Quick-service restaurants in Virginia: 7,405 locations, -0.4% jobs
Official counts for quick-service restaurants in Virginia, 2026 Q1: how many there are, whether they are adding jobs, what they pay, and how Virginia compares with the other states. From the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Census Bureau, refreshed each quarter.
Virginia against the country · 2026 Q1
| Virginia | United States | |
|---|---|---|
| Quick-service restaurants with employees | 7,405 | 272,118 |
| Per 100,000 residents | 84 | 80 |
| Jobs | 118,179 | 4,552,657 |
| Jobs, year over year | -0.4% | +0.2% |
| Locations, year over year | +3.8% | +1.6% |
| Average weekly wage | $446 | $464 |
| Rank among states, density | 14 of 50 | |
| Rank among states, job growth | 36 of 50 |
What the numbers say
Virginia has 7,405 quick-service restaurants with payroll, employing 118,179 people. At 84 per 100,000 residents the market is close to the national average, number 14 among the 50 states with published data. Jobs fell 0.4% over the year, against +0.2% 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 quick-service restaurants in Virginia is $446 a week, 4% 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 Virginia moved +5.1%, from 6,861 to 7,208.
Quick-service restaurants in Virginia, annual average
- 20216,861
- 20227,130
- 20237,065
- 20247,084
- 20257,208
Jobs at quick-service restaurants in Virginia
- 2021112,895
- 2022116,215
- 2023119,435
- 2024120,110
- 2025119,767
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 Virginia
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 Virginia, 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 Virginia?
BLS counted 7,405 quick-service restaurants with employees in Virginia in 2026 Q1, employing 118,179 people. Owner-only businesses with no payroll are not in that count. That is 84 per 100,000 residents, against 80 nationally.
Are quick-service restaurants growing in Virginia?
Not at the moment. Jobs at quick-service restaurants in Virginia changed -0.4% over the year to 2026 Q1, and the number of locations changed +3.8%. That ranks Virginia 36 of 50 states for job growth in this business type. Over five years the location count moved +5.1%.
Is Virginia a crowded market for quick-service restaurants?
Virginia has 84 quick-service restaurants per 100,000 residents, close to the national average, ranking 14 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 Virginia
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 Virginia · Growth ranking for Virginia · Quick-service restaurants by state