Restaurant & Food Service Industry Statistics 2026: Spending, Growth, and Consumer Trends

The U.S. restaurant industry is projected to reach $1.55 trillion in sales in 2026, employing nearly 15.8 million people across more than a million outlets. Yet 42% of operators reported their restaurant was not profitable last year. This report compiles source-verified statistics on restaurant spending, growth, and consumer trends.

Key Findings at a Glance

• Total restaurant and foodservice sales are projected at $1.55 trillion in 2026, with real growth of 1.3% (NRA 2026 State of the Restaurant Industry).
• Full-service restaurants surpassed limited-service in share of food-away-from-home sales in 2024: 36.3% vs. 36.2% (USDA ERS).
• DoorDash leads U.S. food delivery with 60.7% market share, followed by Uber Eats at 26.1% (Earnest Analytics, 2024).
• Full-service restaurant tips averaged 19.2% in Q3 2025, near a seven-year low (Toast Tipping Data).
• 42% of restaurant operators reported their restaurant was not profitable in 2025 (NRA 2026 Report).

Restaurant Industry Revenue

Sources: NRA 2026 State of the Industry; USDA ERS Food Expenditure Series

Quick-Service vs. Full-Service Breakdown

• In 2024, full-service restaurants surpassed limited-service in share of food-away-from-home sales: 36.3% vs. 36.2%. This reversed a pandemic-era trend where limited-service peaked at 37.8% in 2020 (USDA ERS).
• The limited-service (QSR + fast casual) segment is projected to hit $532 billion in U.S. sales in 2025, up from $510 billion in 2024 (+4.3%).
• Profit margins: QSR restaurants typically report net profit margins of 4% to 6%, while full-service establishments average 2% to 4%.

Source: Restroworks QSR vs. FSR Statistics

Consumer Dining Frequency

• The average American dined out about 5 times per month in 2024, up from 3 times per month in 2023 (US Foods Diner Dispatch Survey, via Escoffier).
• 42% of consumers dine out at least once a week, up from 39% the prior year (TouchBistro 2025 Diner Trends Report).
• 44% of consumers ordered takeout or delivery at least once a week in 2024.
• Income disparity: 64% of households earning $200K+ dine out weekly, compared to only 27% of those earning under $50K.
• 54% of respondents plan to dine out more in the next year; 71% of Gen Z and 68% of Millennials plan to increase dining frequency (Escoffier Consumer Dining Trends 2025).

Average Check Size by Segment

• Average check sizes increased approximately 7% across the U.S. in the past 12-24 months due to inflation-driven menu price hikes.
• Menu prices at major chains rose by an average of 42% from 2020 to 2025, nearly double the national inflation rate of 22% (One Haus).

Source: BusinessDojo Average Check Size

Digital Ordering and Delivery

• U.S. online food delivery market: valued at approximately $31.91 billion in 2024, projected to reach $74.03 billion by 2033 at a 9.31% CAGR (IMARC Group / Yahoo Finance).
• Digital ordering now comprises approximately 65% of total restaurant sales in digitally-enabled restaurants (HC Resource 2025 Benchmark Report).
• Over 60% of restaurant orders are now placed through mobile apps (Restroworks).
• Digital ordering has grown 300% faster than dine-in since 2014 (Lightspeed).

Food Delivery App Market Share (End of 2024)

• In NYC, DoorDash (38.4%) and Uber Eats (38.2%) are nearly tied. In Los Angeles, Uber Eats (41.9%) narrowly leads DoorDash (41.8%) (Earnest Analytics).

Restaurant Employment

• 2026 projection: 15.8 million total restaurant and foodservice jobs, with operators forecast to add more than 100,000 new jobs (NRA 2026 Report).
• The industry added 150,000 jobs in 2025, an improvement from 129,500 jobs added in 2024.
• Full-service segment remains 173,000 jobs (3.0%) below pre-pandemic levels.
• Quick-service and fast-casual employment is 140,000 jobs (3%) above pre-pandemic levels.
• Coffee/donut/ice cream shops are 205,000 jobs (25%) above February 2020 levels.
• Long-term projection: workforce expected to reach 17.4 million by 2035.

Source: NRA Economic Indicators

Tipping Trends

• Full-service restaurant tips declined to a seven-year low of 19.1% in Q2 2025 before slightly recovering (Toast).
• 52% of consumers report seeing tip requests more often than six months ago; 48% feel pressured for bigger tips.
• Only 35% of Americans now typically leave a 20% tip, down from 37% last year (TipHaus 2025 Tipping Trends).

