Food truck costs are shaped by several moving parts rather than one industry-wide price. In the United States, the Census Bureau counted 12,487 employer establishments in mobile food services in 2023. Recent benchmarks show the cost pressures most relevant to operators: May 2025 wages, 2024–2025 food-price changes, August 2026 year-over-year ingredient prices, 2020–2025 fuel prices, and labor-market projections through 2035.
Table of contents
- Industry footprint and employment
- Food truck wage benchmarks
- Food inflation and menu-cost pressure
- Ingredient price changes and forecasts
- Gasoline and diesel costs
- Labor supply, scheduling, and training
Industry footprint and employment
The U.S. mobile food business is large enough to have a dedicated Census Bureau industry classification. The Census Bureau’s NAICS 722330 profile counted 12,487 employer establishments in mobile food services in 2023. This is an establishment count, not a count of trucks, owners, or total locations, so it should be read as a measure of employer businesses in the classification.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ 2025 seasonally adjusted payroll observations for the combined caterers and mobile food services industry ranged from 217.3 thousand to 231.5 thousand employees in the supplied observations. The reported points were 217.3 thousand, 230.6 thousand, 231.5 thousand, 228.6 thousand, and 231.2 thousand. Because these are separate 2025 observations, they describe movement within that year rather than a single annual employment total.
For scale, seasonally adjusted employment across all food services and drinking places was reported at 12,235.2 thousand, 12,338.0 thousand, and 12,299.1 thousand in the 2025 observations. The broader category includes many businesses beyond food trucks, so it is a context benchmark rather than a direct estimate of a truck’s staffing needs.
Sources: 722330: Mobile food services, Census Bureau Profile; Table B-1a, Employees on nonfarm payrolls, Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Food truck wage benchmarks
Labor is one of the most direct recurring costs for a mobile kitchen. National Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics for May 2025 reported the following mean and median hourly wages:
| Occupation | Mean hourly wage | Median hourly wage |
|---|---|---|
| Restaurant cooks | $18.62 | $17.98 |
| Short-order cooks | $17.37 | $17.25 |
| Fast-food cooks | $15.57 | $14.85 |
| Food-preparation workers | $16.96 | $16.98 |
| Fast-food and counter workers | $15.46 | $15.00 |
| Food servers in nonrestaurant settings | $17.37 | $17.00 |
| Waiters and waitresses | $19.26 | $16.94 |
| Bartenders | $19.61 | $16.51 |
These are national occupational benchmarks, not required pay rates for a particular truck or city. The mean can also differ from the median because a relatively small number of higher or lower wages can affect the average. For cooks overall, the Occupational Outlook Handbook reported a May 2025 mean hourly wage of $18.62 and a median of $17.62. The same source listed a May 2025 mean annual wage of $35,290 for food-preparation workers.
The figures help separate common job functions. A truck using a cook plus a counter worker would face different wage benchmarks from a truck staffing a bartender or a nonrestaurant food server. Actual payroll expense also depends on hours, staffing levels, overtime, and other employer costs; the supplied wage statistics do not quantify those additional items.
Source: National employment and wage data by occupation, May 2025, Bureau of Labor Statistics; Cooks, Occupational Outlook Handbook.
Food inflation and menu-cost pressure
Food-away-from-home prices, a useful indicator for the selling environment around prepared food, rose 4.1% in 2024 and 3.8% in 2025. By comparison, food-at-home prices rose 1.2% in 2024 and 2.3% in 2025. All food prices rose 2.3% in 2024 and 2.9% in 2025.
The comparison shows that prepared-food prices and grocery prices did not move at the same pace in these reported years. For a food truck, food-away-from-home inflation describes the broader price environment for meals purchased outside the home; it is not a direct measure of a truck’s ingredient bill or profit margin.
The more recent USDA summary reported food-away-from-home prices 3.4% higher in August 2026 than in August 2025. Food-at-home prices were 2.2% higher over the same period. USDA forecasts food-away-from-home prices to increase 3.5% in 2026, with a forecast interval of 3.3% to 3.8%. For 2027, the forecast is a 2.6% increase, with an interval from 0.2% to 5.1%.
| Measure | 2024 | 2025 | Latest or forecast measure |
|---|---|---|---|
| Food away from home | +4.1% | +3.8% | +3.4% year over year in August 2026 |
| Food at home | +1.2% | +2.3% | +2.2% year over year in August 2026 |
| All food | +2.3% | +2.9% | — |
The USDA forecast percentages are estimates, and their intervals show that the expected change is not a fixed outcome. Operators using them for planning should keep the forecast period and uncertainty range attached to the headline number.
