McDonald’s is the world’s largest restaurant chain by revenue, with more than 37,000 outlets in some 120 countries in every corner of the globe. Almost 14,000 of those are in the United States alone, where the chain’s Golden Arches logo, Ronald McDonald mascot, and slogans such as “I’m lovin’ it” are familiar to tens of millions of people. (These are the best burgers you can get at a fast food restaurant.)
Which state has the most McDonald’s restaurants? To determine that, 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 per capita McDonald’s population per 100,000 residents, lowest to highest. Ties were broken using the total number of McDonald’s restaurants in the state.
Click here to see the McDonald’s capitals of America
West Virginia takes first place as the country’s McDonald’s capital, with 5.8 locations per 100,000 people. Next come Arkansas with 5.7 and Kentucky with 5.6. It may be worth noting that these are among the poorest states in the country, and lag many others by various quality of life indicators. (All three are also high on the list of states where children are struggling with obesity.)
At the other end of our list are New Jersey and Rhode Island, with just 2.9 McDonald’s restaurants per 100,000 people. North Dakota and New York are tied for No. 48 with 3.1 each. New York is almost synonymous with fast food so it’s not clear why McDonald’s has a light footprint in the state. Interestingly, South Dakota is also among the states with the fewest units of the fast-food chain. Why the Dakotas have such a small McDonald’s population is not immediately apparent.
50. Rhode Island
> All McDonald’s restaurants per 100K people: 2.9
> Total McDonald’s restaurants: 31 — 5th lowest
> Total population in 2019: 1,059,361 — 7th lowest
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49. New Jersey
> All McDonald’s restaurants per 100K people: 2.9
> Total McDonald’s restaurants: 258 — 19th highest
> Total population in 2019: 8,882,190 — 11th highest
48. North Dakota
> All McDonald’s restaurants per 100K people: 3.1
> Total McDonald’s restaurants: 24 — the lowest
> Total population in 2019: 762,062 — 4th lowest
47. New York
> All McDonald’s restaurants per 100K people: 3.1
> Total McDonald’s restaurants: 603 — 6th highest
> Total population in 2019: 19,453,561 — 4th highest
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46. California
> All McDonald’s restaurants per 100K people: 3.2
> Total McDonald’s restaurants: 1264 — the highest
> Total population in 2019: 39,512,223 — the highest
45. South Dakota
> All McDonald’s restaurants per 100K people: 3.4
> Total McDonald’s restaurants: 30 — 4th lowest
> Total population in 2019: 884,659 — 5th lowest
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44. Massachusetts
> All McDonald’s restaurants per 100K people: 3.4
> Total McDonald’s restaurants: 234 — 23rd highest
> Total population in 2019: 6,892,503 — 15th highest
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43. Washington
> All McDonald’s restaurants per 100K people: 3.4
> Total McDonald’s restaurants: 259 — 18th highest
> Total population in 2019: 7,614,893 — 13th highest
42. Idaho
> All McDonald’s restaurants per 100K people: 3.5
> Total McDonald’s restaurants: 63 — 11th lowest
> Total population in 2019: 1,787,065 — 12th lowest
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41. Utah
> All McDonald’s restaurants per 100K people: 3.5
> Total McDonald’s restaurants: 112 — 16th lowest
> Total population in 2019: 3,205,958 — 21st lowest
40. Colorado
> All McDonald’s restaurants per 100K people: 3.6
> Total McDonald’s restaurants: 207 — 25th lowest
> Total population in 2019: 5,758,736 — 21st highest
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39. Delaware
> All McDonald’s restaurants per 100K people: 3.7
> Total McDonald’s restaurants: 36 — 7th lowest
> Total population in 2019: 973,764 — 6th lowest
38. Oregon
> All McDonald’s restaurants per 100K people: 3.8
> Total McDonald’s restaurants: 160 — 22nd lowest
> Total population in 2019: 4,217,737 — 24th lowest
37. Pennsylvania
> All McDonald’s restaurants per 100K people: 3.8
> Total McDonald’s restaurants: 486 — 8th highest
> Total population in 2019: 12,801,989 — 5th highest
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36. Arizona
> All McDonald’s restaurants per 100K people: 3.9
> Total McDonald’s restaurants: 284 — 17th highest
> Total population in 2019: 7,278,717 — 14th highest
35. New Hampshire
> All McDonald’s restaurants per 100K people: 4.0
> Total McDonald’s restaurants: 54 — 9th lowest
> Total population in 2019: 1,359,711 — 10th lowest
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34. Nebraska
> All McDonald’s restaurants per 100K people: 4.0
> Total McDonald’s restaurants: 77 — 13th lowest
> Total population in 2019: 1,934,408 — 14th lowest
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33. Connecticut
> All McDonald’s restaurants per 100K people: 4.0
> Total McDonald’s restaurants: 143 — 19th lowest
> Total population in 2019: 3,565,287 — 22nd lowest
32. Minnesota
> All McDonald’s restaurants per 100K people: 4.0
> Total McDonald’s restaurants: 226 — 25th highest
> Total population in 2019: 5,639,632 — 22nd highest
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31. Texas
> All McDonald’s restaurants per 100K people: 4.1
> Total McDonald’s restaurants: 1189 — 2nd highest
> Total population in 2019: 28,995,881 — 2nd highest
30. Vermont
> All McDonald’s restaurants per 100K people: 4.2
> Total McDonald’s restaurants: 26 — 2nd lowest
> Total population in 2019: 623,989 — 2nd lowest
