Americans eat a lot of fast food. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 36.6% of adults consume fast food on any given day. There’s a reason that statistic comes from the CDC: Lifestyle and diet play major roles in the prevalence of obesity and diseases such as diabetes, and some observers point to fast food as a culprit. (These are the unhealthiest items in the most popular food chains.)
Fast food is more popular, or at least more easily accessible, in some places than others. To determine the fast food capitals of America — the states with the most outlets of the nation’s ten most popular chains — 24/7 Tempo reviewed data collected by NiceRx, a patient assistance program and medication access company, using numbers for total fast-food restaurants taken from the U.S. Census Bureau and tracking the nation’s ten most popular chains as determined by ScrapeHero.com. (Population figures are five-year estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2019 American Community Survey.)
We then ranked the states by their total number of fast food restaurants per capita belonging to those top ten chains — Subway, Starbucks, McDonalds, Dunkin’, Burger King, Taco Bell, Dominos, Wendy’s, KFC, and Dairy Queen. (All are among the most successful restaurant chains in America.)
Click here to see the fast food capitals of America
Hawaii, which has only about 1,500 of those establishments in total, ranks No. 1 on our list because, due to the small size of its population, that works out to 97.5 per 100,000 people. That may reflect a local fondness for fast food, but those restaurants also cater to the Aloha State’s many visitors. Interestingly, the No. 50 spot is occupied by the other non-contiguous state, Alaska, which has a comparatively few 61.9 of those chain outlets per 100,000 people.
50. Alaska
> All fast food restaurants per 100K people: 61.9
> Total fast food restaurants: 453 — 3rd lowest
> Total population in 2019: 731,545 — 3rd highest
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49. Wyoming
> All fast food restaurants per 100K people: 62.5
> Total fast food restaurants: 362 — the lowest
> Total population in 2019: 578,759 — the highest
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48. South Dakota
> All fast food restaurants per 100K people: 63.9
> Total fast food restaurants: 565 — 5th lowest
> Total population in 2019: 884,659 — 5th highest
47. Wisconsin
> All fast food restaurants per 100K people: 65.0
> Total fast food restaurants: 3,785 — 22nd highest
> Total population in 2019: 5,822,434 — 20th lowest
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45. Florida
> All fast food restaurants per 100K people: 65.5
> Total fast food restaurants: 14,068 — 4th highest
> Total population in 2019: 21,477,737 — 3rd lowest
45. Idaho
> All fast food restaurants per 100K people: 65.5
> Total fast food restaurants: 1,171 — 11th lowest
> Total population in 2019: 1,787,065 — 12th highest
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44. North Dakota
> All fast food restaurants per 100K people: 65.6
> Total fast food restaurants: 500 — 4th lowest
> Total population in 2019: 762,062 — 4th highest
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43. Washington
> All fast food restaurants per 100K people: 66.8
> Total fast food restaurants: 5,087 — 16th highest
> Total population in 2019: 7,614,893 — 13th lowest
42. Minnesota
> All fast food restaurants per 100K people: 67.0
> Total fast food restaurants: 3,779 — 24th highest
> Total population in 2019: 5,639,632 — 22nd lowest
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41. Iowa
> All fast food restaurants per 100K people: 67.7
> Total fast food restaurants: 2,136 — 17th lowest
> Total population in 2019: 3,155,070 — 20th highest
40. Arizona
> All fast food restaurants per 100K people: 67.9
> Total fast food restaurants: 4,942 — 18th highest
> Total population in 2019: 7,278,717 — 14th lowest
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39. Vermont
> All fast food restaurants per 100K people: 68.3
> Total fast food restaurants: 426 — 2nd lowest
> Total population in 2019: 623,989 — 2nd highest
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38. Montana
> All fast food restaurants per 100K people: 69.8
> Total fast food restaurants: 746 — 6th lowest
> Total population in 2019: 1,068,778 — 8th highest
37. Arkansas
> All fast food restaurants per 100K people: 69.9
> Total fast food restaurants: 2,109 — 16th lowest
> Total population in 2019: 3,017,804 — 18th highest
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36. Nebraska
> All fast food restaurants per 100K people: 71.9
> Total fast food restaurants: 1,391 — 14th lowest
> Total population in 2019: 1,934,408 — 14th highest
35. Missouri
> All fast food restaurants per 100K people: 72.9
> Total fast food restaurants: 4,474 — 19th highest
> Total population in 2019: 6,137,428 — 18th lowest
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33. Oregon
> All fast food restaurants per 100K people: 73.4
> Total fast food restaurants: 3,096 — 24th lowest
> Total population in 2019: 4,217,737 — 24th highest
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33. New Mexico
> All fast food restaurants per 100K people: 73.4
> Total fast food restaurants: 1,539 — 15th lowest
> Total population in 2019: 2,096,829 — 15th highest
32. South Carolina
> All fast food restaurants per 100K people: 73.5
> Total fast food restaurants: 3,784 — 23rd highest
> Total population in 2019: 5,148,714 — 23rd lowest
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31. Indiana
> All fast food restaurants per 100K people: 73.7
> Total fast food restaurants: 4,962 — 17th highest
> Total population in 2019: 6,732,219 — 17th lowest
