60 Restaurant Industry Statistics and Trends for 2024

What makes the restaurant food service industry so interesting?

It’s always changing. 

In recent years, we've witnessed a huge spike in online ordering, a new focus on reducing food waste, the adoption of server handhelds, the implementation of robots in restaurants, and a host of food industry trends that have surged across social media.

2025 is here, and it's already been a whirlwind. If things have gotten a little messy in your restaurant office – it happens! – take a moment to reassess and make sure you're still on course. We've got a few resources to help you with that.

Key Takeaways

• Restaurant Management Resources: Tools like business plan templates, marketing strategies, and payroll guides help owners streamline operations and drive profitability.

• Industry Trends: The restaurant industry has seen shifts in online ordering, food waste reduction, and robotics adoption, offering insights for future success.

• Economic Trends: Restaurants contribute $1.1 trillion annually to the economy, with 56% of family food spending now occurring in restaurants.

• Employment Challenges: Staffing remains a key issue, with turnover rates near 80%, high hiring costs, and a growing need for training and retention strategies.

• Promotions and Social Media: Platforms like Facebook and Instagram dominate restaurant promotion, while community sponsorships and targeted ads are rising trends.

• Sales and Consumer Behavior: Increased menu prices reflect wage hikes, while 42% of adults express pent-up demand for on-premise dining experiences.

• Payment Preferences: Millennials favor self-ordering kiosks, and credit/debit cards dominate payments, particularly for high-ticket items.

• Food and Menu Trends: Diners prefer locally sourced, sustainable, and health-conscious menu options, with breakfast items and plant-based foods gaining popularity.

• Technology Adoption: POS systems, online reservations, and server handheld devices are improving guest experiences and operational efficiency, with 95% of restaurateurs seeing tech as a business booster.

Restaurant Management, Planning, and Budgeting Resources

• Restaurant Business Plan Template

• Restaurant Marketing Plan

• Restaurant Staff Scheduling Template

• How to Do Payroll for Restaurants

• How to Measure and Increase Restaurant Sales

What are the trends in the restaurant industry?

Restaurant industry trends can help paint a picture for how current and new restaurant owners should plan and prepare for budget, staffing and training, and technology. For example, in 2021, online ordering and contactless delivery saw massive spikes. Restaurateurs with knowledge of customer preferences and statistics know that purchasing the necessary hardware and software to support online order and delivery, digital menus, and other safety measures will succeed over their competition. 

Restaurant industry trends include statistics and data like:

• How many people work in the restaurant industry?

• What percentage of workers are in the restaurant industry?

• How many customers do restaurants have per day? Per month? Per year?

We've also compiled a list of 60 restaurant statistics from reports, studies, and articles across the internet that cover the state of the restaurant industry and point toward areas of opportunity for hungry owners and operators looking to stand out for the rest of 2025 and beyond.

Restaurant Economy Statistics

These statistics outline trends in restaurants from a bigger picture perspective, from restaurant sales, dining trends, how much consumers spend on food, and more.

1. 29% of diners go out to eat at least once a week or more., with another 5% going out to eat once every 6 months. (Source)

2. The Restaurant Performance Index (RPI) sits at 100.4 as of October 2024. Anything over 100 is considered a time of growth for restaurants. (Source)

3. Projected annual sales in the restaurant industry are $1.1 trillion – that’s 3.8% of the country’s gross domestic product. (Source)

4. In 1955, the restaurant industry comprised 25% of the family food dollar. In 2023, that number rose to 56%. (Source)

5. American consumers spend 33% of their income on housing, 17% on transportation, and 13% on food. (Source)

6. 1 in 3 Americans have their first job experience in restaurants - 6 in 10 adults have worked in restaurants at some point. (Source)

7. 52% of restaurant professionals named high operating and food costs as a top priority. (Source)

Restaurant Employment Statistics

These trends explore restaurant employees, hiring trends for restaurant staff, restaurant employee retention statistics, and more to help your restaurant stay competitive.

1. More than 9 out of 10 restaurants have fewer than 50 employees. (Source)

2. 51% of restaurant operators name staffing as a top challenge to success, and 35% say training staff is a top challenge. (Source)

3. There are currently 15.5 million employees in the restaurant industry. (Source)

4. There will be 17 million jobs in the restaurant industry by 2030. (Source)

5. Turnover in the restaurant industry is at an all time high, at nearly 80%. (Source)

6. Restaurants employ more women and minority managers than any other industry. (Source)

7. It can cost $5,864 to hire and train a new staff member. (Source)

8. It can cost up to $15,000 for a new manager – so it’s no wonder restaurant operators are so concerned about turnover and labor shortages. (Source)

9. The United States unemployment rate, as of November 2024, is low, at 4.2%. (Source)

10. As a result of minimum wage increases, 47% of restaurant operators admitted they have scheduled employees for fewer hours each week in the past twelve months. (Source)

11. For the same reason, 16% of restaurant operators have had to halt hiring efforts to lower labor costs. (Source)

12. In the past ten years, just over 2 million Bachelor's degrees are awarded annually, limiting the amount of people who are willing to work in low-paying restaurant jobs. (Source)

13. 68% of restaurants offer an employee handbook to new hires. (Source)

14. 32% of restaurants provide sexual harassment training to their staff. (Source)

15. 46% of restaurants offer a mentor program. (Source)

16. 53% of restaurants offer food safety and alcohol certification training. (Source)

Restaurant Promotion Statistics

These restaurant industry statistics can help guide your social media and promotion strategy and attract new demographics and enhance the overall customer experience. Learn how your fellow restaurant owners are using marketing, social media, and loyalty programs to grow their business.

