The Biggest Fast Food Chain In Every US State

The U.S. isn't short on fast food chains. In fact, according to data from IBIS World, the country is home to more than 212,800 fast food businesses. It's an astronomical amount, but it tracks with consumer habits. According to further data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, on average, around 32 percent of American adults eat fast food on any given day.

Needless to say, we all have preferences, but the fast food chain you're most likely to visit depends not just on your individual tastes, but also where you live. Some fast food chains simply have a much bigger presence in some states than others. Despite the many chains out there, just four dominate the market in terms of overall footprint. When we talk about the biggest chains, we're focusing on number of locations, specifically. 

The list is based on the most recent data we could find from resources like ScrapeHero, a data extraction service that specializes in web scraping and web crawling, and Stacker, a content distribution and data-driven media platform. Honestly, we think you'll be surprised to learn that none of the fast food chains below start with Mc. In fact, of the four chains on the list, none of them are burgers.: Pizza, sandwiches, coffee, and doughnuts.

Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, and Tennessee all share one thing in common: The biggest fast food chain in the state is a pizza restaurant, but it's not Dominos or Pizza Hut or Papa John's or any of the other well-known names in the pizza game. Nope, it's actually Hunt Brothers Pizza.

This quietly popular pizza chain was founded by four brothers back in the early 1990s in Nashville, Tennessee. Immediately, the family focused on combining two industries, pizza and convenience stores, and it was a winning strategy. Today, you can find Hunt Brothers Pizza, which also offers all of its topping combinations with no extra charge, in gas stations and convenience stores all over the country. Just look for the Hunt Brothers Pizza kiosk in the corner, where staff members will be cooking and serving up the chain's beloved pizzas. 

This model is the key to its success. There are technically no Hunt Brothers Pizza restaurants, so the chain spends very little on anything but ingredients. The gas stations and convenience stores all have existing staff who can handle prep and sale. In fact, in 2021, Hunt Brothers Pizza hit a major milestone, reaching 10,000 locations across 33 states. For context, that is around 3,000 more than Dominos and nearly 3,300 more than Pizza Hut.

Thirty (yes, that's three zero) states in the U.S. are home to more Subway locations than any other fast-food chain. You might have assumed that this title would go to McDonald's, considering it was of the largest restaurant chain in the country by systemwide sales in 2024, per reporting by QSR Magazine. But it seems this data doesn't always actually translate to physical bricks and mortar locations, which is why Subway has lurched ahead. 

The chain, known for its build-your-own sandwich model, started back in the 1960s in Connecticut. Fun fact: It was called Pete's Super Submarines before it was shortened to Subway. By the 1970s, the simple takeout sandwich restaurant, founded by college student Fred DeLuca and nuclear physicist Peter Buck, was franchising across the U.S., and by the 1980s, it was international.

For decades, it seems, people everywhere have been enamored with Subway's classic sandwiches, ever-changing limited edition specials, and easy ordering model — but especially in 30 states. Okay, we'll get into the specifics now, and take a deep breath: The states in which Subway is the biggest fast food chain are: Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming, and Idaho.

In 2024, Starbucks was declared the world's second largest restaurant chain (behind McDonald's), so it's no surprise that it comes out on top as the biggest fast food chain in four states. Specifically, these are California, Colorado, Hawaii, and Oregon.

The chain has experienced a meteoric rise since it was first founded in Seattle's Pike Place Market back in the 1970s. In fact, by the end of the 1990s, the coffee giant had locations not just across the U.S., but also in Japan, Europe, and China. Right now, it has more than 32,000 stores in 80 countries in total.

In September 2025, Starbucks announced that it would be moving away from the fast food-style approach and towards a warmer, slower, traditional coffeehouse model. Who knows? Maybe the new design will help the coffee/fast food chain take the crown from Subway in some states. According to QSR Magazine, it is the fastest growing fast food chain in the U.S., after all.

In the remaining 10 states in the U.S. that we haven't yet mentioned, coffee and donuts take the crown. Yep, in Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont, Dunkin' is the king of fast food.

The chain was initially founded in Quincy, Massachusetts back in the 1940s. It started out as a restaurant called Open Kettle, but founder Bill Rosenberg decided to change the name to Dunkin' Donuts when he realized that coffee and doughnuts were its two biggest sellers (and that people loved to dunk the latter into the former). In 2018, the chain noticed that more people associated it with coffee, so it changed its name again, this time to simply Dunkin'.

Despite all the name changes, Dunkin' has kept its identity as the go-to fast food spot for many Americans. This isn't just in the 10 states where it's the biggest fast food chain, but all across the U.S.. In fact, research suggests that it sells nearly one billion cups of coffee every single year.