30. West Virginia
> All fast food restaurants per 100K people: 73.8
> Total fast food restaurants: 1,323 — 12th lowest
> Total population in 2019: 1,792,147 — 13th highest
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29. Michigan
> All fast food restaurants per 100K people: 73.9
> Total fast food restaurants: 7,380 — 10th highest
> Total population in 2019: 9,986,857 — 10th lowest
28. Kentucky
> All fast food restaurants per 100K people: 74.2
> Total fast food restaurants: 3,315 — 25th lowest
> Total population in 2019: 4,467,673 — 25th highest
27. Kansas
> All fast food restaurants per 100K people: 74.7
> Total fast food restaurants: 2,176 — 18th lowest
> Total population in 2019: 2,913,314 — 16th highest
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26. Maine
> All fast food restaurants per 100K people: 74.9
> Total fast food restaurants: 1,007 — 9th lowest
> Total population in 2019: 1,344,212 — 9th highest
25. Pennsylvania
> All fast food restaurants per 100K people: 75.5
> Total fast food restaurants: 9,666 — 7th highest
> Total population in 2019: 12,801,989 — 5th lowest
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24. Colorado
> All fast food restaurants per 100K people: 75.7
> Total fast food restaurants: 4,359 — 20th highest
> Total population in 2019: 5,758,736 — 21st lowest
23. Texas
> All fast food restaurants per 100K people: 75.8
> Total fast food restaurants: 21,979 — 2nd highest
> Total population in 2019: 28,995,881 — 2nd lowest
22. Oklahoma
> All fast food restaurants per 100K people: 76.0
> Total fast food restaurants: 3,007 — 23rd lowest
> Total population in 2019: 3,956,971 — 23rd highest
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21. Connecticut
> All fast food restaurants per 100K people: 76.1
> Total fast food restaurants: 2,713 — 22nd lowest
> Total population in 2019: 3,565,287 — 22nd highest
19. Louisiana
> All fast food restaurants per 100K people: 76.2
> Total fast food restaurants: 3,542 — 25th highest
> Total population in 2019: 4,648,794 — 25th lowest
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19. Utah
> All fast food restaurants per 100K people: 76.2
> Total fast food restaurants: 2,443 — 20th lowest
> Total population in 2019: 3,205,958 — 21st highest
18. North Carolina
> All fast food restaurants per 100K people: 76.9
> Total fast food restaurants: 8,065 — 9th highest
> Total population in 2019: 10,488,084 — 9th lowest
17. Mississippi
> All fast food restaurants per 100K people: 77.3
> Total fast food restaurants: 2,301 — 19th lowest
> Total population in 2019: 2,976,149 — 17th highest
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16. Massachusetts
> All fast food restaurants per 100K people: 77.5
> Total fast food restaurants: 5,342 — 14th highest
> Total population in 2019: 6,892,503 — 15th lowest
15. Tennessee
> All fast food restaurants per 100K people: 77.8
> Total fast food restaurants: 5,313 — 15th highest
> Total population in 2019: 6,829,174 — 16th lowest
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14. Delaware
> All fast food restaurants per 100K people: 78.3
> Total fast food restaurants: 762 — 7th lowest
> Total population in 2019: 973,764 — 6th highest
13. New Hampshire
> All fast food restaurants per 100K people: 79.8
> Total fast food restaurants: 1,085 — 10th lowest
> Total population in 2019: 1,359,711 — 10th highest
12. Virginia
> All fast food restaurants per 100K people: 80.1
> Total fast food restaurants: 6,837 — 12th highest
> Total population in 2019: 8,535,519 — 12th lowest
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11. New Jersey
> All fast food restaurants per 100K people: 81.2
> Total fast food restaurants: 7,212 — 11th highest
> Total population in 2019: 8,882,190 — 11th lowest
10. Rhode Island
> All fast food restaurants per 100K people: 81.3
> Total fast food restaurants: 861 — 8th lowest
> Total population in 2019: 1,059,361 — 7th highest
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9. Alabama
> All fast food restaurants per 100K people: 81.7
> Total fast food restaurants: 4,006 — 21st highest
> Total population in 2019: 4,903,185 — 24th lowest
8. California
> All fast food restaurants per 100K people: 82.3
> Total fast food restaurants: 32,519 — the highest
> Total population in 2019: 39,512,223 — the lowest
6. Illinois
> All fast food restaurants per 100K people: 82.5
> Total fast food restaurants: 10,454 — 5th highest
> Total population in 2019: 12,671,821 — 6th lowest
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6. Georgia
> All fast food restaurants per 100K people: 82.5
> Total fast food restaurants: 8,759 — 8th highest
> Total population in 2019: 10,617,423 — 8th lowest
5. Ohio
> All fast food restaurants per 100K people: 82.8
> Total fast food restaurants: 9,679 — 6th highest
> Total population in 2019: 11,689,100 — 7th lowest
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4. Nevada
> All fast food restaurants per 100K people: 84.8
> Total fast food restaurants: 2,612 — 21st lowest
> Total population in 2019: 3,080,156 — 19th highest
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3. Maryland
> All fast food restaurants per 100K people: 89.7
> Total fast food restaurants: 5,423 — 13th highest
> Total population in 2019: 6,045,680 — 19th lowest
2. New York
> All fast food restaurants per 100K people: 92.3
> Total fast food restaurants: 17,956 — 3rd highest
> Total population in 2019: 19,453,561 — 4th lowest
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1. Hawaii
> All fast food restaurants per 100K people: 97.5
> Total fast food restaurants: 1,380 — 13th lowest
> Total population in 2019: 1,415,872 — 11th highest
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