Three snapshots taken 2026-10-08, summarised here with charts. The numbers come from VendBuddy's own research; every section links to the full report and to a CSV you can reuse with credit.
Free to reuse under CC BY 4.0: credit "VendBuddy, vendbuddy.io" and link the source report. All three are samples of what VendBuddy users searched or what public documents say, not industry censuses. Repository: vending-data.
An aggregate of 36,069 operating US businesses that VendBuddy users looked up as possible vending locations between 2026-04-30 and 2026-10-08, grouped by Google category, state, rating, opening hours and review count. Rows under 5 listings are suppressed. Full write-up: Where Vending Locations Are: 2026 Location Index.
Listings by location type, top 12 of 18 groups (n=36,069). Source: VendBuddy Location Index.Share of listings with posted hours open past 9 PM on at least one day (groups with 20 or more listings with hours). Source: VendBuddy Location Index.Median Google reviews per listing, a loose foot-traffic proxy that misses staff-only sites. Source: VendBuddy Location Index.Top 10 states by listings looked up. Source: VendBuddy Location Index.
We read 28 public vending solicitations, agreements and awards from cities, counties, school districts and colleges (2015 to 2026) and recorded what each states: commission, term, insurance, healthy-vending rules, card readers and service frequency. Private placement agreements are confidential, so this is public-sector only. Full write-up: Vending Commission Rates and Contract Terms 2026.
Card readers, from the documents that address payment: 13 require card readers, 3 only in some places, 1 coins and bills only. See the full report for the per-document table and the links to every original contract.
What 628 operator accounts on VendBuddy did in the 90 days to 2026-10-08: which location types and states they searched, and where they are based. It describes VendBuddy's users, not the whole industry. Full write-up: State of Vending Operators, Q4 2026.
