There are more than 152,000 convenience stores in the United States, of which 121,852 of those stores sell fuel. 

Convenience stores are the choice for refueling, selling an estimated 80% of the fuel purchased at the estimated 150,000 fueling outlets. There are three other categories of fueling locations that sell the remaining 20%:

• Kiosk fueling sites that have a very small assortment of items: 12,891 (source: NIQ) 
• Hypermarkets/big-box retailers: 6,862 at retailers such as Walmart, Costco, Sam’ Club and Kroger. (Source: Energy Analysts International)
• Service Stations: Until the early 1970s, this was the dominant fuel retailer. However, service station store count has dramatically decreased as newer formats entered the fueling business. It is not an exact figure, but an estimated 8,000 locations sell fuel, including small-volume locations like marinas. 

Fuel sales in the United States average 9 million barrels per day, or about 370 million gallons per day. The average fueling location sells about 4,000 gallons of gas per day, while hypermarkets/big-box stores with larger forecourts often sell five times more. Some convenience stores like Buc-ee’s, which has more than 100 fueling positions at its sites, have even higher volumes.

Small Businesses Fuel America

For decades, convenience stores have sold the most gas in the United States; however, that was not always the case. In 1971, just 7% of convenience stores sold fuel. The move toward self-fueling to save a few cents, spurred by the price shocks of the 1970s, led to more consumers embracing convenience stores for lower prices on gas and one-stop shopping for additional in-store items. By the mid-1980s, convenience stores sold most of the gas in the country.

Currently, around 55% of fuel-selling stores are single-store operators. Many of these businesses lack the resources to brand their stores independently from the fuel brand they sell and advertise on the canopy, which often results in the misconception that their business is owned and operated by a major oil company.

Major oil companies are reemerging on the retail landscape, reversing a decade-plus trend that reduced their share of the market to less than 0.5% by 2017. Shell Oil Co./Motiva Enterprises LLC, Chevron Corp., Exxon Mobil Corp., BP North America and ConocoPhillips/Phillips 66 collectively have more than 15,000 stores that are franchise operations. Both Shell Oil Co./Motiva Enterprises LLC and Chevron own and operate stores.

The Decline in Fueling Sites

The number of fueling locations in the United States has significantly decreased over the years. In the 1920s, there were an estimated 300,000 fueling outlets, which is double the number of outlets today. The last comprehensive census of fueling sites was conducted in 2012 by National Petroleum News (NPN), identifying 156,065 locations, a sharp drop from the 1991 count of 210,120 fueling locations.

Before 1991, NPN's store count was based on U.S. Census data and included only traditional gas stations that derived more than 50% of their earnings from petroleum products and services. This count excluded convenience stores, garages, repair shops, dealerships, and independent operators, possibly omitting 100,000 or more fueling locations. NPN showed a decline in fueling locations from 114,748 in 1987 to 111,657 in 1990.

From the mid to late 1980s, the count dropped further due to Census data excluding small independent stations without payrolls, potentially omitting 120,000 or more fueling locations annually. With this limited data set, the defined number of fueling locations dropped from 116,154 in 1984 to 93,864 in 1987.

The steepest decline in fueling location count occurred between 1970 and 1985, with the number dropping from 222,000 in 1970 to 130,000 in 1985. This period also used U.S. Census data, which was a time when very few outlets sold fuel other than service stations. 

Before 1970, the annual station counts were less consistent but still exceeded 200,000, with 211,473 stations in 1963 and 206,755 in 1958.