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14 Restaurant Industry Statistics Every Owner Should Know

We read the National Restaurant Association's industry outlook and executive summary, the U.S. Census Bureau's Annual Integrated Economic Survey pages, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics data for Food Services and Drinking Places. We also checked the NRA's Restaurant Performance Index so that the collection includes both annual market context and current operator conditions.

The key is to keep the denominators visible. Some numbers below are national forecasts, some are survey responses, and some come from BLS establishment or employer surveys. A statistic about all NAICS 722 businesses is not automatically a statistic about independent restaurants, full-service restaurants, or a single location.

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Metric Source definition Value Year or period Geography Segment Denominator or universe Observed or forecast Limitation
Latest main AIES release Census Annual Integrated Economic Survey 2023 data, released February 26, 2026 2023 U.S. and selected geographies Employer firms selected by NAICS Business revenues, expenses, payroll, and employment Observed annual business data Choose the NAICS scope and geography before quoting a restaurant total
Restaurant and foodservice sales NRA State of the Industry $1.55 trillion 2026 United States Restaurant and foodservice industry National industry sales forecast Forecast Covers foodservice as well as restaurants and is not completed transaction data
Real sales growth NRA State of the Industry Executive Summary 1.3% 2026 United States Restaurant and foodservice industry Inflation-adjusted national sales forecast Forecast Not a traffic forecast or a same-store sales result
Restaurant industry employment NRA State of the Industry 15.8 million jobs, including about 100,000 additions 2026 United States Restaurant and foodservice industry Total industry employment Forecast Not a headcount target for one restaurant and not a full-time-equivalent measure
Dining out is essential NRA Executive Summary 61% of adults 2026 United States Consumers Adults in the NRA consumer survey; public summary does not give n Observed survey response Attitude does not establish visit frequency or spending
Operators not profitable NRA Executive Summary 42% of operators 2025 United States Restaurant operators Operators in the NRA survey; public summary does not give n Observed survey response Not an audited share of all restaurant locations
NAICS 722 employment BLS Current Employment Statistics 12,346.7 thousand employees June 2026 United States Food Services and Drinking Places, NAICS 722 All employees, seasonally adjusted Observed, preliminary Does not include accommodation and is not split into independent versus chain
NAICS 722 private establishments BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages 731,324 establishments Fourth quarter 2025 United States Food Services and Drinking Places, NAICS 722 Private industry establishments Observed, preliminary An establishment is a location or operating unit, not necessarily a unique company
Average hourly earnings and hours BLS Current Employment Statistics $22.02 per hour and 25.2 hours per week May 2026 United States Food Services and Drinking Places, NAICS 722 All employees Observed, preliminary Industry averages are not a median wage or an individual restaurant labor budget
Cooks and waiters BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics 1,235,200 restaurant cooks and 1,943,380 waiters and waitresses 2025 United States Food Services and Drinking Places, NAICS 722 Occupation employment Observed Occupation counts do not show a restaurant's staffing model
Median occupation wages BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics $17.87 per hour for restaurant cooks and $16.93 for waiters and waitresses 2025 United States Food Services and Drinking Places, NAICS 722 Occupation wage medians Observed Wage medians are not total employer labor cost or take-home pay
Restaurant Performance Index NRA Restaurant Performance Index 100.2, up 0.2% month over month June 2026 United States Restaurant operators Monthly Restaurant Industry Tracking Survey Observed index An index is not a dollar sales total; readings above 100 indicate expansion territory
Recordable injury cases BLS Injuries, Illnesses, and Fatalities 2.4 cases per 100 full-time workers 2024 United States Food Services and Drinking Places, NAICS 722 Full-time workers covered by the industry rate Observed This is a workplace incidence rate, not a customer safety statistic
Labor productivity and total factor productivity BLS Productivity Labor productivity up 1.6%; total factor productivity down 0.5% 2024 United States Food Services and Drinking Places, NAICS 722 Year-over-year industry productivity measures Observed change Productivity change is not the same as profit-margin change

A restaurant statistic is only useful when you know what it counts

Restaurant statistics can describe sales or revenue, establishments, firms, employees, jobs, operators, transactions, or visits. Sales and revenue describe money received or reported by a business. An establishment is a physical or operating location, while a firm or company can own multiple establishments. Employees are counted by a labor survey, operators answer a survey question, and traffic usually means customer visits or transactions rather than dollars.

