Restaurant Industry Statistics for 2026: Sales, Jobs & Costs

US restaurant and foodservice sales are projected to reach $1.55 trillion in 2026, and the industry is on track to employ 15.8 million people.

Growth is real but thin: after inflation, sales are now expected to rise just 0.8% this year, and 42% of operators said their restaurant wasn't profitable in 2025.

Below are the latest restaurant industry statistics on market size, sales by segment, jobs, costs, takeout and delivery, diners, and technology, each linked to its original source.

Restaurant industry overview: 2026 at a glance

These are the headline numbers for the US restaurant and foodservice industry.

How big is the restaurant industry?

The US restaurant and foodservice industry generated $1.48 trillion in food and beverage sales in 2025 and is projected to reach $1.55 trillion in 2026, according to the National Restaurant Association (NRA).

About three-quarters of that, $1.18 trillion, comes from eating and drinking places: full-service restaurants, limited-service restaurants, and bars. The rest is foodservice in hotels, stores, schools, and recreation venues.

Restaurant sales by segment

Full-service vs. limited-service market share

• Limited-service restaurants accounted for 36.5% of US food-away-from-home spending in 2025, full-service restaurants accounted for 34.5%, and all other outlets accounted for 29.0% (USDA ERS).
• The full-service share fell from 34.1% in 2019 to 29.7% in 2020 and has been closing the gap since (USDA ERS).
• Food away from home has accounted for the largest share of US food spending every year since 2004 and reached 56.3% in 2025 (USDA ERS).
• Eating and drinking places were projected to generate about $1.5 trillion in sales in 2025, roughly 6% of US real GDP, and $3.7 trillion in total economic impact including spillover spending (NRA).
• Worldwide, consumer foodservice reached $3.36 trillion in 2025, up 4% year over year (Euromonitor International).

The NRA and the USDA define segments differently (the NRA counts caterers as full-service, for example), so their splits don't match exactly. For what each format looks like in practice, see our guide to the different types of restaurants.

Is the restaurant industry growing?

Yes, in dollars, barely in volume. In July 2026, the NRA lowered its 2026 sales growth forecast from 4.8% to 4.3%, and inflation-adjusted growth from 1.3% to 0.8% (NRA).

Most of the increase comes from higher menu prices, not more guests.

• 6 in 10 operators reported softer customer traffic in 2025 (NRA).
• For the second half of 2026, 26% of operators expect business conditions to improve, 17% to worsen, and 57% to stay the same (NRA).
• 32% of full-service and 29% of limited-service operators expected higher sales in 2026 than in 2025, while 27% of limited-service operators expected a decline (NRA).
• 85% of full-service and 65% of limited-service operators say building on-premises business will be more important for their success in 2026 (NRA).

For the forces behind these numbers, see the latest restaurant industry trends.

Restaurant employment statistics

Restaurants and foodservice employed 15.7 million people at the end of 2025, 10% of the US workforce, which makes the industry the country's second-largest private-sector employer.

The NRA projects 15.8 million jobs by the end of 2026 and 17.3 million by 2036 (NRA).

• 12.5 million of those jobs are in restaurants and bars; 3.2 million more are foodservice jobs in health care, lodging, education, retail, and entertainment (NRA).
• Restaurants added more than 125,000 jobs in the 12 months before July 2026 (NRA).
• Full-service restaurants still have nearly 200,000 fewer jobs than pre-pandemic (NRA).
• Teens aged 16 to 19 make up 20% of the restaurant workforce; restaurants employ more than 1.8 million of them, or 33% of all working teens (NRA).
• 67% of US adults have worked in a restaurant at some point, and 51% got their first regular job in one (NRA).
• 76% of operators say they're likely to add staff in 2026 if qualified applicants are available (NRA).
• Waitstaff at full-service restaurants earn a median of $27.00 an hour, with a lower quartile of $19.00 and an upper quartile of $41.50 (NRA).
• 8 in 10 restaurant owners and 9 in 10 restaurant managers started in entry-level positions (NRA).

Restaurant costs and profitability statistics

Restaurants are selling more and keeping less. Food and labor each account for about 33 cents of every sales dollar (NRA), and 42% of operators said their restaurant wasn't profitable in 2025 (NRA). In the first half of 2026, that share eased to 33% (NRA).

