The U.S. restaurant market combines substantial economic scale with a competitive operating environment. The National Restaurant Association projects $1.5 trillion in restaurant sales for 2025 and $1.55 trillion for 2026, while its economic-contribution estimates show 14.69 million direct industry employees in 2023. The figures below separate measured 2023 impacts, 2025 outlook data, 2026 forecasts, and 2024 technology findings.
Contents
- Market size and economic contribution
- Restaurant formats and their impact
- Sales, jobs, and operator outlook
- Experience, value, and dining occasions
- Technology adoption across restaurants
- Digital ordering, payments, and loyalty
Market size and economic contribution
The National Restaurant Association economic contributions report forecasts that U.S. eating and drinking places will directly contribute $1.54 trillion in output, expressed in 2025 dollars. That direct output is roughly equivalent to more than 5% of nominal GDP. These are industry-output estimates rather than a restaurant-sales series, so they should not be treated as interchangeable measures.
The same report records a 2023 baseline of 14.69 million direct employees and $508.86 billion in direct labor income. Labor income includes wages, salaries, proprietors’ income, and benefits. The direct industry also is expected to pay $238.64 billion in taxes to all levels of government, including $61.80 billion in direct state tax payments and $120.69 billion in direct federal tax payments.
The market’s wider economic footprint is considerably larger when indirect and induced effects are counted. Total output contribution reaches $3.66 trillion, equal to 12.3% of nominal GDP. Total employment impact reaches 23.0 million workers, and total labor income impact reaches $1.17 trillion. Total taxes attributable to direct, indirect, and induced effects reach $503.85 billion. Within that total, state taxes rise to $120.91 billion and federal taxes to $281.08 billion.
These distinctions matter for interpreting restaurant market statistics. Direct measures describe activity within eating and drinking places; total measures include supply-chain and household-spending spillovers. The report’s direct and total figures therefore answer different questions about the market’s role in the wider economy.
Restaurant formats and their impact
The National Restaurant Association breaks the contribution into full-service restaurants, limited-service restaurants, and all other food and drinking places. Full-service restaurants generate $606.37 billion in direct output and $1.46 trillion in total output. They employ 5.87 million people directly and support 9.35 million jobs in total. Their direct labor income is $211.95 billion, compared with $474.65 billion including wider effects. Full-service restaurants pay $95.04 billion in direct taxes and generate $201.75 billion in total taxes.
Limited-service restaurants generate $656.95 billion in direct output, exceeding the full-service direct figure, and $1.67 trillion in total output. The segment employs 5.72 million people directly and supports 9.75 million jobs in total. Direct labor income is $172.10 billion, while total labor income reaches $474.44 billion. Limited-service restaurants pay $95.95 billion in direct taxes and generate $217.42 billion in total taxes.
All other food and drinking places generate $272.61 billion in direct output and $644.74 billion in total output. The category employs 3.11 million people directly and supports 4.75 million total jobs. Direct labor income reaches $124.81 billion, compared with $252.34 billion after wider effects. Direct taxes total $47.64 billion, and total taxes reach $96.67 billion.
| Restaurant category | Direct output | Total output | Direct employment | Total jobs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full-service | $606.37B | $1.46T | 5.87M | 9.35M |
| Limited-service | $656.95B | $1.67T | 5.72M | 9.75M |
| All other food and drinking places | $272.61B | $644.74B | 3.11M | 4.75M |
The category figures show why a market overview benefits from format-level detail. Limited-service restaurants have the largest direct and total output figures among the three listed groups, while full-service restaurants have slightly more direct employees. The measures are contribution estimates from the National Restaurant Association economic contributions report, not a ranking of individual businesses.
Sales, jobs, and operator outlook
The National Restaurant Association’s 2025 State of the Restaurant Industry projects $1.5 trillion in U.S. restaurant sales for 2025. Its outlook expected more than 200,000 net new restaurant jobs, with total restaurant and foodservice employment projected to reach 15.9 million by the end of 2025. More than 8 in 10 operators expected their 2025 sales to be higher than or about the same as in 2024.
