The Biggest Costco In The World Is Located In This State

Compared to other grocery stores, Costco offers a distinctly outsized experience. Products tower in the aisles, item package sizes can intimidate, and even the grocery carts are bigger (they also include a special holder for wine bottles). Such an impressive scope feels quintessential to the Costco shopping experience.

Indeed, the average location comes in at just under 150,000 square feet, well over the size of two football fields. However, with over 800 locations, there's unsurprisingly some deviation from that average surface area of real estate. Subsequently, you may wonder: Where is the biggest Costco in the world located? While it is in the U.S., the home state of the biggest store is neither Texas nor California, but rather an unexpected place: Utah.

This truly mega-sized Salt Lake City warehouse location comes in at an impressive 235,000 square feet. This Utah Costco uniquely involves elements of its Business Center, but nevertheless still operates under the Wholesale name. While there's still the beloved food court, a pharmacy, and a gas station, you can also find additional shopping elements like whole meats and large quantities of packaged snacks, making this truly a comprehensive Costco experience.

The Salt Lake City location used to be average-sized, until an expansion added on the Business Center in the back of the store. Since such a merger is unique to this location, the store subsequently gained its status as the biggest worldwide. So now you can find a freezer section filled with whole meat cuts in the back, while there are still well-priced frozen foods for sale, too. And if you need a large quantity of soda, or even a sled, the Salt Lake City store's got you.

That's all to say, allow some time to navigate its many aisles, browsing through an extra extensive assortment of items. On a Reddit thread discussing the location, people report a fairly typical feel, although it has "a much larger selection in every department," notes one user. And many cite that the easy-to-miss Costco meat department in the Business Section is full of well-priced wonders.

For a brief moment, it appeared a Costco location in Fresno, California, would overtake Salt Lake City's status. However, qualms over local traffic and noise led officials to reject the building permit, still safely securing Utah's record-breaking status.