Quick-service restaurants in California 33,733 establishments · 562,737 employees · 2024
Firms (CA)
33,733
Employment
562,737
Avg Annual Pay
$29,370
State Rank
#1 of 52
How California compares to national
Metric
California
National
California vs. U.S.
Establishments
33,733
268,911
12.5% of U.S. total
Avg annual pay
$29,370
$23,631
+$5,739 (+24.3%)
Location quotient
0.82
1.00
18% less dense than national
Avg firm size (employees)
16.7
17.3
—
Year-over-year firm growth
+1.6%
—
—
Reading this
An establishment is a single physical location where business is conducted. A firm with multiple locations counts as multiple establishments. "Avg pay" is wages and salaries per employee, including bonuses and tips — for proprietorships, the owner's take is largely outside this number. The location quotient (LQ) of 0.82 means quick-service restaurants are 18% under-represented in California's business mix relative to the U.S. average.
Source. BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages — 2024 annual averages, private-ownership only, NAICS 722513. Establishment counts include any firm with at least one paid employee covered by state unemployment insurance.
SMB Density · firm counts, employment, and wages by industry × state · data from BLS QCEW 2024 annual (private ownership, state-level; mostly 6-digit NAICS, 3 specialty-trade industries at 5-digit aggregation) · data.json