The following year’s forecast is more specific about the pace of expansion. The National Restaurant Association’s 2026 State of the Restaurant Industry projects nationwide restaurant sales of $1.55 trillion and real sales growth of 1.3% in 2026. Industry employment is projected at 15.8 million people in 2026. The sales figure is a forecast, and the real-growth figure describes growth after accounting for price effects; neither should be read as a completed historical result.
The 2026 Executive Summary also reports that 61% of adults consider dining out essential to their lifestyle. At the operator level, 42% said they were not profitable in 2025. Together, these figures describe a market with durable consumer relevance but meaningful pressure on restaurant profitability.
Drinks were identified as an important traffic lever: 83% of operators cited drinks as a traffic driver in the 2026 Executive Summary. That figure describes operators’ reported view of what brings customers in; it does not quantify drink sales or establish that drinks caused visits.
Experience, value, and dining occasions
The 2025 State of the Restaurant Industry found that 64% of full-service customers said the dining experience mattered more than meal price. The corresponding share among limited-service customers was 47%. These results distinguish the customer groups by service model and indicate that perceived experience can be a decision factor alongside price.
Value remains part of the operator response. In the same 2025 outlook, 47% of operators planned to add new discounts, deals, or value promotions. The statistic describes planned action during the 2025 outlook period, not the share that ultimately introduced a promotion.
On-premises demand was especially prominent in operators’ priorities. Ninety percent of fine-dining operators said building on-premises business was more important than growing off-premises business. Among casual-dining operators, 87% gave the same response. These are operator-reported priorities from the 2025 industry outlook and apply to the named dining segments.
The contrast between experience and value is useful for reading the market’s consumer data. Full-service customers showed a higher experience-over-price response than limited-service customers, while operators across the market were also planning more value promotions. The available figures measure reported preferences and plans; they do not provide a single average restaurant customer profile.
Technology adoption across restaurants
The National Restaurant Association’s Restaurant Technology Landscape Report 2024 found that 76% of operators said technology gives them a competitive edge. Technology maturity varied: 13% said their restaurant was on the leading edge of adoption, 64% described their use as mainstream, and 23% said their operation was lagging.
Investment plans covered several parts of the business. In 2024, 55% of operators planned service-area technology investments, 60% planned investments to enhance the customer experience, and 52% planned investments to make the kitchen more productive or efficient. Another 45% planned technology investments to strengthen cybersecurity.
Limited-service operators reported a specific investment intention: 42% planned to invest in contactless or mobile-pay technology in 2024. Customer acceptance figures from the same report show that 65% of limited-service customers liked ordering with a self-service electronic kiosk, while 63% liked paying with one.
Full-service customers also reported comfort with several digital touchpoints. Sixty-five percent were comfortable paying the check with a computer tablet at the table, and 60% were comfortable using a tablet to place an order. Smartphone apps were familiar as well: 63% were comfortable placing an order with an app, and 55% were comfortable paying the check with one.
Digital ordering, payments, and loyalty
Across adults in the 2024 technology report, 70% said they would place an order using a smartphone app in a limited-service setting. The reported shares varied by generation: 82% of Gen Z adults, 87% of Gen X adults, 74% of millennials, and 47% of baby boomers said they would do so. These are stated intentions for a limited-service setting, not observed transaction shares.
Website ordering ahead of pickup also had broad appeal. Sixty-eight percent of adults said they would order ahead on a restaurant website before picking up food or beverages. Among Gen Z adults, the share was 74%.
Payment preferences showed another generational spread. Eighty-five percent of Gen X adults said they would pay using contactless or mobile payment options in a limited-service setting, compared with 71% of millennials and 46% of baby boomers. The results point to different levels of stated comfort across age groups, while leaving actual adoption rates outside the supplied figures.
Loyalty programs reached 52% of adults participating in a loyalty or reward program at a restaurant, coffee shop, snack place, or deli. Among loyalty-program participants, 96% said membership was a good way to get more value for their money. The combination places value at the center of loyalty adoption: participation is measured across the named food-service venues, while the 96% result applies only to participants.
Taken together, the technology statistics describe a market where digital ordering, mobile payment, kiosks, service-area systems, kitchen tools, customer-experience investments, and cybersecurity all appear in operator plans or customer responses. The figures come from different 2024 questions and should be read as separate measures of reported plans, comfort, or participation.