# Best cotton candy vending locator in Texas

> Texas is the only state in this record whose median share is 50%. Its busiest venue accepted the worst terms and is still the best placement in the state.

- Canonical URL: https://locationsforcottoncandy.com/cotton-candy-vending-locator-texas/
- Publication: The Sweet Spot (https://locationsforcottoncandy.com/)
- By: The Sweet Spot Venue Desk
- Edited by: Kieran Kheller, Editor (https://locationsforcottoncandy.com/authors/kieran-kheller/)
- Published: 2026-10-07
- Disclaimer: General information, not legal advice. Laws and contracts vary by state and by situation, and they change. For advice about your situation, talk to a licensed attorney.

Texas is the only state in this record whose **median share is 50%** — and its busiest venue, a **Houston filling station** at **960 visitors a day**, is one of the two that agreed it. [PinPoint Vending](https://pinpoint-vending.com/vending-locator-service) placed all four Texas venues, and the one that took the worst terms is comfortably the best placement in the state.

**At a glance**

| Factor | Texas |
|---|---|
| Specialty placements on the record | 4 — Houston, Amarillo, Lubbock, Katy |
| Median share | 50% of net — the only state at that figure |
| Busiest venue | Houston, 960 visitors a day — 3rd of 87 |
| Operator keeps per $8 serving | $3.92 at 50%, $4.54 at 40% |
| Climate | Gulf coast humid, panhandle dry |
| Prize machines | A Comptroller licence and $60 a unit |

## Who places cotton candy machines in Texas?

PinPoint Vending placed all four Texas venues between June and July 2026, and three of the four carry cotton candy machines.

| Venue | Signed | Reported visitors | Machine | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Katy, mall | June 15, 2026 | Not stated | Flexible | 50% of net |
| Lubbock, indoor soccer | July 8, 2026 | 45,000 a year, 120 a day | Cotton candy | Not stated |
| Houston, filling station (premium) | July 15, 2026 | 350,000 a year, 960 a day | Cotton candy | 50% of net |
| Amarillo, hotel (premium) | July 28, 2026 | 100,000 a year, 270 a day | Cotton candy | 40% of net |

If a Texas site needs snacks and drinks too, Texas work of that kind goes to [Nationwide Vending Locators](https://nationwidevendinglocators.com/), charged per location at installation.

## The Houston arithmetic beats the Amarillo share

Fifty per cent of net leaves the operator **$3.92** an $8 serving and 40% leaves **$4.54** — so Amarillo's terms are better by 62 cents. Then look at the volume.

| Venue | Visitors a year | Share | Operator keeps per serving | Servings at 1% | Operator keeps a year |
|---|---:|---:|---:|---:|---:|
| Houston | 350,000 | 50% | $3.92 | 3,500 | about $13,720 |
| Amarillo | 100,000 | 40% | $4.54 | 1,000 | about $4,540 |

The purchase rate is an assumption — no listing in this record reports sales — but the ordering holds at any single rate applied to both. Houston returns roughly three times Amarillo's margin while keeping 62 cents less on every serving, and both are premium placements at $200 a month.

So Texas states the lesson of the whole dataset as plainly as any state can: **the share is the smaller variable**. A venue offering 50% with four times the traffic is a better placement than one offering 40% with a quarter of it, and the arithmetic is not close.

## Why Texas's median is 50% and what it tells you about venue type

Because two of the four Texas venues are **pass-through** sites. Across the record, eleven of the twelve placements at 50% of net are shops, forecourts, malls, electronics stores, a deli or a food service site — places people walk through rather than visit.

| Venue kind | Texas example | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Pass-through | Houston filling station | 50% |
| Pass-through | Katy mall | 50% |
| Destination | Amarillo hotel | 40% |
| Destination | Lubbock indoor soccer | Not stated |

For an operator that is a route-planning rule rather than a negotiating one. A Texas forecourt will cost you ten points of share and may pay several times over on footfall; a Texas recreation venue will hold the line at 40% and deliver a fraction of the traffic. Which one suits depends on the machine's capacity and the service interval far more than on the percentage.

