What will it actually cost to launch your food truck?
Most people budget for the truck and forget the other half — then run out of cash three weeks before opening day. Answer a few questions and get a realistic low-to-high startup number, built from documented national cost ranges. Not a guess. Not a sales pitch.
Build your startup number
Pick what fits your plan. Every line uses a documented low/high range — your real cost lands somewhere inside it. We show the full range because anyone who hands you one exact number is guessing.
Your situation
Six questions. Updates as you go.
Your launch number
Cash you need before you start — low to high.
Where these numbers come from
This is a planning estimate, not a quote. Every range is national and documented — your city, your truck, and your menu will move the real figure. The ranges here are the same ones in our state permit data and free mini-kit:
Truck (used $40k–$80k · new $75k–$150k · rent $2,000–$3,000/mo), opening inventory & smallwares, fuel, and maintenance: Square's food truck cost guide, which also cites the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation food truck index (first-year city compliance averaged ~$1,864 — Boston $17,066, Indianapolis $590). Permits & licenses (business license $50–$500, mobile vendor permit $100–$2,000, health permit $50–$1,000, fire permit $50–$300, food-handler certs $10–$50/person, commercial vehicle registration $100–$400): Menubly. Commissary kitchen ($250–$1,500+/mo): The Food Corridor. Insurance (GL + commercial auto, $150–$400/mo; GL median ~$42/mo and commercial auto median ~$170/mo): Logrock 2026 rates and Insureon customer medians.
Not included: food restock (depends entirely on your menu and volume) and wages (vary too much by market) — budget these separately. Verify every figure with your local health department before you spend a dollar. Spotted something off? Tell us.
Keep planning
Three more free tools, no email needed.
Know your number? Now build the plan that hits it.
This is the lite version. The full Food Truck Kit includes the complete startup budget calculator (auto-totaling, with financing scenarios), plus the menu pricing calculator, break-even tool, business plan template, 90-day launch timeline, and 40+ more files — everything from idea to opening day, already built and branded.
Get the Free Food Truck Starter Kit
Permit checklist, startup budget calculator, and a printable worksheet. Free, no strings.
