U.S. C-Store Count Stands at 150,174

There are 150,174 convenience stores operating in the United States, according to the 2023 NACS/NielsenIQ Convenience Industry Store Count. The count is up 1.5% from December 31, 2021, snapping a four-year run of declines. There are roughly 100 stores fewer than before the COVID-19 pandemic struck.

With the U.S. population at 334.2 million, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, there is one convenience store per every 2,225 people.

Convenience stores sell an estimated 80% of the motor fuels purchased by consumers in the United States. The new store count shows that 118,678 convenience stores sell motor fuels (79.0% of all convenience stores).

The gain of 2,148 stores was largely driven by an uptick in the number of c-stores selling fuel. In all, the industry picked up 2,037 additional sites that offer fuel and 111 c-stores that don’t sell fuel. This also marks a reversal from prior years, which saw the number of fuel-selling locations contract as the number of non-fuel c-stores expanded.

In addition, there are “gas station/kiosk” stores that sell fuel but not enough of an in-store product assortment to be considered convenience stores. Overall, there are 13,346 kiosks. The kiosk format continued to decline—down 11.2% the past year and 49.3% over the past six years—as more consumers sought out stores that have robust food and beverage offers.

“The value of convenience continues to grow, and that’s a driving factor why every retailer, regardless of channel, seeks to provide it. And it’s also clear that the convenience offer at convenience stores resonates with consumers, given the record in-store sales at convenience stores and increase in store count,” said NACS Managing Director of Research Chris Rapanick.

Texas continues to have the most convenience stores (116,018 stores), or more than one in 10 stores in the United States. The remainder of the top 10 is the same from the year prior: Despite a decline in store count, California remains second at 12,000 stores, followed by Florida (9,596), New York (7,917), Georgia (6,719), North Carolina (5,749), Ohio (5,673), Michigan (4,879), Pennsylvania (4,728) and Illinois (4,666). Alaska grew its store count by 9.2% but still has the fewest stores (190) of any state.

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