{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "Dataset",
  "name": "How much does a food truck make a year?",
  "description": "A working food truck grosses $150,000–$450,000 a year and nets $25,000–$90,000 for the owner-operator. Event-heavy and catering-focused trucks earn most because they trade unpredictable street sales for booked minimums at higher average ticket.",
  "url": "https://www.revenuelab.fyi/answers/how-much-does-a-food-truck-make-a-year",
  "dateModified": "2026-08-12",
  "creator": {
    "@type": "Organization",
    "name": "RevenueLab",
    "url": "https://www.revenuelab.fyi"
  },
  "license": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "keywords": [
    "Food Truck Profit Calculator",
    "Break-Even Calculator",
    "Profit Margin Calculator"
  ],
  "distribution": {
    "@type": "DataDownload",
    "contentUrl": "https://www.revenuelab.fyi/api/public/page.json?path=answers%2Fhow-much-does-a-food-truck-make-a-year",
    "encodingFormat": "application/json"
  },
  "json": {
    "type": "answer",
    "question": "How much does a food truck make a year?",
    "shortAnswer": "A working food truck grosses $150,000–$450,000 a year and nets $25,000–$90,000 for the owner-operator. Event-heavy and catering-focused trucks earn most because they trade unpredictable street sales for booked minimums at higher average ticket.",
    "tableTitle": "Food truck annual economics",
    "columns": [
      "Operating model",
      "Annual gross",
      "Owner net"
    ],
    "rows": [
      {
        "label": "Part-time / weekends",
        "value": "$45K–$110K",
        "note": "$10K–$30K"
      },
      {
        "label": "Full-time street + lunch routes",
        "value": "$150K–$300K",
        "note": "$25K–$65K"
      },
      {
        "label": "Event and festival circuit",
        "value": "$200K–$420K",
        "note": "$40K–$90K"
      },
      {
        "label": "Catering-led",
        "value": "$220K–$450K",
        "note": "$55K–$110K"
      },
      {
        "label": "Two-truck operation",
        "value": "$350K–$800K",
        "note": "$70K–$160K"
      }
    ],
    "context": "Food cost lands at 28–35% and labour at 25–30%, which leaves a truck with a thinner cushion than most owners expect — the advantage over a restaurant is lower fixed cost, not higher margin. Commissary fees, permits, event pitch fees and fuel eat another 10–15%. The operators who make real money stop chasing walk-up traffic and sell booked days: a catering contract with a guaranteed minimum removes the weather risk that makes street vending so volatile, and it typically carries a higher ticket per head.",
    "methodology": "Service-day modelling at typical ticket sizes and covers per service, with food, labour, commissary and event-fee loads drawn from mobile-food operator cost benchmarks.",
    "dateModified": "2026-08-12",
    "relatedCalculators": [
      {
        "label": "Food Truck Profit Calculator",
        "to": "/food-truck-profit-calculator"
      },
      {
        "label": "Break-Even Calculator",
        "to": "/break-even-calculator"
      },
      {
        "label": "Profit Margin Calculator",
        "to": "/profit-margin-calculator"
      }
    ],
    "relatedReading": []
  }
}