Food Truck Permits by State: The 50-State Table (2026)

The 50-state table · checked October 19, 2026

Food truck permits by state: who issues, whether it travels

All 51 jurisdictions, one row each. 5 now run one-license-statewide systems and 2 run reciprocity — the rest still permit locally, county by county or city by city. Every row is stamped with how it was sourced: rows verified against the statute or the issuing authority say so; rows compiled from published guides are marked “being double-checked” rather than dressed up. Click a state for its full file: the issuing office, the travel rule, the commissary rule, and fees where we have verified them.

Jurisdiction	Who issues	Does it travel?	Commissary	Row source
Alabama	County health departments (state food code)	Local permits	Varies by office	Compiled · double-checking
Alaska	State permit: Alaska DEC	Local permits	Varies by office	Compiled · double-checking
Arizona	County health departments	Local permits	Generally expected	Compiled · double-checking
Arkansas	Arkansas Department of Health, through local health units	Local permits	Varies by office	Compiled · double-checking
California	County environmental health departments	Local permits	Generally expected	Compiled · double-checking
Colorado	Local licenses: county/city health departments and licensing offices	Reciprocity state	Generally expected	Issuing authority / statute
Connecticut	Local health departments and districts	Local permits	Varies by office	Compiled · double-checking
Delaware	State license: Division of Public Health	Local permits	Varies by office	Compiled · double-checking
District of Columbia	One license: DC Health	One license, statewide	Generally expected	Compiled · double-checking
Florida	One state license: DBPR Division of Hotels & Restaurants	One license, statewide	Generally expected	Compiled · double-checking
Georgia	County health departments	Local permits	Required	Compiled · double-checking
Hawaii	State permit: Department of Health, Sanitation Branch	Local permits	Varies by office	Compiled · double-checking
Idaho	Idaho health districts	Local permits	Varies by office	Compiled · double-checking
Illinois	Local health departments and cities	Local permits	Generally expected	Compiled · double-checking
Indiana	County health departments	Local permits	Varies by office	Compiled · double-checking
Iowa	State program: Department of Inspections & Appeals	Local permits	Varies by office	Compiled · double-checking
Kansas	State license: Kansas Department of Agriculture	Local permits	Varies by office	Compiled · double-checking
Kentucky	Local health departments	Local permits	Varies by office	Compiled · double-checking
Louisiana	Parish health units (state Office of Public Health)	Local permits	Varies by office	Compiled · double-checking
Maine	State license: DHHS Health Inspection Program	Local permits	Varies by office	Compiled · double-checking
Maryland	County health departments	Local permits	Generally expected	Compiled · double-checking
Massachusetts	Local boards of health (state food code)	Local permits	Varies by office	Compiled · double-checking
Michigan	Local health departments	Local permits	Generally expected	Compiled · double-checking
Minnesota	State or delegated local licensing (Dept. of Health)	Local permits	Generally expected	Compiled · double-checking
Mississippi	State permit: Department of Health	Local permits	Varies by office	Compiled · double-checking
Missouri	Local health agencies	Local permits	Varies by office	Compiled · double-checking
Montana	County health departments (state food code)	Local permits	Varies by office	Compiled · double-checking
Nebraska	Dept. of Agriculture and local health departments	Local permits	Varies by office	Compiled · double-checking
Nevada	Health districts and the state	Local permits	Generally expected	Compiled · double-checking
New Hampshire	Towns (self-inspecting) or the state DHHS	Local permits	Varies by office	Compiled · double-checking
New Jersey	Local health departments	Local permits	Varies by office	Compiled · double-checking
New Mexico	State permits: Environment Department	Local permits	Varies by office	Compiled · double-checking
New York	County health departments; NYC runs its own	Local permits	Required	Compiled · double-checking
North Carolina	County health departments	Local permits	Required	Compiled · double-checking
North Dakota	Local public health units	Local permits	Varies by office	Compiled · double-checking
Ohio	Local license, statewide effect: board of health mobile FSO license	One license, statewide	Varies by office	Compiled · double-checking
Oklahoma	One state license: Oklahoma State Department of Health	One license, statewide	Varies by office	Issuing authority / statute
Oregon	County health departments	Local permits	Generally expected	Compiled · double-checking
Pennsylvania	Local health departments, or the Dept. of Agriculture	Local permits	Varies by office	Compiled · double-checking
Rhode Island	State license: Department of Health	Local permits	Varies by office	Compiled · double-checking
South Carolina	State permits through county offices (Dept. of Public Health)	Local permits	Varies by office	Compiled · double-checking
South Dakota	State license: Department of Health	Local permits	Varies by office	Compiled · double-checking
Tennessee	State Dept. of Health or metro health departments	Local permits	Varies by office	Compiled · double-checking
Texas	One state license: Texas DSHS (Health & Safety Code ch. 437B)	One license, statewide	Required	Issuing authority / statute
Utah	One city business license + a local health department food truck permit + fire approval	Reciprocity state	Varies by office	Issuing authority / statute
Vermont	State license: Department of Health	Local permits	Varies by office	Compiled · double-checking
Virginia	Local health districts (VDH)	Local permits	Generally expected	Compiled · double-checking
Washington	County health departments	Local permits	Generally expected	Compiled · double-checking
West Virginia	County health departments	Local permits	Varies by office	Compiled · double-checking
Wisconsin	State (DATCP) or local agent departments	Local permits	Varies by office	Compiled · double-checking
Wyoming	Local health departments or the Dept. of Agriculture	Local permits	Varies by office	Compiled · double-checking

How to read this: “One license, statewide” means a single license authorizes operation across the jurisdiction. “Reciprocity state” means local licenses that every other jurisdiction in the state must honor through a filing. “Local permits” means the permit belongs to the issuing county or city. The location layer — zoning, property permission, events — is local in all three regimes, everywhere.

Included in the $29 FoodTruckCleared Kit

Permit Path sheets for all 51 jurisdictions: who issues your permit, the step sequence, the commissary rule, and the local layer that survives — one printable sheet per state
The Texas HB 2844 transition guide: DSHS license types and fees, the inspection-queue playbook, and the exact answer to give a city still demanding its retired permit
Reciprocity playbooks for Colorado, Utah, and Oklahoma: the document packet, the 14-day clocks, and the copy-delivery errand, state by state
The commissary agreement template: a fill-in agreement with the sections health departments look for, plus how to find and negotiate a commissary in a new city
Inspection checklists: the health walk-through and the fire walk-through, in the order inspectors actually move around the truck
The event and temporary-permit pack: an application tracker, the questions to ask an organizer before you pay a booth fee, and the mass-gathering notice rules
Fee worksheets and a renewal calendar: what you paid, to whom, and when it expires — so no permit ever lapses silently

Get the FoodTruckCleared Kit — $29

One payment of $29. No subscription. The kit is a web page you can return to and print — Permit Path sheets for all 51 jurisdictions, the Texas transition guide, reciprocity playbooks, the commissary agreement template, inspection checklists, the event pack, and fee worksheets.