Restaurant Failure and Closure Rates

• The first-year closure rate dropped to 0.9% in 2025 -- the lowest since at least 2018 and far below the commonly cited "90% failure" myth (Datassential).
• Approximately 17% of restaurants close within their first year, per BLS data. 48.6% close within 5 years; after 10 years, 34.6% are still operating (Toast; Restroworks).
• By segment: QSR and Casual Dining both have first-year failure rates just over 1%. Midscale (0.6%) and Fast Casual (0.5%) have the lowest first-year failure rates.
• Franchised restaurants enjoy up to 80% survival over 5 years, compared to roughly 40-47% for independents (Restroworks).

Labor and Food Cost Benchmarks

Labor Costs

• Full-service restaurants: Salaries, wages, and benefits represented a median of 36.5% of sales in 2024. For profitable FSR operators, labor costs were 34.2% of sales (NRA).
• Industry-wide, labor costs generally fall between 30% and 35% of total revenue. Only 36% of restaurants hit their labor cost targets, while 44% spend more than planned (Toast).

Food Costs

• Limited-service restaurants: Food and non-alcohol beverage costs were a median of 32.4% of sales in 2024. Full-service: 32.0% of sales (NRA).
• The ideal/profitable range for food cost is 28% to 32% across most segments.
• Wholesale food prices are now 37% higher than pre-pandemic levels, creating persistent margin pressure (QSR Magazine).

Profit Margins by Type

Source: Toast

Drive-Through Statistics

• Drive-thru share of QSR orders has decreased from 83% in 2020 to 65% in 2025, but still accounts for over half of U.S. QSR revenue (Intouch Insight).
• Average total wait time: Approximately 3 minutes (24 seconds to order placement, ~2.5 minutes from order to receipt) (QSR Magazine).
• 62% of QSR leaders say labor is their most pressing challenge, driving investment in AI voice ordering.
• Wendy's is deploying drive-thru voice AI to 500-600 locations by end of 2025 (Restaurant Dive).

Restaurant Technology Adoption

• 95% of restaurateurs view technology as a business booster; 86% of operators are comfortable using AI, and 82% of restaurant executives plan to increase AI investment (Toast).
• 69% of operators who added new technology in the past 2-3 years say their restaurants became more efficient (Toast).
• Self-ordering kiosks increase average order value by 10-30% in QSR. McDonald's saw a 5-6% check size increase; Shake Shack saw ~10%. Kiosks reduce order processing times by up to 40% (Restroworks).
• Digital orders generate 30% higher check averages than in-person orders (ReachifyAI).

Restaurant Food Waste

• U.S. restaurants generate 22-33 billion pounds of food waste annually, out of 63 million tons wasted nationally (RTS).
• A single restaurant location produces 25,000-75,000 pounds of food waste per year.
• The restaurant industry spends an estimated $162 billion annually on costs related to wasted food (The Restaurant HQ).
• For every $1 invested in food waste reduction, companies save $14 or more (ReFED).
• 65-75% of restaurant food waste is edible food; nearly 75% of U.S. diners care about how restaurants handle food waste.

Regional Variation in Dining Spending

• D.C. spending is nearly 4x that of West Virginia, reflecting enormous geographic disparity in dining-out behavior.
• Fastest-growing food sales in 2024: Washington, D.C. grew 10.4%, followed by New York (5.9%) and California (5.5%) (USDA ERS).

Source: USDA ERS Food Expenditure Series

Alcohol as a Share of Restaurant Revenue

• Full-service restaurants: Beverages (alcoholic and non-alcoholic combined) contribute 15-30% of total revenue. Restaurants with strong beverage programs can push to 30%+ (BackBar).
• While beverages may represent only 20-35% of gross revenue, they often account for 80%+ of gross profit dollars due to much higher margins than food.
• Ideal liquor cost for most establishments is 18-24% (vs. 28-32% for food), making it significantly more profitable (Epos Now).

If you found this data useful, please cite as: "Restaurant & Food Service Industry Statistics 2026," makemyreceipt.com, February 2026.

Methodology and Sources

All statistics in this report are sourced from publicly available reports and press releases. Primary sources include:

• National Restaurant Association: 2026 State of the Restaurant Industry Report (February 2026).
• USDA Economic Research Service: Food Expenditure Series and Charts of Note.
• Toast: Tipping in America Data Study (2025) and AI in Restaurants Report.
• Earnest Analytics: U.S. Food Delivery Market Share (2024).
• TouchBistro: 2025 American Diner Trends Report.
• Datassential: Restaurant Failure Rate (2025).
• ReFED: U.S. Food Waste Report 2025.

Last updated: February 2026.