Quick-service restaurants in Alabama: 5,081 locations, +0.7% jobs
Official counts for quick-service restaurants in Alabama, 2026 Q1: how many there are, whether they are adding jobs, what they pay, and how Alabama compares with the other states. From the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Census Bureau, refreshed each quarter.
Alabama against the country · 2026 Q1
| Alabama | United States | |
|---|---|---|
| Quick-service restaurants with employees | 5,081 | 272,118 |
| Per 100,000 residents | 98.5 | 80 |
| Jobs | 84,155 | 4,552,657 |
| Jobs, year over year | +0.7% | +0.2% |
| Locations, year over year | +3.5% | +1.6% |
| Average weekly wage | $395 | $464 |
| Rank among states, density | 2 of 50 | |
| Rank among states, job growth | 21 of 50 |
What the numbers say
Alabama has 5,081 quick-service restaurants with payroll, employing 84,155 people. At 98.5 per 100,000 residents the market is close to the national average, number 2 among the 50 states with published data. Jobs grew +0.7% over the year, ahead of the national +0.2%. 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 quick-service restaurants in Alabama is $395 a week, 15% below the national figure of $464. Budget labor from this number, not from a national guide.
Over five years, from 2021 to 2025, the number of quick-service restaurants in Alabama moved +10.8%, from 4,464 to 4,946.
Quick-service restaurants in Alabama, annual average
- 20214,464
- 20224,568
- 20234,688
- 20244,847
- 20254,946
Jobs at quick-service restaurants in Alabama
- 202178,022
- 202278,878
- 202382,373
- 202484,154
- 202584,717
What counts as quick-service restaurants here
Limited-service restaurants: customers order at a counter or drive-through and pay before eating. Includes fast food, fast casual and pizza delivery. The code is NAICS 722513. 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 Alabama
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 quick-service restaurants within reach of one address in Alabama, 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 quick-service restaurants are there in Alabama?
BLS counted 5,081 quick-service restaurants with employees in Alabama in 2026 Q1, employing 84,155 people. Owner-only businesses with no payroll are not in that count. That is 98.5 per 100,000 residents, against 80 nationally.
Are quick-service restaurants growing in Alabama?
Yes. Jobs at quick-service restaurants in Alabama changed +0.7% over the year to 2026 Q1, and the number of locations changed +3.5%. That ranks Alabama 21 of 50 states for job growth in this business type. Over five years the location count moved +10.8%.
Is Alabama a crowded market for quick-service restaurants?
Alabama has 98.5 quick-service restaurants per 100,000 residents, close to the national average, ranking 2 of 50 states. Density is a statewide average; a Neur report counts the competitors around one address.
Quick-service restaurants in every state
Densest first. The number is quick-service restaurants per 100,000 residents in 2026 Q1.
Other business types in Alabama
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, private sector, NAICS 722513, 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 Alabama · Growth ranking for Alabama · Quick-service restaurants by state