Alexandria, VA — Foodservice and merchandise sales for the U.S. convenience retail industry were $341.2 billion in 2025, a 1.7 percent increase over 2024. It was the 23rd straight year that inside sales have increased, according to State of the Industry data from the National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS).
Total convenience industry sales, which include in-store and fuel sales, were $817.5 billion.
In-store sales were again led by foodservice, which contributed 28.5 percent of in-store sales. Foodservice has seen remarkable growth in convenience stores over the past two decades. In 2005, foodservice accounted for 11.9 percent of in-store sales. The importance of foodservice to profits is even more pronounced, accounting for 38.9 percent of in-store gross profit dollars in 2025.
Foodservice is made up of prepared food; commissary food; and hot, cold, and frozen dispensed beverages. The largest sector is prepared food — pizza, chicken, burgers, sandwiches/wraps, salads, etc. — which accounted for 73.9 percent of foodservice sales, up from 66.4 percent in 2021.
Following prepared food, packaged beverages was the No. 2 category within convenience stores, accounting for 18.7 percent of in-store sales, up 0.8 points from 2024. Among the other categories, the alternative snacks category (jerky, seeds and nuts, etc.) saw a particularly strong sales increase of 7.9 percent in 2025, reflecting the increased demand for protein-related items, which can be attributed to the rise in GLP-1 users.
The NACS State of the Industry numbers are based on submissions from convenience retailing companies representing more than 35,000 stores. Data is based on submissions to the annual NACS State of the Industry Survey, plus data collected from NACS CSX, a dynamic, self-reported subscription database serving the convenience retail industry and its stakeholders. All company-supplied information submitted is kept confidential and is anonymized.
Convenience stores, which sell an estimated 80 percent of the fuel purchased in the U.S., saw total fuel sales decrease 5.4 percent from $501.9 billion in 2024 to $476.3 billion in 2025. The sales dollars decrease was because of a 5.9 percent decrease in the average gas price per gallon — from $3.30 in 2024 to $3.11 in 2025; gallons sold in convenience stores increased 0.5 percent in 2025. Overall, fuel sales accounted for 65.0 percent of sales dollars but 38.8 percent of gross profit dollars at convenience stores.
Factoring in both transactions at the pump and inside the store, the average convenience store had 45,160 transactions per month in 2025, or 1,484 per day, which is a 2.7 percent decrease from the year prior.
Direct store operating expenses (DSOE) — which include wages and benefits, card fees, utilities, maintenance and merchandise shrink — increased 4.2 percent, the slowest rate of increase since the COVID pandemic. However, credit and debit card fees continued to climb, hitting a record $21.3 billion.
Beyond sales and expenses, convenience stores contributed 2.75 million jobs in 2025, with the average c-store providing 19.9 jobs at the store level. Hourly wages for store-level associates averaged $15.04. Convenience stores also contribute $232 billion in local, state and federal taxes for payroll, property, fuel, tobacco, beer and sales taxes, which is more than 28 percent of total revenues.
The U.S. convenience store count is 151,975 stores, a slight decrease of 280 stores (0.2 percent) compared to the 2025 store count, according to the 2026 NACS/NIQ TDLinx Convenience Industry Store Count. The number of convenience stores selling fuel increased by 768 stores (0.6 percent) to 122,620, the highest number in eight years.