The source determines the question the number can answer. The NRA's outlook is useful for market direction and operator sentiment. Census AIES is an annual business survey for revenues, expenses, payroll, and employment. BLS NAICS 722 data describe Food Services and Drinking Places, which includes full-service restaurants, limited-service eating places, special food services, and drinking places. BLS does not make those four groups interchangeable, and none of these sources automatically gives an independent restaurant benchmark.

The NRA projects $1.55 trillion in restaurant and foodservice sales for 2026

The National Restaurant Association projects U.S. restaurant and foodservice sales of $1.55 trillion in 2026. This is the broadest market-size number in the collection and is useful when an owner wants to understand the scale of the sector or compare the industry outlook with a business plan.

The scope is important. The figure covers restaurant and foodservice sales together, so it should not be described as the revenue of full-service restaurants, independent restaurants, or any other single format. It is also a forecast rather than a completed national transaction total. Use it as market context, then compare your own revenue and transactions with a properly matched segment benchmark.

Real restaurant sales growth is forecast at 1.3%, which is not the same as 1.3% more visits

The NRA projects real, inflation-adjusted sales growth of 1.3% for 2026. Real growth removes the effect of price changes to show how much purchasing volume is expected to change after inflation is considered.

An operator can therefore report higher dollar sales without generating 1.3% more customer visits. If prices rise while transaction counts stay flat or fall, nominal revenue can grow even when real volume is weak. Track revenue, transactions, and average check separately. The 1.3% figure is a national forecast and is not a same-store sales result for a typical restaurant.

Restaurant industry employment is forecast to reach 15.8 million jobs in 2026

The NRA projects total restaurant industry employment of 15.8 million jobs in 2026, including about 100,000 additional jobs. The number illustrates the size of the labor market attached to the restaurant and foodservice economy.

It should not be used as a staffing ratio or a target for an individual location. The forecast does not tell an owner how many people should be scheduled for a shift, how much labor should cost, or how many hours are full time. For those decisions, use local sales per labor hour, labor cost percentage, overtime, turnover, and schedule coverage.

The latest main Census AIES release covers 2023, so annual business data will lag live traffic

The Census Bureau's Annual Integrated Economic Survey released its main 2023 data set on February 26, 2026. AIES replaced and integrated seven annual business surveys and is designed to provide national and subnational data on business revenues, expenses, payroll, and employment. It is the right kind of source for an annual business profile, but the latest main release is not a live measure of current restaurant visits.

The AIES tables can be filtered by geography and NAICS, which is essential before using them for restaurant research. A reader should not quote an all-sector employer-firm number as a restaurant total, or mix a 2023 Census business measure with the NRA's 2026 forecast without showing the difference in year, scope, and definition.

Food Services and Drinking Places employed 12.35 million people in June 2026

The BLS reports 12,346.7 thousand employees in Food Services and Drinking Places, or NAICS 722, in June 2026. This is a seasonally adjusted Current Employment Statistics measure and the page marks the June figure as preliminary. It is more focused than the NRA's restaurant and foodservice employment forecast because NAICS 722 excludes the accommodation subsector.

NAICS 722 still covers several formats: full-service restaurants, limited-service eating places, special food services such as caterers and food-service contractors, and drinking places. The number is therefore a useful subsector labor-market benchmark, not a count of independent restaurants or a measure of staffing at a particular concept.

NAICS 722 had 731,324 private establishments in the fourth quarter of 2025

The BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages lists 731,324 private-industry establishments in Food Services and Drinking Places in the fourth quarter of 2025. This count is a useful indicator of the number of operating locations in the subsector, and it is reported separately from the employee count.

An establishment is not necessarily a unique company. One restaurant group can have many establishments, and the count does not tell us how many are full service, limited service, independent, or chain owned. It also should not be combined with a sales figure unless the geography, industry code, and period match.

