Quick-service restaurants in North Carolina 8,816 establishments · 171,013 employees · 2024
Firms (NC)
8,816
Employment
171,013
Avg Annual Pay
$21,186
State Rank
#9 of 52
How North Carolina compares to national
Metric
North Carolina
National
North Carolina vs. U.S.
Establishments
8,816
268,911
3.3% of U.S. total
Avg annual pay
$21,186
$23,631
-$2,445 (-10.3%)
Location quotient
1.06
1.00
6% denser than national
Avg firm size (employees)
19.4
17.3
—
Year-over-year firm growth
+2.1%
—
—
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 1.06 means quick-service restaurants are 6% over-represented in North Carolina'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