklahoma$225,869
32. Nebraska$223,981
33. Michigan$219,251
34. North Carolina$217,456
35. Arkansas$215,089
36. South Carolina$212,207
37. New Mexico$203,840
38. Mississippi$197,444
39. Maine$191,938
40. Idaho$189,516
41. Rhode Island$178,409
42. Kentucky$178,161
43. Wisconsin$177,402
44. Vermont$173,795
45. Kansas$171,842
46. West Virginia$170,846
47. New Hampshire$163,750
48. Wyoming$160,474
49. South Dakota$159,423
50. Montana$139,345
51. Iowa$133,355

States without a published figure are left out; the Census withholds numbers that could reveal individual businesses.

From sales to profit

Sales are not take-home pay. In our model with typical assumptions, costs that rise with sales take 35% of revenue before fixed costs, wages and loan payments. A new food truck might look like this:

Chart of a new food truck's yearly sales against its break-even point
Yearly sales in years one to three against the sales needed to break even.
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Year 1Year 2Year 3
Sales$162,624$236,544$295,680
Operating profit (before owner pay)$23,900$63,052$92,779
Margin14.7%26.7%31.4%

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Questions

How much does a food truck make a year?

Food trucks with employees averaged $297,317 in yearly sales in the 2022 Economic Census. Sales are not profit: payroll alone took 23.4% of sales.

How much profit can a new one make?

In our example with typical assumptions, a new food truck reaches $295,680 in year-three sales and $92,779 in operating profit before the owner’s pay and income tax — a 31.4% margin. Your own prices and costs change that.

Related

Sources

  • U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2023 — NAICS 722330 (Mobile Food Services).
  • U.S. Census Bureau, 2022 Economic Census — receipts, payroll and employment.
  • U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS May 2025 — Cooks, Restaurant.
  • Federal Reserve, bank prime loan rate (via FRED).

Figures are computed by Main Street Plans from the published federal files listed above. See how we build our numbers.