U.S. Convenience Store Census Shows Continued Growth
More than 152,000 c-stores operate in the U.S., up 1.5% from 2023.
Jan 23, 2024
The U.S. convenience store industry has added more retail locations to the c-store universe for the second consecutive year.
There are 152,396 convenience stores operating in the United States, a 1.5% increase from last year’s store count, according to the 2024 NACS/NIQ Convenience Industry Store Count.
Convenience stores sell an estimated 80% of the fuels purchased by consumers in the United States. The newly released c-store census shows that 120,061 convenience stores sell fuels, a 1.2% increase over 118,678 stores in 2023.
In the last decade, six of four years experienced growth in the convenience retail channel:
2024 — 152,396 (+1.5%)
2023 — 150,174 (+1.5%)
2022 — 148,026 (-1.5%)
2021 — 150,274 (-1.6%)
2020 — 152,720 (-0.3%)
2019 — 153,237 (-1.1%)
2018 — 154,958 (+0.3%)
2017 — 154,535 (+0.2%)
2016 — 154,195 (+0.9%)
2015 — 152,794 (+0.9%)
The bulk of convenience stores comes from “A-sized” (1-10 stores) operators at 96,156 locations (63.1% of total c-stores), of which 91,799 are single-store operators, up slightly from 90,423 stores in 2023. Second are “E-sized” operators with more than 500 stores.
| STORE SIZE | STORE COUNT | ALLOCATION |
| A (1-10 stores) | 96,156 | 63.1% of stores |
| B (11-50 stores) | 9,157 | 6.0% |
| C (51-200 stores) | 9,033 | 5.9% |
| D (201-500 stores) | 5,186 | 3.4% |
| E (501+ stores) | 32,864 | 21.6% |
Nearly every state increased its store count including Texas, which continues to have the most convenience stores (16,304 stores), or more than 1 in 10 stores in the United States. After losing 53 stores in 2023, California added 177 to its store count. Only seven states saw a reduction in their store count: Alaska, Iowa, Idaho, Louisiana, Maine, Oklahoma and Vermont.
While the convenience store industry grew its retail presence in local communities throughout the United States, other brick-and-mortar channels had a different experience:
| CHANNEL | 2024 | 2023 | % Change |
| Convenience | 152,396 | 150,174 | 1.5% |
| C-stores selling fuels | 120,061 | 118,678 | 1.2% |
| Fuels kiosks | 13,065 | 13,346 | -2.2% |
| Grocery | 45,047 | 45,380 | -0.7% |
| Drug | 39,752 | 40,008 | -0.6% |
| Dollar | 38,435 | 37,067 | 3.7% |
With the U.S. population at an estimated 336 million, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, there is one convenience store per every 2,204 people.
The 2024 NACS/NIQ Convenience Industry Store Count is based on stores in operation as of December 31, 2023.
