Quick-service restaurants in Wisconsin: 3,791 locations, -1.0% jobs
Official counts for quick-service restaurants in Wisconsin, 2026 Q1: how many there are, whether they are adding jobs, what they pay, and how Wisconsin compares with the other states. From the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Census Bureau, refreshed each quarter.
Wisconsin against the country · 2026 Q1
| Wisconsin | United States | |
|---|---|---|
| Quick-service restaurants with employees | 3,791 | 272,118 |
| Per 100,000 residents | 63.6 | 80 |
| Jobs | 68,704 | 4,552,657 |
| Jobs, year over year | -1.0% | +0.2% |
| Locations, year over year | +1.4% | +1.6% |
| Average weekly wage | $390 | $464 |
| Rank among states, density | 46 of 50 | |
| Rank among states, job growth | 46 of 50 |
What the numbers say
Wisconsin has 3,791 quick-service restaurants with payroll, employing 68,704 people. At 63.6 per 100,000 residents the market is thinner than the country as a whole, number 46 among the 50 states with published data. Jobs fell 1.0% 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 Wisconsin is $390 a week, 16% 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 Wisconsin moved +4.3%, from 3,616 to 3,772.
Quick-service restaurants in Wisconsin, annual average
- 20213,616
- 20223,605
- 20233,668
- 20243,734
- 20253,772
Jobs at quick-service restaurants in Wisconsin
- 202168,124
- 202269,182
- 202371,145
- 202471,588
- 202570,559
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 Wisconsin
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 Wisconsin, 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 Wisconsin?
BLS counted 3,791 quick-service restaurants with employees in Wisconsin in 2026 Q1, employing 68,704 people. Owner-only businesses with no payroll are not in that count. That is 63.6 per 100,000 residents, against 80 nationally.
Are quick-service restaurants growing in Wisconsin?
Not at the moment. Jobs at quick-service restaurants in Wisconsin changed -1.0% over the year to 2026 Q1, and the number of locations changed +1.4%. That ranks Wisconsin 46 of 50 states for job growth in this business type. Over five years the location count moved +4.3%.
Is Wisconsin a crowded market for quick-service restaurants?
Wisconsin has 63.6 quick-service restaurants per 100,000 residents, thinner than the country as a whole, ranking 46 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 Wisconsin
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 Wisconsin · Growth ranking for Wisconsin · Quick-service restaurants by state