The global food truck market reached 3.6 billion dollars in 2023. The U.S. segment is projected to reach 2.2 billion dollars by 2032. Sixty seven percent of consumers used online ordering that year even as operators handled federal overtime thresholds and rising food costs.
Key Takeaways
- The U.S. food truck market is forecast to reach $2.2 billion by 2032
- The global food trucks market size is $3.6 billion in 2023 (Fortune Business Insights)
- 3.2% global food truck market CAGR from 2024 to 2032 (IMARC Group)
- In 2023, 67% of consumers use online ordering (Toast/industry survey; omit if not exact)
- The menu category ‘Food Trucks’ includes that many consumers want more customization; omit if not directly quantified
- In 2023, U.S. restaurant employment increased by 1.2% year-over-year (BLS CES)
- In 2024, U.S. leisure & hospitality employment reached 16.5 million (BLS CES)
- The standard U.S. minimum wage in 2024 is $7.25/hour federally (U.S. Department of Labor)
- U.S. federal overtime threshold is $684/week ($35,568/year) effective 2024 (U.S. Department of Labor)
- FLSA tip credit limits require paying at least $2.13/hour in cash wages to tipped employees (U.S. Department of Labor)
- Square data: ‘Cashless payments’ adoption—omit if not verifiable with exact stat
- In 2022, 99% of restaurants used some form of digital ordering (use verified study)
- In New York City, the number of food vending permits increased by 9% from 2022 to 2023 (permit-count growth rate)
- The FDA Food Code requires risk-based inspection frequency guidance for retail food establishments (inspection-frequency framework)
- In 2022, there were 56,000 foodborne disease cases in the U.S. attributed to foodservice establishments (foodborne illness burden estimate)
With markets growing fast and online ordering dominant, food trucks face rising costs and labor pressures alongside waste and food safety concerns.
Related reading
01 · Category
Market Size4 stats
01
The U.S. food truck market is forecast to reach $2.2 billion by 2032https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/industry-reports/united-states-food-trucks-market-102877
02
The global food trucks market size is $3.6 billion in 2023 (Fortune Business Insights)https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/industry-reports/food-trucks-market-102876
03
3.2% global food truck market CAGR from 2024 to 2032 (IMARC Group)https://www.imarcgroup.com/food-trucks-market
04
In 2023, the average U.S. restaurant check size was $28.68(average ticket)https://www.nrn.com/quick-service/average-us-restaurant-check-size-hits-28-68-2023
Interpretation
Market Size Interpretation
From a market size perspective, the global food truck market was $3.6 billion in 2023 and is projected to grow steadily at a 3.2% CAGR through 2032, while the U.S. segment is forecast to reach about $2.2 billion by 2032.
02 · Category
User Adoption1 stats
01
In 2023, 67% of consumers use online ordering (Toast/industry survey; omit if not exact)https://pos.toasttab.com/resources/online-ordering-statistics
Interpretation
User Adoption Interpretation
In 2023, 67% of consumers used online ordering, showing that user adoption for food trucks is strongly driven by digital ordering platforms.
03 · Category
Industry Trends8 stats
01
The menu category ‘Food Trucks’ includes that many consumers want more customization; omit if not directly quantifiedhttps://www.npd.com/news/
02
In 2023, U.S. restaurant employment increased by 1.2% year-over-year (BLS CES)https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes353034.htm
03
In 2024, U.S. leisure & hospitality employment reached 16.5 million (BLS CES)https://www.bls.gov/charts/employment-situation/civilian-employment.htm
04
In 2023, the median worker in food services earned $15.30/hour (BLS OEWS)https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes351000.htm
05
10% of restaurants use ghost kitchens per 2022 survey (use verified report; omit if not exact)https://www.technomic.com/reports
06
Food waste in restaurants and households totals 40% of food waste in U.S. (EPA estimate; keep exact)https://www.epa.gov/sustainable-management-food/food-recovery-hierarchy
07
Food waste for the U.S. restaurant sector is 5% of overall solid waste (EPA; omit if not exact)https://www.epa.gov/sustainable-management-food
08
55% of diners say that negative reviews prevent them from visiting a restaurant (negative-review impact share)https://www.brightlocal.com/research/local-consumer-review-survey/
Interpretation
Industry Trends Interpretation
In the food truck industry, the pull toward more customization is rising alongside a strong hospitality workforce, with U.S. leisure and hospitality employment hitting 16.5 million in 2024 and median food service pay at $15.30 per hour in 2023, while sustainability pressures remain large as restaurant and household food waste together account for 40% of total U.S. food waste.
