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Market Data

Best Cities to Open a Restaurant in 2026 (Market Data)

Where should you open a restaurant? Free U.S. Census data ranks the least- and most-saturated full-service restaurants markets across 387 metros. Find the cities with the most room to grow.

Updated 2026

There are 221,773 full-service restaurants across the 387 U.S. metros we track - an average of 76.8 per 100,000 residents (the typical metro has 71.5). The least-saturated markets have the most room for a well-marketed restaurant. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns (2022) and Population Estimates (2023).

Most underserved · full-service restaurants per 100k

Most saturated · full-service restaurants per 100k

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All 387 full-service restaurants markets by state

Number shown is full-service restaurants per 100,000 residents. Lower = less saturated.

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AK

Anchorage68.3 Fairbanks73.8

AL

Anniston53.3 Auburn65.5 Birmingham55 Daphne97 Decatur53.6 Dothan72.4 Florence63.2 Gadsden64.9 Huntsville55.2 Mobile51.3 Montgomery52.1 Tuscaloosa48.9

AR

Fayetteville70 Fort Smith72.6 Hot Springs110.2 Jonesboro68.9 Little Rock69.8

AZ

Flagstaff123.9 Lake Havasu City69.7 Phoenix57.2 Prescott Valley85.5 Sierra Vista63.4 Tucson56.1 Yuma44.6

CO

Boulder108.3 Colorado Springs65.6 Denver81.7 Fort Collins81.7 Grand Junction68.9 Greeley49.5 Pueblo69.6

CT

Bridgeport103.2 Hartford91.5 New Haven100.5 Norwich109.1 Waterbury76.1

DC

DE

GA

Albany59.8 Athens71.6 Atlanta77.8 Augusta63.1 Brunswick99.1 Columbus61.8 Dalton49.8 Gainesville59.8 Hinesville33.8 Macon66.9 Rome54.9 Savannah101.9 Valdosta64.8 Warner Robins53.3

HI

Kahului104.7 Urban Honolulu81.7

IA

Ames61.5 Cedar Rapids81.6 Davenport84.3 Des Moines71.5 Dubuque72.8 Iowa City100 Sioux City69.9 Waterloo69.6

ID

Boise City59.7 Coeur d'Alene81.1 Idaho Falls58.2 Lewiston59.5 Pocatello65.3 Twin Falls68.8

IL

Bloomington70.4 Champaign89.1 Chicago78.4 Decatur78.5 Kankakee74.6 Peoria72.3 Rockford68.8 Springfield84.2

IN

Bloomington83.3 Columbus70.2 Elkhart66.9 Evansville73.1 Fort Wayne63.6 Indianapolis74.7 Kokomo72.8 Lafayette78.1 Michigan City81.5 Muncie67.7 South Bend71.8 Terre Haute75.8

KS

Lawrence75.5 Manhattan59.5 Topeka61.6 Wichita73.8

KY

Bowling Green58.3 Elizabethtown58.8 Lexington74.6 Louisville/Jefferson County66.3 Owensboro66.7 Paducah89

LA

Alexandria43.9 Baton Rouge54.1 Hammond72.4 Houma50.3 Lafayette68.1 Lake Charles56.2 Monroe53.2 New Orleans102.2 Shreveport59.7 Slidell88.5

MA

Amherst Town92.9 Barnstable Town187.7 Boston92.9 Pittsfield153.8 Springfield71.5 Worcester68.6

MD

Baltimore60.8 Hagerstown60.5 Lexington Park54.8 Salisbury52.4

ME

Bangor72.8 Lewiston58.9 Portland123.6

MI

Ann Arbor79.1 Battle Creek56.2 Bay City63.4 Detroit72.7 Flint53.5 Grand Rapids61.7 Jackson52.7 Kalamazoo78.2 Lansing61.5 Midland48.8 Monroe52.2 Muskegon63.4 Niles90 Saginaw63.4 Traverse City104.9

MN

Duluth79.9 Mankato68.1 Minneapolis62.6 Rochester75.1 St. Cloud62.7

MO

Cape Girardeau85.5 Columbia73.9 Jefferson City70.3 Joplin75.2 Kansas City70 Springfield75.6 St. Joseph56.6 St. Louis73.7

