Michigan drivers still do not have a Buc-ee’s, and Ohio drivers now do.
That may be hard for some Michiganders to accept, especially because the two states share a border, plenty of road-trip traffic and a long history of rivalry. But when Buc-ee’s finally entered the Midwest in a bigger way, Ohio got there first.
The Texas-based travel center chain opened its first Ohio location in Huber Heights, near Dayton, on April 6, 2026. Meanwhile, Michigan still has no confirmed Buc-ee’s project, no official opening date and no location listed on the company’s current map.
That gap has only become more noticeable as Buc-ee’s keeps expanding into new states. The company has been moving carefully but steadily, with several states getting Buc-ee’s for the first time as the chain pushes beyond its Texas roots.
So why did Ohio get one before Michigan?
Geography came first
The simplest answer is geography.
Buc-ee’s loves highways, and Ohio gave the company exactly what it usually wants: huge interstate corridors, long-distance traffic and a location that can pull drivers from multiple directions.
The Huber Heights Buc-ee’s at 8000 State Route 235 sits right off Interstate 70, one of the country’s major east-west routes. It is also close to the Dayton area and the broader I-75 corridor, which connects Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia and Florida.
That matters because Buc-ee’s is not a normal gas station. It is a road-trip destination. The company needs a constant stream of travelers, not just local customers stopping in for coffee or gas. Newer Buc-ee’s travel centers typically span around 74,000 to 75,000 square feet, with 100 or more fueling positions and large parking areas — a footprint that needs serious traffic to justify it.
Ohio gives Buc-ee’s access to Midwest travelers heading east, west, north and south. A driver going from Indiana to Columbus, Michigan to Tennessee, or Cincinnati to points north can all plausibly pass through Buc-ee’s territory.
Michigan has major highways, too. Interstate 75 runs through the state from the Ohio border all the way to the Upper Peninsula. Interstate 94 connects Detroit, Ann Arbor, Jackson, Kalamazoo and the west side of the state. Interstate 96, I-69 and U.S. 23 also create strong travel corridors.
But Michigan is different from Ohio in one important way: it is more of a destination state than a pass-through state.
Ohio sits in the middle of a national highway web. Drivers cross it on the way to many other places. Michigan, because of its peninsula geography, has a lot of traffic moving into the state, around the state or back out the same way. That can still support a Buc-ee’s, but it may be a slightly different traffic equation.
Ohio was first, but it isn’t the only Midwest move
Buc-ee’s appears to be building a Midwest network in stages — and the picture is broader than just Ohio.
First came Ohio’s Huber Heights location. Then Mansfield, Ohio moved forward with plans for another Buc-ee’s near Interstate 71, targeting a Q2 2028 opening. That Mansfield site sits between Columbus and Cleveland, so while it brings Buc-ee’s deeper into the Midwest, it is not meaningfully closer to Michigan than Huber Heights — both stores are roughly two to three hours from the Michigan border.
The chain has also been moving on other Midwest fronts. Two Wisconsin locations are planned, with Oak Creek targeting an April 2027 opening and a separate DeForest site near Madison in the works. In Nebraska, the Gretna City Council gave initial approval in early 2026 to annex about 43 acres near I-80 for a Buc-ee’s location. And Indiana has been widely reported as a target, with a Greenwood site near Indianapolis on I-65 reportedly nearing a deal.
Michigan is essentially being routed around, not necessarily skipped. The chain is filling in pieces of the Midwest puzzle through Ohio, Wisconsin, Nebraska and possibly Indiana before reaching Michigan.
Buc-ee’s says no state is off the radar
The chain has publicly addressed the Michigan question.
In April 2024, a Buc-ee’s billboard appeared along I-96 between Grand Rapids and Lansing, near Lowell. It showed only the Buc-ee’s mascot and the phrase “444 Miles” — the distance to what was then the chain’s closest location, in Richmond, Kentucky. The billboard sparked a wave of speculation that Michigan might be next.
Buc-ee’s general counsel Jeff Nadalo addressed the rumors directly, telling Michigan’s WOOD-TV: “We’re looking everywhere. No state is off the radar. We’re eager to put our travel centers in places where we think people will appreciate and need it.”
But “no state is off the radar” is not the same as a confirmed project. So far, no specific Michigan site has been announced.
Real estate, approvals and competition
Another likely factor is real estate.
A modern Buc-ee’s needs a huge site. These travel centers often include a massive store, large fueling areas, extensive parking, space for buses and RVs, stormwater infrastructure, utility access and road improvements. The company is not looking for a corner lot. It needs a development site big enough to handle crowds.
Ohio has many interstate-adjacent areas where that kind of land can be easier to assemble, especially outside major city centers. Places like Huber Heights and Mansfield offer highway access without the same density or land constraints found closer to Detroit, Grand Rapids or Ann Arbor.
Michigan certainly has possible sites. A future Buc-ee’s could make sense near I-75 south of Detroit, near the U.S. 23 corridor, near I-94 between Detroit and Chicago, or somewhere along a busy route toward northern Michigan vacation traffic.
But possible does not mean confirmed.
A Buc-ee’s project also requires local approvals, traffic planning and a community willing to take on the scale of the development. These stores bring jobs, sales-tax activity and attention, but they also bring traffic, lighting, noise and major changes around an interchange.
That can slow things down anywhere.
Competition may also play a role. Michigan already has a strong convenience-store and grocery culture, with familiar names like Meijer, Speedway, Love’s, Pilot and local travel centers serving drivers. Buc-ee’s is different from all of them, but it would still have to enter a market where customers already have habits.
Ohio has competition, too, but Buc-ee’s may have seen a cleaner opportunity to become a major destination along some of the Midwest’s busiest interstate routes.
When Michigan might be next
There is also the question of timing.
Buc-ee’s has expanded quickly in recent years, but it still does not open everywhere at once. The chain tends to pick big, strategic sites and build around major corridors. Ohio may simply have had the right site, right approvals and right development timeline before Michigan did.
That does not mean Michigan will never get a Buc-ee’s.
In fact, Michigan may look more logical now than it did a few years ago. With Ohio already open, a second Ohio location moving forward, Wisconsin and Indiana in development, and Nebraska in early planning, Buc-ee’s is no longer far away. The chain is testing Midwest demand, and early Ohio enthusiasm suggests there is plenty of appetite for Beaver Nuggets north of the South.
If Buc-ee’s eventually comes to Michigan, the first location would probably be somewhere with heavy road-trip traffic and enough land for a full travel center. Southeast Michigan near I-75 or U.S. 23 could make sense. So could a location along I-94, especially for drivers moving between Detroit, Ann Arbor, Kalamazoo, Battle Creek and Chicago. A northern route aimed at vacation traffic could also be tempting.
For now, though, Ohio has the advantage.
It had the confirmed site. It had the interstate position. It had the development path. And now it has the Buc-ee’s.
Michigan has the demand, the highways, the curiosity, the billboard buzz and a Buc-ee’s lawyer saying the state is on the radar. What it does not have yet is an official announcement.
Until that changes, Michigan drivers who want Buc-ee’s will have to do something they may not love: head to Ohio.
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