Skip to the study

How we count US fast-food chain locations

We identify restaurants by name and website, check their business categories and remove duplicate listings. We then count locations for the four chains in each state and Washington, DC.

Four selected chains across the 50 states and Washington, DC.

Extracted September 8, 2026

Sources and method

50 states and Washington, DC · Territories excluded

  • The data combines Google Maps and OpenStreetMap business records. The extraction date is when we prepared this edition; individual listings may have been updated earlier.
  • The totals cover the four chains named.

This study covers McDonald’s, Burger King, Taco Bell and Subway across the 50 states and Washington, DC. Alaska and Hawaii are included; US territories are excluded. The combined figure describes these four chains, not every fast-food restaurant in the country.

Restaurants are identified using their name or an official brand website, then checked against the recorded business categories. Transport stops, corporate offices and unrelated businesses are excluded. Subway name matches require evidence of a restaurant or sandwich shop unless the website confirms the brand.

We remove duplicate listings by comparing restaurant-specific website links, standardized addresses and coordinates. A shared company homepage does not identify an individual restaurant.

Permanently closed restaurants and listings excluded from public display are omitted. Temporarily closed restaurants remain in the totals and are reported separately. Use the official directory for current opening hours.

The source list includes official restaurant directories and corporate reports with their reference dates. Use the directories to check individual restaurant addresses and opening hours. Downloads contain state-level counts.

Sources

Download the data (CSV)
Download data and metadata (JSON)

Cite this study

SphereScout, “How we count US fast-food chain locations”. Extracted September 8, 2026. United States: 50 states and Washington, DC. https://www.spherescout.io/en/studies/united-states/fast-food/methodology/