Vending machine revenue by property type
Revenue varies enormously by property type — a hospital lobby machine can out-earn five machines in a low-traffic office. This calculator uses baseline revenue figures for 16 property types, scaled by the actual size of your property (employee count, beds, units, daily visitors), the days it's open, whether it's in a major city or a rural area, and which locations you plan to place machines.
What drives the estimate
- Property size — the single biggest lever. Doubling employee count, beds, or units roughly scales revenue up, though with diminishing returns at very large sizes.
- Placement — breakrooms and cafeterias capture the most foot traffic. Pool areas and parking garages capture the least.
- Multiple machines — each additional placement adds revenue, but at a discount versus the first, since foot traffic gets split across more machines.
- City density — major-city placements tend to run 15% above baseline; rural placements run 25% below.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a vending machine make in an office building?
A single machine in a typical office breakroom (around 100 employees, 20 daily visitors) projects to roughly $450–$780 in monthly gross revenue, or about $110–$275 net after product costs, commission, and fees. Larger headcounts and higher foot traffic scale this up, and additional placements (lobby, cafeteria) add more. See the full breakdown in how much do vending machines make.
How much does a vending machine make in an apartment complex?
For a 100–250 unit apartment community with one machine near the mail room, expect roughly $420–$730 in monthly gross revenue, or about $105–$255 net. Larger communities (500+ units) and additional machines in the laundry room or pool area increase this substantially.
How much does a vending machine make in a hospital?
A single machine in a 150-bed hospital lobby projects to roughly $1,690–$2,925 in monthly gross revenue, or about $420–$1,025 net. Hospitals typically support 2–3 machines across cafeterias, breakrooms, and waiting areas, which compounds the total considerably.
Is this calculator free to use?
Yes. No signup, no paywall — just select your property details and calculate.
How accurate are the numbers?
The ranges reflect the spread operators actually report for similar properties. Real results depend heavily on product mix, restock frequency, pricing, and how visible the machine is within the space.
Want more than just the math?
VendBuddy turns this same model into a full operator system: lead search by ZIP, decision-maker contacts, machine recommendations by location, and a route dashboard that tracks your real numbers against the projection. Start free →