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Gas Station Feasibility Study for Your Site and Lender

Gallons per month by grade for cars and trucks, fuel margin, store and car wash sales and a 5-year projection for one proposed or existing station, built on measured traffic at the site and every competitor within 5 miles. Prepared by Ticon analysts, independent of your bank.

One-time price
$1,500
You get
PDF report
Delivery
Delivered in two weeks by our analysts

Reviewed by Gregory Brodski, ScD, PhD, CEO, Ticon

Order the study for your siteSee the sample gas station study (PDF)Book a 15-minute call
Estimated fuel sales: gallons, price, monthly and yearly sales for regular, mid-grade, premium and diesel, and fuel margin
Fuel sales and margin by grade

Gas Station Feasibility Study PDF: View a Sample Report

Market demand: potential customers per month, in-store sales and fuel demand in gallons for cars and trucks
Customers, store sales and gallons per month
Aerial map of the intersection with average daily traffic and peak hours for every road direction
Traffic for every direction at the site
Market supply: number of fuel, c-store and car wash competitors and people per station against county and state
Competitors and people per station
See the sample gas station study (PDF)

What Is Included in a Gas Station Feasibility Study?

  • Fuel Volume Forecast by Grade and Vehicle Type

    Gallons per month for cars and trucks separately, split into regular, mid-grade, premium and diesel, priced at local prices with the fuel margin at your rate or the industry default.

  • Gas Station Traffic Count and Site Analysis

    Average daily traffic and peak hours for every direction of every road at the station, with access, visibility and the population, income and growth around the site.

  • Competitor Analysis Within 5 Miles

    Every gas station, c-store and car wash within 5 miles with its services, and people per station against the county and the state.

  • Convenience Store and Car Wash Revenue Forecast

    Daily, monthly and yearly in-store sales, and car wash customers and sales if the site has a wash.

  • 5-Year Sales and Profit Projections

    Store sales, fuel margin and car wash sales five years out, each on an industry trend and on local growth.

Why the numbers hold up

  • Traffic counted at your corner

    Every direction of every road at the site, from Ticon’s traffic record, which goes back to 2013. Not a county AADT for the nearest highway.

  • Visitor rates from published research

    The share of passing drivers who stop comes from Ticon’s study of US convenience store and gas station visitor rates.

  • Over 4,000 sites analyzed

    The same method has been run for independents and c-store brands across the country.

Checked before it reaches you

Gregory Brodski, CEO, Ticon

Gregory Brodski, ScD, PhD

CEO, Ticon

Gregory reviews every feasibility study before it is sent: the traffic counts, the assumptions and the projection. Gregory holds a Doctor of Science and a PhD in mechanical engineering. His work centers on traffic flow modeling, traffic volume estimation and data verification, the methods behind the traffic counts in every study. He co-authored Ticon’s research on traffic data accuracy, trade area analysis and visitor rates at c-stores and gas stations.

LinkedInResearchGatePublished research

Who Needs a Gas Station Feasibility Study?

  • Buyers with an SBA or bank loan

    Hand your loan officer the market and location analysis behind your projected gallons and store sales.

  • Fuel distributors

    Check a dealer site’s volume before you sign a supply agreement.

  • Operators adding or rebranding a station

    Test a new address, or an existing station you plan to buy, with one method.

  • Truck stop developers

    See truck traffic and diesel gallons next to the car side.

Order Your Gas Station Feasibility Study

Search the address or tap the map to drop a pin.

How We Calculate Gas Station Fuel Demand

The study is built by Ticon’s fuel demand team, which forecasts site-level gasoline and diesel demand for fuel distributors and station owners. The method is published in research on c-store and gas station visitor rates, and it runs in four steps:

  1. Count the vehicles passing the site each month, for every direction of every road.
  2. Apply the visitor rate: the share of passing drivers who stop, adjusted for access, visibility and competition.
  3. Split cars and trucks, and take the share of each that buys fuel and the average fill: about 9.5 gallons for a car, far more for a truck.
  4. Split the gallons by grade from regional vehicle data, price each grade at local prices, and apply the margin.

In the sample, a corner with 11,795 vehicles a day comes out at about 102,900 gallons a month. Your own figures, such as fueling positions, prices and margin, replace the defaults wherever you send them.

