Ranked: The Most Popular Fast Food Brands in the United States

Since the McDonald brothers invented fast food in 1940, the restaurant’s golden arches have beckoned patrons to its quick, affordable, and excellent meals.

McDonald’s remains America’s most popular fast food brand, with $46 billion in systemwide sales last year.

This graph is based on data from Quick Service Restaurant (QSR) Magazine’s report on America’s top 50 fast food chains. The prominent brands are divided into six major categories based on their 2021 systemwide sales: Burger, Chicken, Snack, Pizza, Sandwich, and Global.

Please keep in mind that some of these values are estimations. An asterisk denotes unofficial figures in the graph.

The Most Popular Fast Food Restaurants

McDonald’s is without a doubt America’s favorite fast food establishment, if not the world’s. McDonald’s sales are nearly double those of the second-place restaurant, Starbucks, totalling $46 billion to the coffee shop’s $24 billion.

Rank Company Systemwide Sales (2021) Category
#1 McDonald’s $46.0 billion Burger
#2 Starbucks $24.3 billion Snack
#3 Chick-fil-A $16.7 billion Chicken
#4 Taco Bell $12.6 billion Global
#5 Wendy’s $11.1 billion Burger
#6 Dunkin’ $10.4 billion Snack
#7 Burger King $10.0 billion Burger
#8 Subway $9.4 billion Sandwich
#9 Domino’s $8.6 billion Pizza
#10 Chipotle $7.5 billion Global
#11 Sonic Drive-In $5.8 billion Burger
#12 Panera Bread $5.7 billion Sandwich
#13 Pizza Hut $5.5 billion Pizza
#14 KFC $5.1 billion Chicken
#15 Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen $4.8 billion Chicken
#16 Dairy Queen $4.5 billion Snack
#17 Arby’s $4.5 billion Sandwich
#18 Panda Express $4.5 billion Global
#19 Little Caesars $4.2 billion Pizza
#20 Jack in the Box $4.1 billion Burger
#21 Papa Johns $3.5 billion Pizza
#22 Whataburger $2.7 billion Burger
#23 Culver’s $2.5 billion Burger
#24 Raising Caine’s $2.4 billion Chicken
#25 Jimmy John’s $2.3 billion Sandwich
#26 Wingstop $2.3 billion Chicken
#27 Zaxby’s $2.2 billion Chicken
#28 Jersey Mike’s $2.2 billion Sandwich
#29 Hardee’s $2.1 billion Burger
#30 Five Guys $2.1 billion Burger
#31 Carl’s Jr. $1.6 billion Burger
#32 Bojangles $1.5 billion Chicken
#33 In-N-Out Burger $1.2 billion Burger
#34 Firehouse Subs $1.0 billion Sandwich
#35 Krispy Kreme $996 million Snack
#36 Pel Pollo Loco $973 million Chicken
#37 Tropical Smoothie Cafe $948 million Snack
#38 Del Taco $931 million Global
#39 Checkers/Rally’s $931 million Burger
#40 Marco’s Pizza $899 million Pizza
#41 McAlister’s Deli $869 million Sandwich
#42 Qdoba $835 million Global
#43 Papa Murphy’s $809 million Pizza
#44 Church’s Chicken $776 million Chicken
#45 Shake Shack $775 million Burger
#46 Freddy’s Frozen Custard & Steakburger $759 million Burger
#47 Tim Hortons $687 million Snack
#48 Baskin-Robbins $686 million Snack
#49 Moe’s $661 million Global
#50 White Castle $615 million Burger

 

The majority of the top 20 restaurants are household names, such as Chick-fil-A in third place and Taco Bell in fourth. Some of these chains, though, will be unrecognizable depending on where you live in the United States. While Bojangles is popular in the Southeast, many people on the West Coast may have never heard of it.

Shake Shack (#45), White Castle (#50), and the Canadian-founded Tim Hortons (#47) are among the lower-ranking eateries.

Fast Food Industry Trends

The fast food business in the United States is predicted to produce $331 billion in sales by 2022, with many establishments profiting on patterns inspired in part by the epidemic.

With drive-thrus, quick service, and a business strategy that discourages sitting down to eat, fast food restaurants are already partially suited to pandemic circumstances.

Starbucks, for example, has stated that 90% of its new outlets would include drive-thrus. Digital sales and transactions that minimize touch, making fast food even faster and more convenient, are also on the rise. Over the previous five years, Starbucks’ mobile order service has risen 400%. According to the QSR research, the distribution aspect of their business would grow 30% year on year in 2021.

Rank

Company Systemwide Sales (2021) Category
#1 Smoothie King $602 million Snack
#2 Habit Burger $600 million Burger
#3 Auntie Anne’s $576 million Snack
#4 Captain D’s $567 million Seafood
#5 Steak ‘N’ Shake $539 million Burger
#6 Portillo’s $526 million Snack
#7 Jamba $505 million Snack
#8 Schlotzsky’s $332 million Sandwich
#9 Krystal $323 million Burger
#10 Fazoli’s $298 million Global
#11 Pizza Ranch $279 million Pizza
#12 Scooter’s Coffee $263 million Snack
#13 Penn Station $258 million Sandwich
#14 Chicken Salad Chick $255 million Chicken
#15 Mountain Mike’s $254 million Pizza
#16 Smashburger $253 million Burger
#17 Cinnabon $224 million Snack
#18 Wetzel’s $219 million Snack
#19 Donatos $211 million Pizza
#20 Newk’s $208 million Sandwich
#21 Bonchon $173 million Chicken
#22 Waba Grill $170 million Global
#23 The Human Bean $109 million Snack
#24 Capriotti’s $108 million Sandwich
#25 Great Harvest Bread Company $108 million Sandwich
#26 Teriyaki Madness $90 million Global
#27 Roy Rogers $82 million Burger
#28 Pizza Guys $79 million Pizza
#29 Mooyah $71 million Burger
#30 Salsarita’s $68 million Global
#31 Dog Haus $67 million Snack
#32 Gold Star $61 million Burger
#33 Hawaiian Bros $55 million Global
#34 Honeygrow $55 million Global
#35 Robeks $50 million Snack
#36 PJ’s Coffee of New Orleans $46 million Snack
#37 Kolache Factory $46 million Snack
#38 Juice it Up! $43 million Snack
#39 Happy Joe’s $38 million Pizza
#40 Rusty Taco $35 million Global
#41 Wing Zone $34 million Chicken
#42 Swig $29 million Snack
#43 Pickleman’s $29 million Sandwich
#44 Killer Burger $17 million Burger
#45 Wing Snob $15 million Chicken
#46 Sobol $13 million Global
#47 Bad Ass Coffee of Hawaii $12 million Snack
#48 Asian Box $11 million Global
#49 Sauce on the Side $9 million Global
#50 Mici Italian $6 million Global

Some are well-established fast food restaurants that are just expanding their sales, such as Cinnabon, while others are newer to the market.

America’s Favorite Fast Food Restaurant

We evaluated the total sales in each of the top 50 food categories using the ranking’s food categories to determine which foods are America’s favorites. Burgers are clearly the winner, with $92.2 billion in total sales. Here’s how it’s broken down:

Rank Food Category Category Cumulative Sales
#1 Burger $92.2 billion
#2 Snack $42.5 billion
#3 Chicken $36.7 billion
#4 Global $27.0 billion
#5 Sandwich $25.9 billion
#6 Pizza $23.5 billion

Burger restaurant sales were more than quadruple those of the runner-up, Snacks. Nothing says “America” like a basic hamburger and fries.

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