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29. Alaska
> All McDonald’s restaurants per 100K people: 4.2
> Total McDonald’s restaurants: 31 — 6th lowest
> Total population in 2019: 731,545 — 3rd lowest
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28. Georgia
> All McDonald’s restaurants per 100K people: 4.2
> Total McDonald’s restaurants: 446 — 10th highest
> Total population in 2019: 10,617,423 — 8th highest
27. Florida
> All McDonald’s restaurants per 100K people: 4.2
> Total McDonald’s restaurants: 902 — 3rd highest
> Total population in 2019: 21,477,737 — 3rd highest
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26. South Carolina
> All McDonald’s restaurants per 100K people: 4.4
> Total McDonald’s restaurants: 227 — 24th highest
> Total population in 2019: 5,148,714 — 23rd highest
25. Montana
> All McDonald’s restaurants per 100K people: 4.5
> Total McDonald’s restaurants: 48 — 8th lowest
> Total population in 2019: 1,068,778 — 8th lowest
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24. Maine
> All McDonald’s restaurants per 100K people: 4.6
> Total McDonald’s restaurants: 62 — 10th lowest
> Total population in 2019: 1,344,212 — 9th lowest
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23. Nevada
> All McDonald’s restaurants per 100K people: 4.6
> Total McDonald’s restaurants: 142 — 18th lowest
> Total population in 2019: 3,080,156 — 19th lowest
22. Iowa
> All McDonald’s restaurants per 100K people: 4.6
> Total McDonald’s restaurants: 145 — 20th lowest
> Total population in 2019: 3,155,070 — 20th lowest
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21. North Carolina
> All McDonald’s restaurants per 100K people: 4.6
> Total McDonald’s restaurants: 482 — 9th highest
> Total population in 2019: 10,488,084 — 9th highest
20. Mississippi
> All McDonald’s restaurants per 100K people: 4.7
> Total McDonald’s restaurants: 140 — 17th lowest
> Total population in 2019: 2,976,149 — 17th lowest
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19. Maryland
> All McDonald’s restaurants per 100K people: 4.7
> Total McDonald’s restaurants: 284 — 16th highest
> Total population in 2019: 6,045,680 — 19th highest
18. Virginia
> All McDonald’s restaurants per 100K people: 4.7
> Total McDonald’s restaurants: 401 — 11th highest
> Total population in 2019: 8,535,519 — 12th highest
17. Wyoming
> All McDonald’s restaurants per 100K people: 4.8
> Total McDonald’s restaurants: 28 — 3rd lowest
> Total population in 2019: 578,759 — the lowest
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16. Tennessee
> All McDonald’s restaurants per 100K people: 4.8
> Total McDonald’s restaurants: 328 — 13th highest
> Total population in 2019: 6,829,174 — 16th highest
15. Alabama
> All McDonald’s restaurants per 100K people: 5.0
> Total McDonald’s restaurants: 245 — 21st highest
> Total population in 2019: 4,903,185 — 24th highest
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14. New Mexico
> All McDonald’s restaurants per 100K people: 5.1
> Total McDonald’s restaurants: 107 — 15th lowest
> Total population in 2019: 2,096,829 — 15th lowest
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13. Kansas
> All McDonald’s restaurants per 100K people: 5.1
> Total McDonald’s restaurants: 149 — 21st lowest
> Total population in 2019: 2,913,314 — 16th lowest
12. Louisiana
> All McDonald’s restaurants per 100K people: 5.1
> Total McDonald’s restaurants: 237 — 22nd highest
> Total population in 2019: 4,648,794 — 25th highest
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11. Wisconsin
> All McDonald’s restaurants per 100K people: 5.1
> Total McDonald’s restaurants: 297 — 15th highest
> Total population in 2019: 5,822,434 — 20th highest
10. Missouri
> All McDonald’s restaurants per 100K people: 5.1
> Total McDonald’s restaurants: 313 — 14th highest
> Total population in 2019: 6,137,428 — 18th highest
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9. Hawaii
> All McDonald’s restaurants per 100K people: 5.2
> Total McDonald’s restaurants: 74 — 12th lowest
> Total population in 2019: 1,415,872 — 11th lowest
8. Oklahoma
> All McDonald’s restaurants per 100K people: 5.2
> Total McDonald’s restaurants: 206 — 24th lowest
> Total population in 2019: 3,956,971 — 23rd lowest
7. Indiana
> All McDonald’s restaurants per 100K people: 5.2
> Total McDonald’s restaurants: 350 — 12th highest
> Total population in 2019: 6,732,219 — 17th highest
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6. Ohio
> All McDonald’s restaurants per 100K people: 5.2
> Total McDonald’s restaurants: 608 — 5th highest
> Total population in 2019: 11,689,100 — 7th highest
5. Illinois
> All McDonald’s restaurants per 100K people: 5.2
> Total McDonald’s restaurants: 659 — 4th highest
> Total population in 2019: 12,671,821 — 6th highest
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4. Michigan
> All McDonald’s restaurants per 100K people: 5.4
> Total McDonald’s restaurants: 539 — 7th highest
> Total population in 2019: 9,986,857 — 10th highest
3. Kentucky
> All McDonald’s restaurants per 100K people: 5.6
> Total McDonald’s restaurants: 250 — 20th highest
> Total population in 2019: 4,467,673 — 25th lowest
2. Arkansas
> All McDonald’s restaurants per 100K people: 5.7
> Total McDonald’s restaurants: 172 — 23rd lowest
> Total population in 2019: 3,017,804 — 18th lowest
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1. West Virginia
> All McDonald’s restaurants per 100K people: 5.8
> Total McDonald’s restaurants: 104 — 14th lowest
> Total population in 2019: 1,792,147 — 13th lowest
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