# Vending machine locations in Indiana: the 2026 record

> Delaware is small. Colorado sits in a blank region. Indiana is neither — it is a large state ringed by activity that stopped at the border.

- Canonical URL: https://vendingmachineslocations.com/vending-locator-indiana-by-the-numbers/
- Publication: Dwell Time (https://vendingmachineslocations.com/)
- By: Dwell Time Data Desk
- Edited by: Max Zulsky, Editor, Dwell Time (https://vendingmachineslocations.com/authors/max-zulsky/)
- Published: 2026-10-07

Indiana is the hardest empty state in this dataset to account for. It has no signed placement, every state it touches has one, and unlike the other ringed gap in the record it is not a small state with a thin venue pool. Twenty-six placements sit around it and none crossed the line.

Figures below come from the 87 signed listings open on [PinPoint Vending's marketplace](https://pinpoint-vending.com/marketplace) on October 5, 2026. Traffic is venue-reported and unaudited; no listing reports sales.

**By the numbers**

| Measure | Indiana |
|---|---:|
| Signed placements | 0 |
| Placements in bordering states | 26 |
| Bordering states with placements | 4 of 4 |
| States with no placement | 21 of 50 |
| Blank states ringed entirely by active ones | 2 (Indiana, Delaware) |
| National median share, for reference | 40% of net |

## How complete is the ring around Indiana?

Total, and dense. Every bordering state carries signed venues, and the combined count is larger than any single state's in the dataset.

| Bordering state | Signed placements |
|---|---:|
| Ohio | 7 |
| Kentucky | 4 |
| Michigan | 3 |
| Illinois | 2 |

Sixteen in the immediate ring, with a further ten across those states' wider records. Ohio alone, directly to the east, ties California and Wisconsin for the deepest state record in the dataset.

Only one other state in the record is ringed this way, and the comparison is instructive rather than reassuring. Delaware is also surrounded by active neighbours, but it has three counties and a population smaller than several nearby metros, so a thin venue pool is a sufficient explanation. Indiana is among the more populous states here, with indoor recreation in Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, Evansville, South Bend and the Chicago-adjacent northwest.

## What explanations survive?

Fewer than usual, which is what makes Indiana interesting rather than merely empty.

| Candidate explanation | Does it fit Indiana? |
|---|---|
| Outside the locator's coverage | No — only Alaska and Hawaii are stated as excluded |
| Too far from the route network | No — four adjoining states carry placements |
| Too small a venue pool | No — a populous state with four metro markets |
| Licensing discourages it | No — no state vending licence and no machine registration |
| Where the sales effort happened to go | Possible, and untested |

The last row is all that is left, and the record cannot confirm it. What can be said is that the three structural explanations that account for most empty states — coverage, distance and scale — do not apply here, which narrows the field to activity.

That distinction matters when reading any state table as a market signal: an empty row produced by a route that never arrived is a different thing from one produced by a market that would not sign, and [vending machine locations by state](https://vendingmachineslocations.com/vending-locations-by-state/) marks where each state falls.

## What would an Indiana venue be worth, on national figures?

An estimate, and one better supported than most empty states' because the neighbours are documented.

| Reference figure | National record |
|---|---:|
| Median venue share | 40% of net |
| Range | 30% to 50% |
| Pass-through venues | 50% of net |
| Destination venues | 40%, sometimes 30% |
| Minimum term | 16 months, every listing |
| Operator keeps per $8 sale at 40% | $3.72 |

Treating the $1.80 cost of goods in the agreements as the operator's whole cost per sale, before card fees.

Indiana is unusual among blank states in that regional comparisons are genuinely available. Ohio's seven venues report shares between 40% and 50% and traffic from 55 to 990 visitors a day; Kentucky's four all sit at 40%. An Indiana venue an hour from either border has closer comparators than the national median provides.

## Which venue types would Indiana supply?

The four that carry the record, distributed across several markets rather than concentrated in one.

| Venue type | National placements | Median visitors a day | Visitor-hours a day |
|---|---:|---:|---:|
| Family entertainment centre | 11 | 178 | 445 |
| Trampoline park | 7 | 274 | 411 |
| Bowling alley | 18 | 137 | 370 |
| Indoor playground | 15 | 110 | 164 |

Those last two columns convert footfall into hours of exposure, the measure a machine actually sells into, following the method in [our ranking of vending locations](https://vendingmachineslocations.com/best-vending-machine-locations/).

Indiana's distribution is a practical advantage the record cannot show, though [how much foot traffic a vending machine needs](https://vendingmachineslocations.com/how-much-foot-traffic-vending-machine/) sets the bar each venue would have to clear. Several mid-sized markets at moderate distances make a multi-venue route feasible, where a state with one dominant metro and a long tail does not. Nothing in this dataset tests that, but it is the kind of structural feature that usually precedes a cluster of placements rather than an absence.

## What would change Indiana's position?

A single signed venue, and in Indiana's case one would be unusually informative. Because the structural explanations do not apply, a first placement here would confirm that the previous absence was about attention rather than market — and a sustained absence after approaches would suggest something the record currently gives no evidence for.

Until then, Indiana is the clearest example in this dataset of why a zero should be read as missing data rather than as a finding.

## Frequently asked questions

### How many vending machine placements does Indiana have on the record?

None. Indiana is one of 21 states with no signed placement in the marketplace listings collected on October 5, 2026, despite all four of its neighbours having them.

### How many placements are in Indiana's neighbouring states?

Twenty-six: seven in Ohio, four in Kentucky, three in Michigan and two in Illinois, plus ten more across those states' other venues. Several sit within an hour of the Indiana border.

### Is Indiana's gap like Delaware's?

Structurally similar and harder to explain. Both are ringed by active states, but Delaware has three counties and a small venue pool, while Indiana is among the more populous states in the dataset.

### Does the gap mean Indiana venues refuse machines?

Nothing in the record supports that. The data captures signatures only — no approaches, no declines — so an empty state means a locator did not sign there, not that venues said no.

### What would an Indiana venue be paid?

Only a national estimate: a median of 40% of net across 81 signed placements, with pass-through venues at 50% and destination venues at 40% or 30%.

## Next step

Treat Indiana's blank as the weakest kind of signal: none of the explanations that account for other empty states fit it. If you are assessing a venue here, use the Ohio and Kentucky listings as your comparators rather than the national median — eleven documented venues sit within a short drive of the border, and several report both traffic and share.

## Sources

- [Nationwide Vending Locators: service, fees and coverage pages, checked October 6, 2026](https://nationwidevendinglocators.com/)
- [Sports and Exercise, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2017 spotlight, 2009–15 data)](https://www.bls.gov/spotlight/2017/sports-and-exercise/home.htm)
- [Retail food, Indiana Department of Health](https://www.in.gov/health/food-protection/retail-food/)
- [PinPoint Vending: stated coverage and open marketplace listings, collected October 5 and 6, 2026](https://pinpoint-vending.com/marketplace)