Most Popular Fast-Food by State 2026

Fast food is extremely popular in the United States. The fast-food industry’s revenue is estimated to be about $200 billion in the U.S., more than one-third of the world’s $570 billion. Which fast-food chains are the most popular in each state. Cheapism reported on each state’s most popular fast-food restaurant. Data was collected from June 2019 to June 2020 for the 48 contiguous states. The data range included a few months of the COVID-19 pandemic. This may have contributed to Sonic being the most popular in 14 states because of its drive-in style service, which was accessible while many restaurants did not offer dine-in service.

Sonic was the most popular fast-food restaurant in the highest number of states with 14. Taco Bell and Wendy’s had the second-highest count with nine each, followed by McDonald’s with eight. Chick-fil-A had five, Culver’s had two, and Popeye’s had one. The study also included each state’s top five fast-food restaurants. While Sonic was the favorite across the nation, McDonald’s and Subway appeared in every state’s top five. As far as regional trends, New England strongly preferred Taco Bell, while the southwest and middle chunk of the country preferred Sonic. Regional favorites, such as Culver’s in Wisconsin and Popeyes in Louisiana, kept their loyal following. There are other ways of deciding the most popular fast-food restaurants by state. What is your favorite?