The State With The Most Sam's Club Warehouses

Sam's Club has stores in 44 of the 50 United States, so most Americans have the opportunity to shop there for things like the top finisher in customers' ranking of grocery store rotisserie chicken, or the Sam's Club items under $10 you need to try. But there's one state where you have the best chance of finding one of the popular membership warehouse club's locations, because it's packed with so many of them: Texas.

The Lone Star state has a whopping 82 of Sam's Club's 601 total U.S. locations (including Puerto Rico), dozens ahead of second-place Florida's 45 stores, and California's third-most 29. Texas is also home to the top three cities with the most Sam's Clubs: Dallas and Houston with seven each, and San Antonio with six (via ScrapeHero). So why are there so many Sam's Club's in Texas? Bank robber Willie Sutton is famously reported to have said he robbed banks because that's where the money is, and Texas is where the people are. The state is second largest in the U.S. in both population, after California, and size, behind only Alaska.

The South Central part of the country is also part of Sam's Club's history. The first location was opened by Walmart founder Sam Walton — the namesake "Sam" — just north of Texas in Midwest City, Oklahoma, in 1983 after he was inspired by Price Club. Additionally, the third store ever opened was in Dallas, and Sam's Club is owned by Walmart, which is headquartered in neighboring Arkansas.

Texas has a key role in Sam's Club's ambitious future plans as well. The company announced in April 2025 that it intends to open about 15 new stores a year and renovate all of its U.S. stores. The universal remodel will be based on the digital-focused renovation of a Grapevine, Texas, Sam's Club that reopened in 2024 after being damaged by a tornado two years earlier. Among the changes, checkout registers will be replaced with a "Scan & Go" app customers use as they shop, and items only available online will be displayed that shoppers can purchase by scanning a QR code.

Sam's Club main competitors Costco and (to a lesser extent) BJ's Wholesale Club, also have plans for expansion. With 628 U.S. locations, Costco is larger than Sam's Club, but not by a lot, present in a total of 47 states. It has 143 stores in California, followed by Texas with 42 (nearly half of Sam's Club's presence in the Lone Star State). The two rivals both have their pluses and minuses, including 13 things Sam's Club does better than Costco.

BJ's is more than half the size of the other two big warehouse sellers, with 274 stores concentrated in the eastern United States. Currently, the retailer has no locations in Texas, although recent plans announced that BJ's has set its sights on multiple locations in the Dallas-Forth Worth area, with a projected opening set for early 2026. However, the newcomer to the state will have the 82 already operating Sam's Club locations to contend with.