This State Is the Ultimate Fast Food Capital of America, According to a New Report

March 22, 2025 admin No Comment 5 Views

We often take fast food for granted. The drive-thru provides a quick, accessible bite on the cheap — but it’s likely your favorite inexpensive meal likely doesn’t often cross your mind otherwise. A new study reveals, however, that some states pay more attention to fast food than others.

According to a recent report from the esteemed Escoffier School of Culinary Arts, Maryland boasts the best fast food scene in the country. The study examines the relative proportion of fast food options (or “limited-service restaurants,” as defined by the United States Department of Agriculture) compared to the rest of the nation. The top-ranked states for fast food are typically affluent and dense, with a thriving tourist economy — however, other states lacking these contributing factors still hold strong.

Per the methodology, Escoffier analyzed each state’s percentage of fast food in relation to all restaurants, the number of fast food establishments per capita, and the percentage of the state’s total food expenditures. By utilizing data from the National Restaurant Association and the Census Bureau, the study’s authors organized and ranked the states by their respective scores, ranging from 0 to 100.

Curious if your state landed within the top rankings? Here’s what the numbers say.

Maryland’s thriving fast food scene tops all of America

The Old Line State secured the No. 1 spot overall, boasting the highest percentage of fast food restaurants in the entire country. Notably, nearly half of the state’s eateries offer fast food, which surpasses the national average of 36%. As the study outlines, Maryland has a “disproportionately” high demand for fast food, along with a relatively small number of restaurants at just 187,26 restaurants per capita, compared to the national average of 211.17.

The next two spots are held by Nevada and Illinois, while New York State clinched fourth place. Rounding out the top five is Hawaii, which also ranked highly in the study’s per-capita evaluation.

Top 10 States With the Best Fast Food Offerings
RANK	STATE	SCORE
1	Maryland	100
2	Nevada	97.24
3	Illinois	95.70
4	New York	95.58
5	Hawaii	94.85
6	California	84.62
7	Ohio	79.33
8	Massachusetts	74.99
9	New Mexico	73.39
10	Oklahoma	69.76

Hawaii boasts the most spots per 100,000 people

When it comes to the number of restaurants per capita, the Aloha State emerged on top. This tourist-friendly destination has 95.11 restaurants per 100,000 people, according to the report — making it the highest density of fast food locations in the country. Meanwhile, the Empire State follows close behind with nearly 91 spots per capita in New York.

“With a population of fewer than 1.5 million people and nearly 10 million tourists visiting each year, it’s no surprise that Hawaii rose to the top in terms of fast food restaurants per capita,” Kirk Bachmann, Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts provost, tells Food & Wine. “Other factors, like a high cost of living or even a large community of active duty and veteran servicemembers, could play a role — but Hawaii simply has a lot of hungry tourists to feed.”

Top 5 States With the Most Fast Food Restaurants Per 100,000 People
STATE	NUMBER OF RESTAURANTS
Hawaii	95.11
New York	90.87
Maryland	87.57
Illinois	84.32
Ohio	82.42

These states spend the highest percentage of their dining budget on fast food

As for these states with a stronger fast food presence among their residents, Escoffier draws a parallel to another recent ranking of overall restaurants in the United States. Residents in several states, such as Nevada and Hawaii, tend to allocate a larger portion of their budgets to fast food.

Perhaps not surprisingly, these top five states are the exact same states we identified in our study on the U.S. states with the best food scenes. So not only do these states appear to be big spenders when it comes to restaurants overall, they carry that habit over to fast food restaurants as well,” the study explains.

The bottom line: Residents in some locales may simply allocate more of their discretionary income towards dining out, whether it’s vibrant Michelin-starred local restaurants or a quick drive-thru burger, as Escoffier notes. This could point toward a larger cultural trend and regional attitudes toward food budgeting.