1. Since 2019, 67% of restaurants plan to pay for social media ads. (Source)

2. 53% plan to invest in being a community event or charity sponsor. (Source)

3. When it comes to social media, restaurants are most likely to use Facebook (91% of restaurants) and Instagram (78%). Instagram and TikTok have skyrocketed in popularity for restaurant promotion. (Source)

4. Restaurants are least likely to use YouTube for promotions (only 14% of restaurants report using it). (Source)

5. When dealing with negative online reviews or in-person feedback, 23% of restaurateurs reach out directly to the person who gave the feedback. 15% put the feedback to use when giving performance reviews to front-of-house or back-of-house staff. Some restaurant professionals — 2% — admitted to never taking action when receiving negative guest feedback. (Source)

Restaurant Sales Statistics

These statistics will show trends in restaurant sales, how restaurant owners evaluate their sales reports, and overall profit trends in the restaurant industry.

1. As a result of minimum wage increases, 71% of restaurants have increased menu prices. (Source)

2. 68% of restaurant professionals review sales reports on a regular basis, 45% regularly review labor reports, and 32% regularly review menu reports – and 17% admitted that they don’t check any of these regularly. (Source)

3. If they had extra money on hand, 47% of restaurateurs would repair or update their equipment. (Source)

Restaurant Consumer Statistics

Restaurant consumer preferences have changed their habits in 2024. Here’s how people are spending money at restaurants and consumer behavior for the restaurant industry.

1. Pent-up demand for restaurants remains high, with 42% of adults not eating on premises at restaurants as often as they would like. (Source)

2. 78% of millennials say they would rather spend money on an experience, such as a restaurant or other activity, compared to purchasing an item from a store. (Source) 

3. If offered, 41% of consumers would buy a make-at-home meal kit from their favorite restaurant. (Source)

4. 72% of diners ranked high quality food as the top factor that goes into choosing a restaurant to visit. Surprisingly, only 48% said value was their number-one factor. (Source)

5. When placing an online order, a patron is more likely to use a restaurant's website than a third-party food delivery app like DoorDash, Uber Eats, or Grubhub. (Source)

6. When receiving an online order, guests ranked speed as the most important, followed by value, and then the quality of the food. (Source)

7. 35% of diners said they are influenced by online reviews when choosing a restaurant. (Source)

Restaurant Payment Statistics

Restaurant payment methods have changed more in the past few years than they ever have. Here are the trends reported by restaurants and restaurant goers surrounding restaurant payment methods and technology.

1. 58% of millennials say they prefer ordering from a  self-ordering kiosk. (Source)

2. When paying for a low-ticket item (e.g. coffee), 62% of guests opt to use their credit or debit card. (Source)

3. When paying for a high-ticket item (e.g. full-service dining experience), 88% of guests pay with their card. (Source)

4. Only 31% of restaurants offer mobile pay. (Source)

5. 50% of people still want printed receipts, but 36% are happy with digital receipts – and 14% don’t want a receipt at all. (Source)

Restaurant Food Statistics

Restaurant food statistics include ideas for how much variety your menu items should have, what diners are looking for, and food item and menu trends.

1. 31% of restaurateurs update their menu on a monthly basis. 24% do it seasonally. (Source)

2. 76% of adults are more inclined to dine at restaurants featuring locally sourced ingredients, while 79% are drawn to establishments that provide healthy menu choices, as opposed to fast-casual restaurant chains like McDonald’s. (Source)

3. To reduce food waste, 28% of restaurants repurpose food trimmings, 26% offer varied portion sizes, and 25% compost. (Source)

4. 30% of consumers say they are more likely to visit a restaurant that offers environmentally and sustainability friendly food items. (Source)

5. Diners love breakfast all day - 55% say they’d order breakfast items at any time if they were offered. (Source)

6. Current food trends include plant-based options, global cuisines, health-conscious dining, and unique flavors and experiences. (Source)

Restaurant Technology Statistics

Restaurant technology trends include statistics on POS software, payment processing, guest interaction tools and feedback tools, and the other perks restaurant owners are looking for in technology products.

1. After POS technology and payment processing, the most popular back-office technologies are accounting software and payroll software. (Source)

2. To seek out guest feedback, 29% of restaurateurs use manual comment cards, another 31% ask for feedback on their printed receipts, and 25% use a rating scale in digital receipts. (Source) 

3. The most important technology features for guests are online reservations and free wifi. (Source)

4. 73% of diners agree that restaurant technology improves their guest experience. (Source)

5. 95% of restaurateurs agree that restaurant technology improves their business efficiency. (Source)

6. The top features restaurateurs are looking for in a restaurant POS upgrade are ease of use, depth of reporting, and inventory reporting. (Source)

7. Restaurateurs say credit card processing, accounting, and inventory are the most important integrations to their restaurant POS. (Source)

8. 61% of diners agree that server handheld tablets improve their guest experience. (Source)

9. Automation in the fast-food, quick-service restaurant (QSR) industry has been shown to streamline productivity by up-to 11%, and cut labour costs by 30%. (Source)

10. Advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) allow restaurants to leverage the optimization of bots that answer between 70% and 80% of calls to their establishment. Responding to customer questions about hours and location and helping them book reservations. (Source)