The average NAICS 722 employee earned $22.02 per hour and worked 25.2 hours per week in May 2026

For May 2026, BLS reports average hourly earnings of $22.02 and average weekly hours of 25.2 for all employees in Food Services and Drinking Places. Both figures are marked preliminary on the BLS page. Together they show why a restaurant labor budget needs both wage and hours assumptions.

These are industry averages, not medians and not a complete employer labor cost. They do not include an individual restaurant's payroll taxes, benefits, overtime, scheduling mix, or local wage differences. Use them as a national reference point and calculate total labor cost per cover and labor cost as a percentage of sales for your own operation.

In 2025, BLS counted 1.24 million restaurant cooks and 1.94 million waiters and waitresses

The BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics data for Food Services and Drinking Places counted 1,235,200 restaurant cooks and 1,943,380 waiters and waitresses in 2025. Those two occupation groups show the scale of the front-of-house and back-of-house workforce, but they should not be added together to estimate the headcount of a typical restaurant.

The same source reports median hourly wages of $17.87 for restaurant cooks and $16.93 for waiters and waitresses. These are occupation wage medians, not the all-in cost of employing the person. Restaurant owners still need to account for payroll taxes, benefits, training, scheduling, overtime, and any tip or service-charge structure.

Sixty-one percent of adults said dining out is essential to their lifestyle

The NRA's 2026 executive summary says that 61% of adults consider dining out essential to their lifestyle, even as budgets remain under pressure. This is a consumer-attitude signal that restaurant occasions retain perceived value, not a claim that 61% of adults visit restaurants at a specific frequency.

The public summary does not publish the full sample size next to this percentage. Do not turn it into a visit or spending benchmark. Pair it with your own repeat rate, customer frequency, average check, and daypart data before deciding whether your customers are protecting restaurant occasions or trading down.

Forty-two percent of operators said their restaurants were not profitable in 2025

The NRA executive summary reports that 42% of operators said their restaurants were not profitable in 2025. That result is especially relevant because it shows that market sales and business health are different questions. A restaurant can sell more while its food, labor, occupancy, and other costs rise faster.

This is an operator survey response, not an audited profit-and-loss census. It does not mean that 42% of all locations had the same margin or loss. For a local comparison, define the profit line first and calculate store-level operating profit consistently across periods.

The June 2026 Restaurant Performance Index reached 100.2, just above expansion territory

The NRA's Restaurant Performance Index reached 100.2 in June 2026, up 0.2% from May and marking a second consecutive month above 100. The NRA describes readings above 100 as expansion territory and readings below 100 as contraction territory. The RPI is a composite index built from monthly operator responses, not a dollar total.

The index is useful because it combines current conditions and expectations, including same-store sales, customer traffic, labor, and capital expenditures. It does not tell an owner whether a specific location is profitable. Use it as a direction-of-industry signal beside your POS, labor report, and profit-and-loss statement.

Food Services and Drinking Places recorded 2.4 total recordable injury cases per 100 full-time workers in 2024

The BLS reports 2.4 total recordable injury and illness cases per 100 full-time workers in Food Services and Drinking Places in 2024. This is an industry workplace incidence rate, covering recordable cases under the BLS definition. It is not a customer safety rate and it should not be interpreted as the probability that a particular employee will be injured.

The BLS notes a series break beginning with 2023 data because of the transition to NAICS 2022. That means a long-term trend should be checked against the BLS notes before comparing earlier years with 2023 or later. For an owner, the operational follow-up is to track incidents, near misses, training, and lost-time cases locally rather than treating the national rate as a target.

Labor productivity rose 1.6% in 2024 while total factor productivity fell 0.5%

For Food Services and Drinking Places, BLS reports a 1.6% increase in labor productivity, measured as output per hour, in 2024. It also reports a 0.5% decline in total factor productivity. The two measures answer different questions: labor productivity focuses on output relative to hours, while total factor productivity compares output with a combination of labor, capital, energy, materials, and services.

The contrast is a useful warning against using one productivity headline as a profit explanation. Output per labor hour can rise because of pricing, mix, technology, or scheduling while total input efficiency moves differently. Restaurant owners should compare sales per labor hour with contribution margin, waste, service times, and labor cost rather than assuming that higher output per hour means higher profit.

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