Competition is the check on that number. Every gas station, c-store and car wash within 5 miles is listed with its distance and services, and the level of service says how many residents each station has: the fewer stations per person around your site compared with the county and the state, the more room there is for one more.

Feasibility Study for Gas Station Loans and Financing

Banks rarely use the words "feasibility study". They ask for a market analysis or a location analysis in your business plan, and for gas stations they want the same few things: who drives past, who competes for them, how many gallons and how much store revenue that adds up to, and whether it covers the loan.

The SBA rule only says SBA may require a feasibility study, so most lenders decide per loan: start-ups, purchases and loans that rest on projected sales are where they ask. USDA Business & Industry loans are stricter: above $1 million to a new business, the study must come from a consultant the agency accepts.

The study is the market and location part of the business plan, and each of those questions gets a number and a source, so the credit team can follow how the projection was built. Send the loan amount, rate, term and your operating costs with the order, and the analyst adds the debt service coverage ratio and a low, base and high case for gallons and margin.

A gas station is special-purpose property, so expect more than a market analysis. Lenders typically ask for a Phase I environmental site assessment, tank and line test results, an appraisal, the fuel supply agreement and, for a station you are buying, its gallon and store sales history. The environmental work and the appraisal come from their own specialists. Ask your loan officer what they need and in which format before you order.

Gas Station Feasibility Study Cost and Delivery

The study costs $1,500 for one site, paid once. Consultants usually quote $5,000 to $12,000 for a full study. You send the address, and optionally fueling positions, store size, car wash, prices and margin; Ticon analysts deliver a searchable PDF in two weeks, reviewed before it is sent.

Not ready to spend that yet? The free convenience store sales forecast gives a first estimate for your address, Business Site Traffic gives only the traffic at the pumps, and a comparative location analysis puts two corners through the same measures.

A store without pumps? See the convenience store feasibility study.

Where the Data Comes From

Population and household income are demographic estimates based on the newest available U.S. Census Bureau release (ACS5, 2024), extrapolated forward to 2026.

Traffic counts come from Ticon & TrafficZoom , reflecting the most recent full year of data available, 2025.

Competitors and nearby amenities - parking, transit, and more - are points-of-interest data powered by Mapbox , continuously updated using multiple commercial, governmental, and community data sources.

See every data source we use

Gas station feasibility study: questions

A study of one fuel site that estimates how many gallons and how much store and car wash revenue it can sell, from measured traffic, the people around it and the competing stations, with a 5-year projection.
$1,500 for one site, paid once, with no subscription. Consultants usually quote $5,000 to $12,000 for a full study.
Ask your loan officer before you order, because every lender sets its own rules and nobody can promise approval. The study is prepared by Ticon, a company independent of your bank or lender, and it walks from measured traffic and census data to the sales projection, which is what a credit team checks. Ask which file format their portal takes; the study is a searchable PDF.
There is no blanket rule. The SBA regulation (13 CFR 120.160) says SBA may require one, and lenders decide case by case, most often for start-ups, purchases and loans that rest on projected sales. USDA Business & Industry loans are stricter: a guaranteed loan above $1 million to a new business needs a study by a consultant the agency accepts, so check with the agency first.
Only the address to start. Fueling positions, store size, car wash, your prices and margin are optional: send them and they replace the industry defaults.
On request. Send the loan amount, rate, term and your operating costs with the order, and the analyst adds the debt service coverage ratio (DSCR) and a low, base and high case for sales and margin.
Yes. Trucks are counted apart from cars, with their own share of fuel buyers and average fill, so diesel gallons show on their own line.
Yes. Send its current gallons and store sales if you have them, and the analyst compares them with what the site should sell.
Ticon analysts prepare it, and Gregory Brodski, ScD, PhD, CEO of Ticon, reviews every study before it is sent. Questions about the numbers go to the analyst who prepared them.
No. It is a data-driven estimate to inform your decision. It does not guarantee business performance and is not financial, legal or investment advice.
Population and household income are demographic estimates based on the newest available U.S. Census Bureau release (ACS5, 2024), extrapolated forward to 2026. Traffic counts come from Ticon & TrafficZoom, reflecting the most recent full year of data available, 2025. Competitors and nearby amenities - parking, transit, and more - are points-of-interest data powered by Mapbox, continuously updated using multiple commercial, governmental, and community data sources.

Show your lender the gallons before you sign

Order the study for your site