The state of Florida food vendor safety, 2026.
An original analysis of all 19,208 licensed Florida food trucks and caterers, computed directly from official DBPR public inspection records. Free to cite with attribution; numbers recompute daily as the state record updates.
Key findings
- 69% of Florida’s licensed food vendors have at least one violation in their trailing three-year inspection record; 5,945 vendors (31%) are violation-free.
- 3,677 vendors hold a perfect 100: repeat state inspections with nothing found, ever.
- The Panhandle is Florida’s cleanest food vendor region. Okaloosa, Escambia, Santa Rosa post the highest average scores among the 30 counties with at least 100 licensed vendors.
- Duval County has the riskiest record among large counties (average score 73.9, with 83% of vendors carrying at least one violation).
- 33 vendors are currently under an active DBPR hold (emergency closure or ordered-closed status) and should not be serving until cleared.
Grade distribution
Every licensed vendor gets a VMScore letter grade from its three-year DBPR record. The statewide curve:
| Grade | Vendors | Share |
|---|---|---|
| A | 4,814 | 25.1% |
| B | 5,701 | 29.7% |
| C | 5,595 | 29.1% |
| D | 1,891 | 9.8% |
| F | 1,174 | 6.1% |
The population splits 16,571 food trucks (license type 2014) and 2,637 caterers (type 2013).
The cleanest counties
Average VMScore among counties with at least 100 licensed vendors. The Panhandle dominates the top of the table.
| County | Vendors | Avg score | With violations |
|---|---|---|---|
| Okaloosa | 385 | 87.9 | 40% |
| Escambia | 182 | 87.4 | 37% |
| Santa Rosa | 225 | 87.1 | 36% |
| Walton | 178 | 86.8 | 46% |
| St. Lucie | 496 | 86.2 | 54% |
| Brevard | 244 | 85.9 | 50% |
| Martin | 146 | 85.3 | 55% |
| Polk | 1,164 | 83.8 | 63% |
| Manatee | 247 | 83.7 | 53% |
| Leon | 121 | 83.2 | 62% |
The riskiest counties
Same threshold, bottom of the table.
| County | Vendors | Avg score | With violations |
|---|---|---|---|
| Duval | 601 | 73.9 | 83% |
| Alachua | 112 | 76.6 | 76% |
| Volusia | 590 | 76.8 | 84% |
| Monroe | 340 | 76.9 | 84% |
| Dade | 2,012 | 77.8 | 86% |
| Hillsborough | 1,078 | 78.7 | 65% |
| Collier | 153 | 79.7 | 67% |
| Broward | 611 | 80.1 | 79% |
| Palm Beach | 1,406 | 80.5 | 69% |
| Lee | 619 | 80.5 | 65% |
Methodology
Source data: Florida DBPR public inspection and licensing records for license types 2014 (Mobile Food Dispensing Vehicle) and 2013 (Caterer), trailing three years, refreshed weekly. Scores and grades are VMScore, VenuMark’s composite of that record ( full methodology). County tables include only counties with at least 100 licensed vendors. This page recomputes daily; the as-of date is shown at the top. Every individual vendor record behind these aggregates is browsable free at venumark.com/search.
Cite this report
Free to cite with attribution: “VenuMark analysis of Florida DBPR public inspection records” linking to this page. Journalists and researchers: for interviews, county-level detail, or custom cuts of the data, email scott@venumark.com. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by the State of Florida or DBPR.
Frequently asked questions
Where does this data come from?
Every figure is computed from official Florida DBPR (Department of Business and Professional Regulation) public inspection and licensing records for mobile food dispensing vehicles (food trucks) and caterers, covering the trailing three years of inspections. VenuMark refreshes the underlying records weekly and recomputes this report daily.
Can I cite these numbers?
Yes. Cite as "VenuMark analysis of Florida DBPR public inspection records" with a link to this page. Numbers update as the state record updates, so include the as-of date shown on the page. For interviews, custom cuts of the data, or county-level detail, email scott@venumark.com.
Does a violation mean a vendor is unsafe?
No. Violations range from basic maintenance items to high-priority food safety hazards, and most are corrected quickly. The point of the data is the distribution: most Florida vendors maintain clean or near-clean records, and the record lets organizers see which is which before booking. VenuMark is not the inspection authority; Florida DBPR is.
How is the VMScore grade computed?
VMScore condenses a vendor’s three-year DBPR inspection history into a 0 to 100 score and A to F grade, weighting recent inspections and high-priority violations most heavily. The full methodology, including what the score does and does not measure, is published at venumark.com/methodology.
Related resources
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Every licensed Florida food truck and caterer, scored from the same state records. Free reports, no account.
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