Visualizing America’s Most Popular Fast Food Chains
Fast food is big business in America. From national chains to regional specialties, the industry was worth $331.4 billion as of June 2022.
Which fast food brands are currently dominating this space? This graphic by Truman Du uses data from Quick Service Restaurant (QSR) Magazine to show the most popular fast food chains across America.
The Most Prevalent Fast Food Chains, by Store Count
Each year, QSR Magazine puts together a report that ranks America’s top 50 fast food chains. It uses a number of metrics to determine this, including total sales (which we’ve covered in a previous article), average-unit volume (AUVs), and growth figures.
For this graphic, Du zoomed in on a specific metric from the report—the number of stores that each fast food chain has across the country. Here are the top 50 chains, and the number of restaurants they each have across America:
| Rank | Brand | Total U.S. Stores (2021) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Subway | 21,147 |
| 2 | Starbucks | 15,450 |
| 3 | McDonald’s | 13,438 |
| 4 | Dunkin’ | 9,244 |
| 5 | Burger King | 7,105 |
| 6 | Taco Bell | 7,002 |
| 7 | Domino’s | 6,560 |
| 8 | Pizza Hut | 6,548 |
| 9 | Wendy’s | 5,938 |
| 10 | Dairy Queen | 4,339 |
| 11 | Little Caesars | 4,181 |
| 12 | KFC | 3,953 |
| 13 | Sonic Drive-in | 3,552 |
| 14 | Arby’s | 3,409 |
| 15 | Papa Johns | 3,164 |
| 16 | Chipotle | 2,966 |
| 17 | Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen | 2,757 |
| 18 | Chick-Fil-A | 2,732 |
| 19 | Jimmy John’s | 2,657 |
| 20 | Panda Express | 2,334 |
| 21 | Baskin-Robbins | 2,317 |
| 22 | Jack in the Box | 2,218 |
| 23 | Jersey Mike’s | 2,100 |
| 24 | Panera Bread | 2,080 |
| (Read more…) |