Source: Food Price Outlook: Summary Findings, USDA Economic Research Service.
Ingredient price changes and forecasts
Ingredient-specific figures show why a single food-inflation number can hide important differences. In August 2026, beef and veal prices were 5.9% higher than in August 2025. USDA forecast beef and veal prices to increase 9.4% in 2026, with a forecast interval of 7.4% to 11.6%.
Pork prices were 0.6% higher year over year in August 2026, while the USDA forecast a 1.2% increase for 2026, with an interval from -0.1% to 2.6%. Poultry prices were 0.5% higher over the same August comparison, and the 2026 forecast was a 1.0% increase, with an interval of 0.0% to 2.1%.
Eggs show a different pattern across the supplied periods. Retail egg prices were 21.9% higher in 2025. USDA then forecast retail egg prices to decrease 29.4% in 2026, with a forecast interval from -32.9% to -25.2%. The 2025 increase and 2026 forecast are different measurement periods and should not be treated as one continuous price change.
Fresh vegetable prices were 2.6% higher in August 2026 than in August 2025. The USDA forecast fresh vegetable prices to increase 5.7% in 2026, with a forecast interval of 4.3% to 7.2%. Nonalcoholic beverage prices were 3.7% higher in August 2026 than in August 2025.
For menu planning, these figures identify categories with different reported directions and magnitudes: beef and vegetables carried larger 2026 forecast increases than pork or poultry, while eggs had a forecast decline after a substantial 2025 increase. The data do not provide a cost per serving, recipe-level food cost, or truck-specific purchasing price, so those cannot be inferred from the percentages.
Source: Food Price Outlook: Summary Findings, USDA Economic Research Service.
Gasoline and diesel costs
Mobility adds a fuel exposure that fixed-location restaurants do not share in the same way. The U.S. annual average retail price for regular gasoline was $2.168 per gallon in 2020, rose to $3.951 in 2022, and was $3.519 in 2023, $3.304 in 2024, and $3.097 in 2025.
The 2025 annual average also varied geographically. EIA reported a range from $2.39 per gallon on the Gulf Coast to $4.32 per gallon on the West Coast. A national average therefore does not describe every route or market equally.
On-highway diesel followed a similar high point in the supplied series. The annual average was $2.551 per gallon in 2020, $4.989 in 2022, $4.214 in 2023, $3.760 in 2024, and $3.660 in 2025.
| Fuel | 2020 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Regular gasoline | $2.168 | $3.951 | $3.519 | $3.304 | $3.097 |
| On-highway diesel | $2.551 | $4.989 | $4.214 | $3.760 | $3.660 |
These are annual average retail prices per gallon, not a truck’s total fuel bill. Total fuel spending also depends on vehicle type, miles traveled, and fuel consumption, none of which are quantified in the supplied statistics.
Sources: Retail Prices for Gasoline, EIA; Retail Prices for Diesel, EIA; 2025 U.S. retail gasoline prices, EIA.
Labor supply, scheduling, and training
Food preparation workers held about 908,500 jobs in 2025, and food services and drinking places employed 55% of those workers. Employment of food preparation workers is projected to decline 3% from 2025 to 2035, while about 135,700 openings per year are projected on average over that period. The openings projection reflects expected annual opportunities, not a forecast of net job growth.
For food and beverage serving and related workers, the May 2025 median hourly wage was $15.24 across the occupation. In food services and drinking places, the median was $15.00 per hour. The corresponding median for food preparation workers in food services and drinking places was $16.67 per hour.
Scheduling and training are also measurable operating considerations. In 2025, a varying work schedule was reported for 78.8% of food preparation and serving related workers. On-the-job training was required for 95.6% of workers in that occupational group. These percentages describe worker characteristics and job requirements; they do not assign a dollar value to schedule changes or training time.
Taken together, the labor statistics point to a staffing environment with substantial annual replacement and hiring activity, frequent schedule variation, and widespread on-the-job training requirements. For a mobile operator, those signals are relevant when estimating how much labor planning is needed, but they do not establish a universal staffing budget or a guaranteed hiring outcome.
Sources: Food Preparation Workers, Occupational Outlook Handbook; Food and Beverage Serving and Related Workers, Occupational Outlook Handbook; Food preparation and serving related occupations, Bureau of Labor Statistics.