Here is how gas stations make money, and why the number on the pump sign tells only part of the story. A gas station is two businesses on one site: the pump sells fuel, and the counter sells what is inside. According to 2025 data from the convenience-store trade group NACS, fuel brought in about 65% of sales dollars at convenience stores but only about 39% of gross profit dollars.
Educational only. This is not business, legal, or financial advice, and it cannot say what any single station earns. The figures are industry averages and shares, and some come from voluntary reports and surveys.
What is in the price at the pump
The U.S. Energy Information Administration lists four main parts of the retail price of gasoline: crude oil, refining, taxes, and distribution and marketing. Crude oil is the largest. The station’s piece sits inside the distribution and marketing slice, which also covers delivery and the costs and profits of the local retailer. It is not stacked on top of the price.
That piece has a lot to cover: wages, rent or lease payments, equipment, insurance, and fees to city and state. Those bills vary by location, and NACS notes that there is no “average” retailer. The business behind the counter is also often small. According to the NACS store count, 95,672 of 151,975 U.S. convenience stores, about 63%, belong to companies with ten stores or fewer.
Sales are not profit
NACS reports that in 2025 fuel made up 65.0% of total sales dollars at convenience stores, but 38.8% of all gross profit dollars. Gross profit is what remains after paying for the goods, before wages, rent, and card fees. A caution: NACS does not state the basis of the 65.0% figure, and its own industry totals in the same release ($476.3 billion of fuel sales out of $817.5 billion in total sales) work out to about 58%. Either way, fuel is more than half of sales and under 40% of gross profit. These shares cover convenience stores, and about 8 in 10 of them (80.7%) sell fuel.
How gas stations make money on fuel: cents per gallon
The measure behind fuel earnings is the fuel margin: cents per gallon left after the cost of the fuel, before running costs. NACS Magazine reports that fuel margins averaged over 40 cents per gallon in 2025, and that this helped offset weaker growth in inside gross profit. That is an average, not what every station earns.
How gas stations make money inside: what the counter adds
Inside, foodservice, meaning prepared food, dispensed drinks, and commissary items, led every inside sales category in 2025. NACS reports that foodservice was 28.5% of inside sales but 38.9% of inside gross profit dollars. Note that this is a share of inside gross profit, not of total gross profit.
That only works if drivers walk in. In a 2025 NACS Convenience Voices survey, 76.2% of shoppers said they go inside on some visits, and 23.8% said they typically buy only fuel, mostly because fuel is all they need or they are in a hurry. These are survey answers, not receipts, so they show what shoppers say, not what they buy.
The costs behind how gas stations make money
Gross profit sounds like what the owner keeps, but it is only what is left before running costs. NACS Magazine reports that wages and benefits rose from about $80,000 per store per month to about $104,000 over five years. Card fees are another cost the price sign never shows: the industry paid a record $21.3 billion in card fees in 2025, including $4.6 billion on taxes collected, with cards handling 82% of sales.
Expense growth did slow in 2025. Direct store operating expenses grew 4.2%, down from 7.1% in 2024. Still, average basket value rose 24 cents while basket profit after store costs fell 8 cents. NACS’s managing director of research, Chris Rapanick, calls basket profitability “a game of pennies.”
Breakeven pool margin: how much the pump carries
NACS uses a measure called breakeven pool margin: the fuel margin needed to cover store operating expenses after counting inside gross profit. On paper, when the counter grows, the gap shrinks and the pump carries less; when the counter stalls, the pump carries more. Rapanick calls it “the best measure of fuel dependency.” In 2025, fuel margins helped offset weaker growth in inside gross profit, so the pump carried part of the load.
How gas stations make money: the short answer
In these numbers, the answer is not pump or counter alone, but how much each one carries. The pump brings most of the sales and a smaller share of gross profit. The counter adds gross profit of its own. Running costs sit on top of both, leaving a gap after the counter’s share that fuel margin has to cover. Next time you fill up, notice the short walk to the door: that is the other side of the math. For more on how everyday prices work, see our explainer on shrinkflation, browse more in Business Behind Everyday Life, and read how we handle sources in our editorial policy.
Frequently asked questions
How do gas stations make money if fuel is most of sales?
Not in NACS’s 2025 numbers. Fuel was about 39% of gross profit at convenience stores, though its fuel margin helps cover running costs.
What is a gas station’s fuel margin?
It is cents per gallon after the cost of fuel, before running costs. NACS reported an average of over 40 cents per gallon for 2025. Any single station may differ.
Is this business advice?
No. This is general education about industry data. Brightward is independent and is not affiliated with NACS or any gas station brand.
