Walmart vs Costco: Total Stores and Average Store Size

Wholesaler. Pexels Images.

This article compares the number of warehouses or stores of Walmart and Costco. We will compare the number of stores worlwide, in the U.S., and internationally.

Let’s check it out!

For the detailed statistics of Walmart and Costco’s number of stores globally and by region, you may find more resources on these pages:

Walmart

• Walmart global store count and locations breakdown by region,

Costco

• Costco store numbers breakdown, ownership, and floor space,
• Costco total stores and warehouse locations by country,

Please use the table of contents to navigate this page.

Definitions

To help readers understand the content better, the following terms and glossaries have been provided.

Walmart vs Costco in Fiscal Schedules: Walmart’s FY2026 financial results are compared against Costco’s FY2025 results due to differences in their fiscal year reporting.

Walmart operates on a fiscal calendar that ends on January 31, meaning its FY2026 includes February 2025 to January 2026. In contrast, Costco follows a fiscal year ending in August, making its FY2025 cover September 2024 to August 2025.

Since Costco’s FY2026 results are not yet available at the time of Walmart’s latest fiscal report, analysts and industry comparisons often use Costco’s FY2025 as the closest match when evaluating the two retailers’ financial performance.

This approach ensures that the most recent annual results for both companies are used while accounting for their differing fiscal schedules.

Walmart Stores: Walmart’s stores refer to the retail locations operated by Walmart Inc., a multinational corporation specializing in discount department stores, hypermarkets, and grocery stores.

Walmart’s stores come in various formats, including:

• Supercenters – Large stores combining general merchandise and full-service grocery sections.
• Discount Stores – Traditional Walmart locations offering a wide range of products at low prices.
• Neighborhood Markets – Smaller stores focused on groceries, pharmacy services, and household essentials.
• Sam’s Club – Membership-based warehouse clubs offering bulk products at discounted rates.

Walmart operates thousands of stores worldwide, making it one of the largest retailers globally.

Costco Stores: Costco’s stores refer to the retail locations operated by Costco Wholesale Corporation, a multinational membership-based warehouse club.

Unlike traditional retailers, Costco focuses on bulk sales at discounted prices, requiring customers to have a paid membership to shop.

Costco’s stores are known for:

• Warehouse-style format – Large, no-frills stores designed for efficiency and cost savings.
• Limited product selection – Typically stocking around 4,000 items, far fewer than traditional supermarkets.
• Private-label brand – Kirkland Signature, offering high-quality products at lower prices.
• Membership model – Customers pay an annual fee for access to exclusive deals.
• Global presence – Operating in multiple countries, including the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Japan, and the U.K.

Costco’s business model prioritizes high-volume sales with low margins, making it one of the largest retailers worldwide.

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Why is Walmart having more stores than Costco?

Walmart has significantly more stores than Costco due to fundamental differences in their business models and expansion strategies.

• Retail Format: Walmart operates a variety of store formats, including supercenters, discount stores, and neighborhood markets, allowing it to penetrate different markets and demographics. Costco, on the other hand, focuses on large warehouse-style stores that require substantial space and investment.

• Accessibility: Walmart stores are open to all customers, whereas Costco requires a paid membership for access. This membership model limits Costco’s ability to expand as aggressively as Walmart.




• Global Presence: Walmart has a broader international footprint, with stores in over 24 countries, while Costco operates in fewer regions. Walmart’s strategy emphasizes high-volume, low-margin sales across diverse locations, whereas Costco prioritizes fewer, high-revenue stores.

• Store Size and Inventory: Costco’s stores are much larger and designed for bulk purchasing, which means fewer locations can serve a large customer base. Walmart’s smaller store formats allow for more widespread distribution.

• Expansion Strategy: Walmart aggressively expands into urban and rural areas with smaller store formats, making it easier to establish a presence in more locations. Costco, by contrast, focuses on fewer, high-traffic locations with a warehouse model.

These factors contribute to Walmart’s ability to maintain a significantly higher store count than Costco while serving a broader customer base.

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Insight & Summary of Walmart vs Costco in Store Numbers in the U.S. and International Markets

The following analysis consolidates the trends observed across the comparison between Walmart and Costco’s store numbers by country for the 2014–2025 period.

• The scale differential between Walmart and Costco in total store count is substantial and by design — Walmart operated 10,955 locations globally in 2025 versus Costco’s 914, a 12x difference that reflects two fundamentally different physical retail strategies. Walmart’s network has contracted from a peak of 11,718 in 2017 to 10,955 in 2025, driven by the deliberate rationalization of its international portfolio through divestitures, while Costco’s store count has grown consistently in every year of the period — from 663 in 2014 to 914 in 2025, a 38% increase.