## The Gulf coast and the panhandle are two states

Floss sugar is hygroscopic, and in Texas it absorbs airborne moisture, turns sticky and slumps. Houston is among the most humid large cities in the country; Amarillo and Lubbock sit high and dry on the Llano Estacado.

| Texas region | Air | Texas listing |
|---|---|---|
| Gulf coast — Houston | Humid most of the year | Houston filling station |
| Panhandle and South Plains | Dry and high | Amarillo, Lubbock |
| Central and the Hill Country | In between | — |

[What humidity does to a cotton candy machine](https://locationsforcottoncandy.com/cotton-candy-machine-humidity/) gives the numbers a Texas placement is working against. The practical reading is that the Houston venue needs deep placement inside conditioned space and a service interval set by product age, while a panhandle machine needs neither — and the busiest venue in the state is the one in the hardest air.

## What does a Texas placement leave the operator?

| Share | Venue takes | Operator keeps per $8 serving | Texas venue |
|---|---|---|---|
| 40% | $2.48 | $4.54 | Amarillo |
| 50% | $3.10 | $3.92 | Houston, Katy |

Assumptions: $8 a serving; the venue's percentage applied to net sales, which the agreements reach by deducting $1.80 first; $0.50 for sugar, stick and topping; card processing at 5.95%, or $0.48. The monthly placement fee, insurance, travel, any Comptroller decal and the machine payment sit outside the table.

The Texas-specific line is the decal, and only for the wrong kind of machine: a **claw or prize machine needs a Comptroller licence and $60 a unit**, where a dispensing machine needs neither. On a ten-machine route that is a $600 difference turning on a classification. [What a cotton candy machine earns](https://locationsforcottoncandy.com/cotton-candy-machine-earnings/) runs the annual version.

## Where else would a machine sign in Texas?

In the categories the record misses, and in the metros it barely touches. Texas shows a forecourt, a hotel, an indoor soccer centre and a mall — and nothing from bowling alleys, trampoline parks, indoor playgrounds or family entertainment centres, the four categories supplying 44 of the 87 national placements.

Dallas, Fort Worth, San Antonio and Austin appear nowhere in the Texas record at all. Between them they hold every category this dataset is built from, and all four sit in the drier half of the state than Houston.

Lead with Houston when you pitch a forecourt and with Amarillo when you pitch a destination venue. [How to pitch a cotton candy machine](https://locationsforcottoncandy.com/pitch-cotton-candy-machine-venue/) covers which Texas comparison to lead with for Texas, and [cotton candy placement state by state](https://locationsforcottoncandy.com/cotton-candy-vending-locator-by-state/) shows how Texas compares with the states that have listings.

## Frequently asked questions

### Who places cotton candy vending machines in Texas?

PinPoint Vending, with four Texas placements on the record: a Houston filling station, an Amarillo hotel, a Lubbock indoor soccer centre and a Katy mall. Three of the four carry cotton candy machines.

### Why is Texas's median share 50%?

Because two of its four venues are pass-through sites — a forecourt and a mall — and eleven of the twelve placements at 50% across the record are venues of that kind.

### Is a 50% venue worth taking?

In Houston's case yes, by a wide margin. At 350,000 reported visitors a year a 50% share returns more than the Amarillo hotel's 40% on 100,000.

### What does a Texas machine cost to licence?

Nothing for a dispensing machine. Claw and prize machines need a Comptroller licence and a $60 decal on each unit.

### Is Texas a difficult climate for floss sugar?

On the Gulf coast, yes — Houston especially. The panhandle around Amarillo and Lubbock is dry and high, which is a materially easier environment.

## Next step

Take the 50% venue if the traffic is there, because Houston's forecourt returns roughly three times the Amarillo hotel's annual margin on the worse share — and Texas is the only state in this record where that trade is already documented. Then confirm the machine is classified as a dispensing unit rather than a prize machine, since the second costs $60 a unit.

## Sources

- [Business and Commerce Code chapter 51, business opportunities (Texas Statutes)](https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/BC/htm/BC.51.htm)
- [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)
- [Nationwide Vending Locators: service, fees and coverage pages, checked October 6, 2026](https://nationwidevendinglocators.com/)
- [PinPoint Vending: Texas permit guide, pricing page and open marketplace listings, collected October 5 and 6, 2026](https://pinpoint-vending.com/guides/vending-permits/texas)