Full-service restaurants in Maine: 1,393 locations, -1.4% jobs
Official counts for full-service restaurants in Maine, 2026 Q1: how many there are, whether they are adding jobs, what they pay, and how Maine compares with the other states. From the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Census Bureau, refreshed each quarter.
Maine against the country · 2026 Q1
| Maine | United States | |
|---|---|---|
| Full-service restaurants with employees | 1,393 | 265,527 |
| Per 100,000 residents | 99.1 | 78.1 |
| Jobs | 20,331 | 5,242,690 |
| Jobs, year over year | -1.4% | -0.4% |
| Locations, year over year | +0.8% | +1.0% |
| Average weekly wage | $611 | $602 |
| Rank among states, density | 3 of 50 | |
| Rank among states, job growth | 32 of 50 |
What the numbers say
Maine has 1,393 full-service restaurants with payroll, employing 20,331 people. At 99.1 per 100,000 residents the market is denser than the country as a whole, number 3 among the 50 states with published data. Jobs fell 1.4% over the year, against -0.4% nationally. Locations grew faster than jobs, which usually means more and smaller operators entering: the kind of market where the cheapest service gets crowded first.
Average pay at full-service restaurants in Maine is $611 a week, in line with the national figure of $602. Budget labor from this number, not from a national guide.
Over five years, from 2021 to 2025, the number of full-service restaurants in Maine moved -1.1%, from 1,414 to 1,398.
Full-service restaurants in Maine, annual average
- 20211,414
- 20221,413
- 20231,394
- 20241,389
- 20251,398
Jobs at full-service restaurants in Maine
- 202120,739
- 202222,562
- 202323,790
- 202424,176
- 202524,022
What counts as full-service restaurants here
Restaurants where customers order and are served at a table and pay after eating. Fast-casual counters and takeout are counted under quick-service. The code is NAICS 722511. BLS counts establishments that report payroll, so a one-person business with no employees is not in these figures; in trades with many solo operators the true number of businesses is higher.
Before you open one in Maine
A statewide figure tells you which way the wind blows. It does not tell you whether the corner you are looking at has the households, the income and the gap in competition to support one more. A counts the full-service restaurants within reach of one address in Maine, reads the county trend from the same BLS table, and scores the plan. The saturation check does a city-level version for free.
Questions people ask
How many full-service restaurants are there in Maine?
BLS counted 1,393 full-service restaurants with employees in Maine in 2026 Q1, employing 20,331 people. Owner-only businesses with no payroll are not in that count. That is 99.1 per 100,000 residents, against 78.1 nationally.
Are full-service restaurants growing in Maine?
Not at the moment. Jobs at full-service restaurants in Maine changed -1.4% over the year to 2026 Q1, and the number of locations changed +0.8%. That ranks Maine 32 of 50 states for job growth in this business type. Over five years the location count moved -1.1%.
Is Maine a crowded market for full-service restaurants?
Maine has 99.1 full-service restaurants per 100,000 residents, denser than the country as a whole, ranking 3 of 50 states. Density is a statewide average; a Neur report counts the competitors around one address.
Full-service restaurants in every state
Densest first. The number is full-service restaurants per 100,000 residents in 2026 Q1.
Other business types in Maine
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, private sector, NAICS 722511, 2026 Q1 (quarterly) and annual averages (five-year series); U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 1-year population estimates. This page is generated from those feeds and rewritten when a new quarter publishes. All 14 business types in Maine · Growth ranking for Maine · Full-service restaurants by state