Restaurant dining spans full-service meals, limited-service purchases, takeout, delivery, and other food-away-from-home occasions. In the United States, food away from home reached $1.41 trillion in inflation-adjusted 2025 dollars, while the available participation, workforce, and safety measures come from different populations and periods.
Key Restaurant Dining Statistics
The most broadly useful figures include:
- $1.41 trillion in inflation-adjusted food-away-from-home expenditures in 2025 in the United States, compared with $818 billion in 1997.
- Food away from home represented 56.3% of U.S. food expenditures in 2025, while food at home represented 43.7%.
- U.S. per-capita food-away-from-home purchases reached $3,936 in nominal 2025 dollars.
- Full-service and limited-service restaurants together represented 71.0% of U.S. food-away-from-home spending in 2025.
- Limited-service restaurants represented 36.5% of U.S. food-away-from-home spending in 2025.
- Full-service restaurants represented 34.5% of U.S. food-away-from-home spending in 2025.
- Average U.S. food-away-from-home spending was $3,945 per consumer unit in 2024.
- Food away from home accounted for 5.0% of average U.S. consumer-unit expenditures in 2024.
- Food-away-from-home prices rose 3.6% from December 2023 to December 2024 in the U.S. city average CPI.
- FoodAPS classified 19% of the U.S. population as restaurant nonconsumers in 2012.
- Frequent fast-food and full-service consumers represented 22% of the FoodAPS population in 2012.
- Food services and drinking places employed 12.35 million people in March 2026 on a seasonally adjusted U.S. basis.
- The food-services and drinking-places unemployment rate was 6.9% in March 2026 among people previously employed in the industry.
- Average daily inflation-adjusted full-service restaurant sales were $1,427 million in May 2025 in the United States.
- The National Restaurant Association forecast $1.5 trillion in U.S. restaurant-industry sales for 2025, an estimate rather than a final observed outcome.
- The CDC estimates 9.9 million annual illnesses from the most common U.S. foodborne pathogens, across all settings.
- Restaurants accounted for 2,880 foodborne outbreaks, or 61% of reported outbreaks, from 2009 through 2015 in the United States and Puerto Rico.
Contents
- U.S. restaurant dining spending and food-away-from-home trends
- Restaurant sales statistics by outlet type
- Restaurant dining costs and household budgets
- Restaurant dining participation and consumer profiles
- Restaurant industry employment statistics
- Restaurant dining seasonality and operating outlook
- Restaurant dining and food-safety outcomes
U.S. Restaurant Dining Spending and Food-Away-From-Home Trends
The USDA Economic Research Service (ERS) measures food away from home (FAFH), a broader category than restaurant receipts because it can include other foodservice outlets. Its constant-dollar series puts U.S. FAFH expenditures at $1.41 trillion in inflation-adjusted 2025 dollars, up from $818 billion in 1997.
The same ERS series reports that FAFH made up 56.3% of total U.S. food expenditures in 2025, compared with 43.7% for food at home. These are nominal expenditure shares, not inflation-adjusted shares.
| Measure | Period | U.S. result |
|---|---|---|
| FAFH expenditures | 1997 | $818 billion, inflation-adjusted |
| FAFH expenditures | 2025 | $1.41 trillion, inflation-adjusted |
| FAFH share of total food spending | 2025 | 56.3% |
| Nominal FAFH purchases per capita | 2025 | $3,936 |
ERS also reports that nominal per-capita FAFH purchases reached $3,936 in 2025. Inflation-adjusted per-capita purchases remained below the 2019 peak, so the nominal record should not be interpreted as a real-volume record.
Washington, D.C., recorded the highest 2025 per-capita FAFH purchases at $9,287. The figure includes all FAFH outlets and is affected by tourism and commuting, so it is not a restaurant-only measure.
Source: Food Service Industry – Market Segments. The ERS scope includes restaurants and other foodservice outlets.
Restaurant Sales Statistics by Outlet Type
ERS outlet categories show how restaurant dining fits within the wider FAFH market. In 2025, full-service and limited-service restaurants together accounted for 71.0% of U.S. FAFH spending, while other FAFH establishments accounted for 29.0%.
| Outlet category | Share of U.S. FAFH spending or sales | Period |
|---|---|---|
| Limited-service restaurants | 36.5% | 2025 |
| Full-service restaurants | 34.5% | 2025 |
| Full-service plus limited-service | 71.0% | 2025 |
| Other FAFH establishments | 29.0% | 2025 |
The updated ERS series shows a near reversal in 2024: full-service restaurants held 36.3% of FAFH sales, compared with 36.2% for limited-service restaurants. Other outlets held 27.4%, the lowest share in the series since 1997.
The pandemic-era shift is visible in the earlier series. Full-service restaurants fell from 34.1% of FAFH spending in 2019 to 29.7% in 2020, while limited-service restaurants rose from 34.1% to 38.0%; another updated ERS release reports a 37.8% limited-service peak for 2020.
Historical context also matters: full-service restaurants represented 35.9% of U.S. FAFH spending in 1997, and full- and limited-service restaurants together accounted for more than two-thirds in 2023.
Sources: Food Service Industry – Market Segments, Limited-service restaurants captured the largest share of food-away-from-home spending from 2019 to 2023, and Full-service surpasses limited-service restaurant sales in 2024. ERS classifications exclude or include other commercial and noncommercial outlets as stated by each series.
Restaurant Dining Costs, Prices, and Household Budgets
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reports average food-away-from-home spending for a U.S. consumer unit, including restaurants, takeout, delivery, and similar arrangements. The 2024 average was $3,945 per consumer unit, and FAFH represented 5.0% of average consumer-unit expenditures.