• The divergence in trajectory is meaningful: Walmart is optimizing an existing large network while Costco is in an active, measured expansion phase with no year of contraction on record. Despite the volume difference, average store size tells a different story — Walmart U.S. Supercenters average approximately 151,000 square feet, Sam’s Club averages 134,000 square feet, and Walmart International averages approximately 48,000 square feet, while Costco’s warehouses average 147,000 square feet. On a per-unit footprint basis, Costco’s warehouses are broadly comparable in size to Walmart’s largest domestic formats — underscoring that Costco’s smaller store count does not imply a smaller physical presence per location.

• The domestic versus international mix represents the starkest structural contrast between the two companies. Walmart has historically been a majority-international business by store count, with international locations representing 54–55% of its total portfolio through 2020, before divestiture activity temporarily brought the U.S. share above 50% from 2021 to 2024.

• By 2025, the international share has recovered to 52.4% — reinstating Walmart’s majority-international footprint. Costco, by contrast, is overwhelmingly domestic, with U.S. and Puerto Rico locations consistently representing approximately 69–71% of its global store count throughout the entire period. Costco’s international stores — growing from 195 in 2014 to 285 in 2025 — represent just 31% of its network, reflecting a considerably more cautious and selective approach to international expansion than Walmart’s historically broad geographic diversification strategy.

• The growth dynamics of the international store portfolios further illustrate the divergence. Walmart’s international store count declined from 6,363 in 2017 to 5,251 in 2022 before recovering to 5,743 in 2025 — a net reduction of 620 locations over eight years, driven by market exits rather than organic contraction. Costco’s international count, by contrast, grew from 195 in 2014 to 285 in 2025 without a single year of decline — adding 90 net new international locations at a steady and deliberate pace.

• The two companies are therefore on opposite trajectories internationally: Walmart is rebuilding a leaner, higher-quality international network after significant restructuring, while Costco is in the early-to-mid stages of a long-cycle international expansion that has not yet approached saturation in any of its key markets. The comparison ultimately reflects two distinct philosophies — Walmart’s pursuit of global retail scale across diverse formats and geographies, versus Costco’s disciplined replication of a single, proven warehouse format in markets where the model is most likely to compound successfully over time.

The table below combines Walmart and Costco stores metrics into a single view for the latest three fiscal years.

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Walmart vs Costco: Total Stores Worldwide

For the definition of the fiscal schedules of Walmart and Costco, you may refer to this section: Walmart vs Costco in fiscal schedules.

For the differences in stores, you may find more information in this section: Walmart’s stores and Costco’s stores.

Globally, Walmart operates significantly more stores than Costco, as shown in the chart above.

The following table shows a detailed breakdown:

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Walmart vs Costco: U.S. Stores Numbers and Mix

For the definition of the fiscal schedules of Walmart and Costco, you may refer to this section: Walmart vs Costco in fiscal schedules.

For the differences in stores, you may find more information in this section: Walmart’s stores and Costco’s stores.

Within the U.S., Walmart operates significantly more stores than Costco, as shown in the chart above.

The following table shows a detailed breakdown:

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Walmart vs Costco: International Stores Numbers and Mix

For the definition of the fiscal schedules of Walmart and Costco, you may refer to this section: Walmart vs Costco in fiscal schedules.

For the differences in stores, you may find more information in this section: Walmart’s stores and Costco’s stores.

Outside of the U.S., Walmart runs significantly more stores than Costco, as shown in the chart above.

The following table shows a detailed breakdown:

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Walmart vs Costco: Average Store Size

For the definition of the fiscal schedules of Walmart and Costco, you may refer to this section: Walmart vs Costco in fiscal schedules.

For the differences in stores, you may find more information in this section: Walmart’s stores and Costco’s stores.

Among all retailers, Walmart U.S. has the biggest average store size, totaling 151,563 square feet. Costco’s average store size came in at slightly lower, totaling 147,000 square feet.

Walmart International’s average store size was among the smallest, totaling only 49,300 square feet.

The following table shows a detailed breakdown:

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References and Credits

1. All financial figures presented were obtained and referenced from Walmart and Costco’s quarterly and annual reports published on the respective investor relations pages: Walmart Investor Relations and Costco Investor Relations.

2. Pexels Images.

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Disclosure

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