• Wholesale food prices are up 35%, and restaurant employees' average hourly earnings are up 41% since February 2020 (NRA).
• More than 9 in 10 operators say food, labor, and insurance costs are significant challenges; more than 8 in 10 say the same about card processing fees and energy costs (NRA).
• 82% of operators had higher average food costs in 2025 than in 2024; only 6% saw a decline (NRA).
• 68% of operators said tariffs pushed up their food or beverage costs in 2025 (NRA).
• Among operators whose food costs rose, 90% of full-service and 85% of limited-service operators raised menu prices (NRA).
• The same operators also removed menu items (60% of full-service, 43% of limited-service) and adjusted portion sizes (43% and 24%) (NRA).

To benchmark your numbers, compare them with typical restaurant profit margins and labor-cost benchmarks.

Off-premises dining statistics: takeout, delivery, and drive-thru

Off-premises orders now make up more than a third of full-service restaurant traffic and nearly 90% of limited-service traffic. At full-service restaurants, the off-premises share nearly tripled between 2019 and 2025, driven mostly by takeout (NRA, based on Technomic data).

• 58% of limited-service and 45% of full-service operators say off-premises is a larger share of their sales than it was in 2019 (NRA).
• Even so, 93% of full-service and 73% of limited-service operators said on-premises was the more successful part of their business in 2025 (NRA).
• 47% of adults pick up takeout at least once a week, including 59% of millennials and 57% of Gen Z adults, compared with 33% of baby boomers (NRA).
• 40% of limited-service and 30% of full-service operators have changed their dining space or parking lots to handle off-premises orders (NRA).
• Delivery accounted for 22% of global consumer foodservice spending in 2025, up from 9% in 2019 (Euromonitor International).

For delivery-specific numbers, see our food delivery statistics.

Restaurant consumer statistics

Diners still want to eat out, but value decides where they go. 87% of adults say they enjoy going to restaurants, and 61% call restaurants an essential part of their lifestyle (NRA).

• In a November 2025 NRA survey, 49% of adults said they were struggling to keep up with basic expenses, yet 54% said they still ordered takeout or delivery and 53% still went out to eat (NRA).
• 78% of restaurant customers say they'd order delivery more often if they had the money, and 75% say the same about full-service dining (NRA).
• 81% say a discount or value promotion matters when they choose a restaurant for delivery; 70% say the same for full-service dining (NRA).
• 70% say loyalty program membership matters when choosing a restaurant for delivery, compared with 56% for full-service dining (NRA).

For what diners are ordering right now, see current food trends.

Restaurant technology statistics

8 in 10 operators say technology gives restaurants a competitive advantage, and most plan to keep investing in 2026.

Adoption is uneven: only about 1 in 10 operators see their restaurant as a technology leader, 60% call themselves mainstream, and nearly 3 in 10 say they're lagging (NRA).

• 26% of operators use tools or technologies that incorporate AI; marketing (17%) and administrative tasks (10%) are the most common uses (NRA).
• 6 in 10 operators plan technology investments that improve the guest experience, and 54% plan to invest in front-of-house productivity (NRA).
• Only 6% of operators say technology investments led to permanent job cuts (NRA).
• 67% of limited-service and 58% of full-service operators say technology significantly impacted on-premises ordering and payment; for off-premises ordering and payment, it's 65% and 46% (NRA).
• Limited-service operators are nearly twice as likely as full-service operators to say technology significantly changed their loyalty programs (60% vs. 33%) (NRA).
• 43% of full-service operators say technology significantly impacted reservations and inquiries, the core job of a restaurant online reservation system (NRA).

To see how these tools fit together, see our guides to technology in the restaurants and digital transformation in the restaurant industry.

How we compiled these statistics

Every figure on this page links to its original source. We rely on primary data: the National Restaurant Association's 2026 State of the Restaurant Industry report and its July 2026 mid-year update, the USDA Economic Research Service, and Euromonitor International.

When two sources measure the same thing differently, we report each figure with its own source instead of combining them. We review this page after each major NRA and USDA release.