Average spending rose 20.1% from 2021 to 2024, from $3,030 to $3,945. The annual increase was 8.1% in 2023 and 0.3% in 2024, while the food-away-from-home CPI rose 3.6% from December 2023 to December 2024 in the U.S. city average.
A 2025 survey cited by BLS found that 37% of consumers said they were dining out less frequently. The sample and fielding details are in the underlying 2025 report rather than the BLS page.
FoodAPS provides a different cost lens for U.S. households in 2012. Restaurant nonconsumers averaged $61.0 in monthly food expenditures per single-adult equivalent, compared with $110.0 among frequent fast-food and full-service consumers and $56.3 among occasional fast-food consumers.
Source: Consumer expenditures in 2024. BLS figures are consumer-unit averages and are not restaurant-only receipts.
Restaurant Dining Participation and Consumer Profiles
USDA ERS FoodAPS profiles describe reported acquisition behavior in 2012; they are weighted descriptive clusters, not current prevalence estimates or causal effects.
| FoodAPS consumer group | Population share, 2012 | Average age | Monthly household income |
|---|---|---|---|
| Restaurant nonconsumers | 19% | 54.4 years | $3,406 |
| Frequent fast-food consumers | 18% | 45.0 years | Not reported in supplied comparison |
| Frequent fast-food and full-service consumers | 22% | 46.1 years | $6,711 |
FoodAPS also reports an average household size of 2.0 people among restaurant nonconsumers and 2.9 among occasional fast-food consumers. Employment prevalence was 44% among restaurant nonconsumers and 70% among frequent fast-food and full-service consumers.
Verified SNAP participation was 22% among restaurant nonconsumers and 6% among frequent fast-food and full-service consumers. These are descriptive group associations, not evidence that dining caused the differences.
Source: America’s Eating Habits: Food Away From Home, Chapter 8. FoodAPS figures describe U.S. households and consumer groups in 2012.
Restaurant Industry Employment Statistics
BLS uses the food services and drinking places industry, NAICS 722, which is broader than restaurants alone. On a seasonally adjusted basis, it employed 12.35 million people in March 2026, including 10.69 million production and nonsupervisory employees.
The industry unemployment rate was 6.9% in March 2026. This Current Population Survey measure concerns people previously employed in the industry, rather than every unemployed worker in the U.S. labor force.
Selected 2025 occupational estimates show the scale of work inside foodservice:
- Food-preparation and serving workers, including fast-food workers: 3,351,390 employed workers.
- Restaurant cooks: 1,235,200 employed workers.
- Waiters and waitresses: 1,943,380 employed workers.
- First-line supervisors and managers of food-preparation and serving workers: 1,009,330 employed workers.
Source: Food Services and Drinking Places: NAICS 722. Occupational estimates span multiple foodservice industries and should not be added to the industry employment total.
Restaurant Dining Seasonality, Sales Data, and Outlook
ERS daily sales data show seasonal movement in inflation-adjusted restaurant sales. Average daily full-service sales rose from $1,193 million in January 2025 to $1,427 million in May 2025, while limited-service sales rose from $1,277 million to $1,493 million over the same months.
| Outlet type | January 2025 | Reported later 2025 month |
|---|---|---|
| Full-service restaurants | $1,193 million per average day | $1,427 million in May |
| Limited-service restaurants | $1,277 million per average day | $1,493 million in May |
| Other FAFH outlets | $672 million per average day | $723 million in February |
Other FAFH outlets are not restaurant-only: their average daily inflation-adjusted sales were $672 million in January 2025 and $723 million in February 2025.
For the outlook, the National Restaurant Association forecast $1.5 trillion in restaurant-industry sales for 2025, more than 200,000 net new industry jobs, and 15.9 million restaurant and foodservice employees by the end of 2025. These are association forecasts, not final government observations.
More than 80% of restaurant operators expected 2025 sales to be higher than or about the same as 2024. That is an operator expectation, not a probability estimate or realized sales result.
Source: Food Service Industry – Market Segments and Restaurant Industry Poised for Growth in 2025: Industry Expected to Employ 15.9 Million People and Reach $1.5 Trillion in Sales.
Restaurant Dining and Food-Safety Outcomes
CDC estimates provide national foodborne-illness context, but most cover all transmission settings rather than restaurant-attributable illness. The CDC estimates approximately 800 reported foodborne-disease outbreaks, 9.9 million illnesses, 53,000 hospitalizations, and 931 deaths annually from the most common U.S. foodborne pathogens.
CDC and USDA estimate the annual U.S. cost of foodborne illnesses at about $74.7 billion. These figures are all-setting estimates, not restaurant-specific costs.
The restaurant-specific surveillance evidence is older and has a defined geography. In the CDC’s 2009–2015 dataset covering the United States and Puerto Rico, restaurants accounted for 2,880 outbreaks, or 61% of reported outbreaks, involving 33,465 illnesses, or 43% of outbreak-associated illnesses.
| Reported setting | Outbreaks | Share of outbreaks | Illnesses | Share of outbreak-associated illnesses | Mean illnesses per outbreak |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Restaurants | 2,880 | 61% | 33,465 | 43% | 12 |
| Sit-down dining | 2,239 | 48% | 25,150 | 33% | 11 |
Sit-down dining is a subset of the restaurant location classification in this surveillance table. The counts cover reported outbreak-associated illnesses, not all restaurant-related illness.
Sources: About Restaurant Food Safety and Surveillance for Foodborne Disease Outbreaks — United States, 2009–2015.