Fast Food Brands with the Most U.S. Locations

The fast food industry has transformed into a colossal force in the United States, with an astonishing growth rate from its modest beginnings a century ago, when the first White Castle store opened in Wichita. As the industry now comprises nearly 200,000 brands, it has become a massive sector worth over $300 billion.

Visual Capitalist's Pallavi Rao has unveiled an insightful overview of America's fast food landscape, presenting a visual representation of the top 15 companies dominating the market in terms of the number of stores across the country.

In this graphic, we use data from QSR Magazine, an industry magazine that focuses on the quick-service segment of the restaurant industry.

Which Fast Food Brands Have the Most Stores?

Ranked first, Subway is the only fast food brand with over 20,000 locations, even after a net reduction of 576 stores in 2022.

The previously family-run business is now owned by Roark Capital (which has a substantial stake in other familiar names on this list including Arby’s and Sonic), and is mid-transformation, with 3,600 stores being remodeled in 2023.

Here’s the full breakdown of the top 50 fast food brands by number of U.S. locations in 2022.

Source: Visual Capitalist *Figures estimated by QSR and Circana.

At second place, Starbucks has nearly 16,000 locations around the country, with California alone accounting for nearly 3,000 of them. The coffee chain is also going through a major shift as a result of post-pandemic trends. This includes a greater focus on drive-thru locations and overall speed and efficiency.

Ranked third, McDonald’s, grew its U.S. footprint for the first time in eight years, after adding six new locations. The brand has grown its global sales by nearly $20 billion since the beginning of the pandemic, even after exiting Russia in 2022.

Dunkin’ (dropped the “Donuts” in 2019) and Taco Bell round out the top-five with more than 9,000 and 7,000 locations respectively.

Notably there was only one ranking shift in the top 20 since last year, with Jersey Mike’s, a sandwich chain, moving past Panda Express to claim 20th place.

However the same list looks a little different when ordering by revenue earned in 2022.

Ranked: Fast Food Brands by 2022 Revenue

The Golden Arches take the golden crown for most revenue earned in 2022, easily beating out the competition. McDonald’s made nearly $48 billion in sales last year, 74% more than the next big brand.

Here’s the full ranking of most revenue earned by fast food brands in 2022.

Source: Visual Capitalist *Figures estimated by QSR and Circana.

Starbucks holds on to the second spot, but Chick-fil-A shoots up 18 positions to third place by revenue, despite being closed on Sundays.

Raising Cane’s, which specializes in chicken fingers and Panera Bread, a bakery competitor to Starbucks, see similar upward trajectories, climbing 19 and 13 spots respectively on the revenue rankings.

On the other hand, Papa Murphy’s and Baskin Robbins have seen a steep drop, making between $600–700 million in 2022, putting them at the bottom of the sales rankings.

What’s Next for Fast Food?

QSR Magazine signals that automation is transforming the restaurant industry as businesses leverage robotics to ease staffing challenges that surged during the pandemic.

Some changes—increasing drive-thrus and apps for example—have already become commonplace but robot cooks and automated delivery vans may also soon proliferate.

With nearly eight out of 100 people in the American workforce involved in the food industry, these changes may cause significant shifts in employment patterns, potentially requiring upskilling for workers in this evolving landscape.