Food Truck Break-Even Calculator
Daily sales target to cover fixed and variable costs.
About this calculator
This calculator works from a standard contribution-margin break-even model, adapted for the food truck's per-transaction economics. Your food cost percentage and labor cost percentage (both expressed as a share of revenue) are added together to get total variable cost percentage; what's left over — the contribution margin — is the portion of each sales dollar available to pay down monthly fixed costs like the truck payment, insurance, commissary fees, and permits. Dividing monthly fixed costs by the contribution margin percentage gives the total monthly revenue you need to break even, and dividing fixed costs by the contribution margin in dollars per average ticket gives the number of customers needed.
From there, the calculator spreads those monthly targets across your operating days per month to get daily revenue and customer targets, then divides the daily customer target by a fixed 5-hour service window to estimate customers needed per hour — a useful sanity check against your truck's actual serving speed. It also reports a "comfortable" revenue target 20% above break-even, since running exactly at break-even leaves no cushion for a slow day or unexpected cost. Keep in mind this model treats food cost and labor cost as pure percentages of revenue rather than fixed dollar amounts, so if either cost structure is actually closer to fixed (e.g., a salaried manager) your real break-even point will shift — treat the output as a planning benchmark, not an exact budget.
Inputs
Results
Monthly break-even revenue
$8,888.89
How to Use This Calculator
- Enter total monthly fixed costs (truck payment, insurance, commissary, permits, POS, etc.).
- Set the average ticket price per customer and food cost as a percentage of revenue.
- Enter operating days per month and labor cost as a percentage of revenue.
- The calculator shows monthly break-even revenue, break-even customers per month, daily revenue and customer targets, customers per hour needed, contribution margin, and a comfortable 20%-buffer revenue goal.
- Compare daily customer target to realistic foot traffic at your chosen locations to validate your business plan.
How the result changes with Monthly fixed costs ($)
| Monthly fixed costs ($) | Monthly break-even revenue |
|---|---|
| 2,000 | $4,444.44 |
| 3,000 | $6,666.67 |
| 6,000 | $13,333.33 |
| 10,000 | $22,222.22 |
What each input means
- Monthly fixed costs ($)
- Truck payment, insurance, commissary, permits, POS, phone, etc.
- Average ticket price ($)
- Average amount each customer spends per transaction.
- Food cost (%)
- Ingredient cost as a percentage of revenue. Industry target: 28-32%.
- Operating days per month
- Number of days your truck is open each month.
- Labor cost (%)
- Staff wages as a percentage of revenue. Typical range: 20-30%.
What each result means
- Monthly break-even revenue
- Total monthly revenue needed to cover all costs.
- Break-even customers/month
- Number of customers needed per month to break even.
- Daily revenue target
- Revenue needed per operating day to break even.
- Daily customer target
- Customers needed per operating day.
- Customers per hour needed
- Customers per hour during a 5-hour service window.
- Contribution margin
- Percentage of each dollar that covers fixed costs after variable expenses.
- Comfortable revenue target
- 20% above break-even for a healthy safety margin.
How this is calculated
Worked example, using the default values
- Identify Input Parameters4 parametersMonthly fixed costs ($) = 4000, Average ticket price ($) = 12, Food cost (%) = 30, Operating days per month = 22 = 5 input(s) provided
- Calculate Monthly break-even revenueMonthly break-even revenue = contributionMarginPct > 08888.89 = $8,888.89
- Calculate Break-even customers/monthBreak-even customers/month741 = 741
- Calculate Daily revenue targetDaily revenue target = breakEvenRevenue / operatingDays404.04 = $404.04
Engine last updated . Checked against 3 independently-derived tests — how we verify calculators. Built by Paul Gunder, a software engineer, not a licensed financial, medical, or legal professional.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why do food cost and labor cost get added together instead of treated separately?
Both are entered as percentages of revenue, so the calculator sums them into a single variable cost percentage and subtracts that from 100% to get the contribution margin — the share of each sales dollar left over to pay down fixed costs. Because they're combined before the break-even math runs, a 1-point increase in either food cost or labor cost has exactly the same effect on your break-even revenue.
Why might my real break-even point differ from what this calculator shows?
The model treats food cost and labor cost purely as percentages of revenue, but real costs are often a mix — a salaried manager, for instance, is a fixed dollar cost that doesn't shrink on a slow day the way this percentage-based model assumes. If a meaningful part of your labor or food spend is actually fixed rather than variable, your true break-even revenue will differ from the output here.
How is the 'customers per hour needed' figure calculated, and what should I compare it against?
It divides your daily customer target by a fixed 5-hour service window assumption, regardless of how many hours you actually operate per day. Compare this number to your truck's realistic order-taking and prep speed at your chosen locations — if it exceeds what your crew and equipment can actually turn out per hour, either your ticket price, costs, or operating hours need to change.
What does the 'comfortable revenue target' add beyond the break-even number?
It's simply break-even revenue multiplied by 1.2, giving a 20% cushion above the bare minimum needed to cover costs. Running exactly at break-even leaves no margin for an unexpectedly slow day, a broken-down truck, or an unplanned cost spike, so this target is meant as a more realistic operating goal than break-even itself.
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