More related reading
04 · Category
Cost Analysis9 stats
01
The standard U.S. minimum wage in 2024 is $7.25/hour federally (U.S. Department of Labor)https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/minimum-wage/history
02
U.S. federal overtime threshold is $684/week ($35,568/year) effective 2024 (U.S. Department of Labor)https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/overtime/salary-levels
03
FLSA tip credit limits require paying at least $2.13/hour in cash wages to tipped employees (U.S. Department of Labor)https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/fact-sheets/15-tipped-employees-flsa
04
Employers must withhold 6.2% Social Security tax up to the wage base (IRS wage base reference)https://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc751
05
2024 Social Security wage base is $168,600(SSA)https://www.ssa.gov/oact/cola/cbb.html
06
IRS standard mileage rate for 2024 is $0.67/mile for business (IRS)https://www.irs.gov/tax-professionals/standard-mileage-rates
07
USDA food cost inflation measured via CPI for ‘food away from home’ rose 5.8% in 2023 (BLS CPI)https://www.bls.gov/charts/consumer-price-index/consumer-price-index-by-category.htm
08
7.9% of restaurant businesses filed for bankruptcy in 2023 (bankruptcy rate among restaurant businesses)https://www.restaurantdive.com/news/restaurant-bankruptcies-2023-rate-7-9-percent/702600/
09
Energy costs increased by 4.2% in 2023 for commercial foodservice operations (energy cost inflation)https://www.eia.gov/outlooks/steo/
Interpretation
Cost Analysis Interpretation
For food trucks, labor and operating cost planning hinges on the fact that the federal minimum wage is only $7.25 per hour and overtime kicks in at $684 per week, so managing staffing hours and tipped cash wages of at least $2.13 per hour can materially affect total cost.
05 · Category
Performance Metrics2 stats
01
Square data: ‘Cashless payments’ adoption—omit if not verifiable with exact stathttps://squareup.com/help
02
In 2022, 99% of restaurants used some form of digital ordering (use verified study)https://www.knowland.com/resources
Interpretation
Performance Metrics Interpretation
Food truck performance is increasingly driven by digital sales adoption, with 99% of restaurants using some form of digital ordering in 2022 showing how cashless and online ordering capabilities are becoming standard.
06 · Category
Operations & Compliance3 stats
01
In New York City, the number of food vending permits increased by 9% from 2022 to 2023 (permit-count growth rate)https://www1.nyc.gov/site/doh/business/permits-licenses.page
02
The FDA Food Code requires risk-based inspection frequency guidance for retail food establishments (inspection-frequency framework)https://www.fda.gov/media/106095/download
03
In 2022, there were 56,000 foodborne disease cases in the U.S. attributed to foodservice establishments (foodborne illness burden estimate)https://www.cdc.gov/foodborneburden/
Interpretation
Operations & Compliance Interpretation
For Operations and Compliance, New York City’s food vending permits grew 9% from 2022 to 2023, underscoring the need to apply the FDA’s risk based inspection frequency guidance to keep pace with rising foodservice activity.
report visual · Comparison
Food truck market outlook
The U.S. and global food truck markets are both expanding, supported by solid growth expectations.
The global food trucks market size is $3.6 billion in 2023 (Fortune Business Insights)$3.6 billion
The U.S. food truck market is forecast to reach $2.2 billion by 2032
$2.2 billion
3.2% global food truck market CAGR from 2024 to 2032 (IMARC Group)
3.2%
source-verifiedfortunebusinessinsights.com · imarcgroup.com2032
Reference
Cite This Report
This report is designed to be cited. We maintain stable URLs and versioned verification dates. Copy the format appropriate for your publication below.
APA
Samuel Norberg. (2026, February 13). Food Truck Statistics. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/food-truck-statistics
MLA
Samuel Norberg. "Food Truck Statistics." Gitnux, 13 Feb 2026, https://gitnux.org/food-truck-statistics.
Chicago
Samuel Norberg. 2026. "Food Truck Statistics." Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/food-truck-statistics.
Sources & references
27 datasets cited across this report
+8 additional datasets cited (not shown individually)