MS

Gulfport82.7 Hattiesburg67.4 Jackson51.8

MT

Billings87.2 Bozeman119.5 Great Falls80.1 Helena85.3 Missoula81.1

NC

Asheville101.6 Burlington77.6 Charlotte75.6 Durham71.1 Fayetteville61.7 Goldsboro63.2 Greensboro73.6 Greenville82.2 Hickory66.2 Jacksonville55.2 Pinehurst100.1 Raleigh73.8 Rocky Mount59.2 Wilmington109.8 Winston74.3

ND

Bismarck62.6 Fargo60.2 Grand Forks69.8 Minot58.1

NE

Grand Island65.4 Lincoln63.6 Omaha68.4

NH

NJ

Atlantic City172.2 Trenton78.3 Vineland50.5

NM

Albuquerque55.4 Farmington42.3 Las Cruces49.3 Santa Fe107.7

NV

Carson City112 Las Vegas73.2 Reno71

NY

Albany85.4 Binghamton77.5 Buffalo81.6 Elmira77.5 Glens Falls131.6 Ithaca89.8 Kingston138.2 Kiryas Joel99.1 New York99 Rochester77.2 Syracuse70 Utica90.2 Watertown98.4

OH

Akron64.9 Canton63.3 Cincinnati69 Cleveland72.8 Columbus64.7 Dayton59.8 Lima56.5 Mansfield56.8 Sandusky129.1 Springfield49 Toledo77.6 Youngstown68.5

OK

Enid72.6 Lawton59.8 Oklahoma City80.2 Tulsa72.5

OR

Albany62.4 Bend99.3 Corvallis80.8 Eugene86.8 Grants Pass87.7 Medford94.7 Portland97.2 Salem75.6

PA

Allentown77.2 Altoona76.5 Chambersburg66.5 Erie72.5 Gettysburg60.9 Harrisburg71.8 Johnstown67.3 Lancaster60.3 Lebanon43.7 Philadelphia69.9 Pittsburgh76.2 Reading64.5 Scranton90.8 State College68.4 Williamsport81.6 York49.7

RI

SC

Charleston99 Columbia71.7 Florence75.1 Greenville82.4 Hilton Head Island132.9 Myrtle Beach145.4 Spartanburg65.5 Sumter47

SD

Rapid City85.3 Sioux Falls60.4

TN

Chattanooga73 Clarksville62.6 Cleveland50.1 Jackson62.7 Johnson City74.6 Kingsport62.6 Knoxville59.5 Memphis66.4 Morristown50 Nashville79.7

UT

Logan32.9 Ogden37.1 Provo31.7 Salt Lake City59.5 St. George58.3

VA

Blacksburg72.2 Charlottesville99.5 Harrisonburg85 Lynchburg66.9 Richmond83.2 Roanoke84.6 Staunton66.7 Virginia Beach92.4 Winchester78.8

VT

WA

Bellingham99.2 Bremerton77.1 Kennewick63.3 Longview59.4 Mount Vernon93.6 Olympia65.9 Seattle95.5 Spokane70.3 Walla Walla87.7 Wenatchee108.2 Yakima62

WI

Appleton79.9 Eau Claire80.6 Fond du Lac76 Green Bay78 Janesville71.8 Kenosha71 La Crosse74 Madison87 Milwaukee75 Oshkosh71.6 Racine63.6 Sheboygan83.2 Wausau76.5

WV

Beckley57.4 Charleston72.4 Huntington55.4 Morgantown81.8 Parkersburg77.2 Weirton66.9 Wheeling71.6

WY

Casper80.1 Cheyenne63.4

Full-Service Restaurants market - FAQ

How many full-service restaurants are there in the US?

Across the 387 U.S. metros we track, there are 221,773 full-service restaurants, or about 76.8 per 100,000 residents on average. Counts are Census County Business Patterns establishments, not individual practitioners.

Which U.S. city is the least saturated for full-service restaurants?

Eagle Pass, TX has the fewest full-service restaurants per capita among the metros we rank: 27.7 per 100,000 residents.

Which U.S. city is the most saturated for full-service restaurants?

Barnstable Town, MA has the most full-service restaurants per capita among the metros we rank: 187.7 per 100,000 residents.

How does the full-service restaurants market ranking work?

We rank 387 metros from lowest to highest full-service restaurants per 100,000 residents using U.S. Census Bureau County Business Patterns establishment counts and Census Population Estimates. Lower rank means less saturated.