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Santa Clara County, CA — Fast food Saturation

How many fast food exist per person present — residents plus daytime workers — by ZIP code, compared with the U.S. average. Establishment data: Census ZBP 2023. Population: ACS 2024 5-year. 92 ZIP codes analyzed.

Includes: Fast food · Quick-service restaurants · Takeout & delivery counters · Pizza delivery · Sandwich & burger chains. Counted together because official statistics use one 722513 code.

Measured density: Below average — 0.96× the U.S. rate (between 0.96× and 0.97× once withheld ZIP cells are counted)

Why a range: Census does not publish a ZIP-by-industry count when that ZIP has 0–2 businesses. 40 ZIP cells in this county are withheld, 7 of them with residents. Each could hold 0, 1, or 2 businesses: counting them all as 0 gives the low end, counting them all as 2 gives the high end — the data cannot say where the truth sits. The density range uses only the populated cells, since ZIPs without residents are excluded from per-person rates. How ranges work

In line with the U.S. rate   Santa Clara County fast food — 96–97% of the U.S. rate

1,612 fast food are counted in Santa Clara County — 6.4 per 10,000 people present (residents + daytime workers), 96% of the U.S. rate of 6.7.

On the comparable ZIP set (ZIPs with a published count in every year), the total has risen 7% between 2015 and 2023 (1,507 → 1,612). That set is smaller than today's county total. 2020–2021 were pandemic-distorted, and Census rounds counts, so small moves are within noise.

Measured supply density is highest in 95122 (San Jose), 95118 (San Jose), 94087 (Sunnyvale) — well above the national rate. On measured density alone, the lowest-density residential ZIPs with a published count are 94089 (Sunnyvale), 94024 (Los Altos), 95130 (San Jose).

BLS QCEW puts the latest county-wide count (2026 Q1) at 1,604 establishments, the freshest available signal.

Measured density: Santa Clara County sits at 96% of the U.S. rate for fast food. 7 ZIPs with population have no published count (each 0–2 businesses), so the true per-capita rate is between 96% and 97% of the U.S. rate. Why. The highest measured density is in 95122 and 95118; the lowest measured density is in 94089 and 94024.

This is a supply-side read: it counts existing fast food and the people present, not foot traffic, income, rent, or whether locals want more. Treat low density as a question to check, not an answer.

Fast food
1,612–1,692
published count; upper bound counts each withheld ZIP cell as 2 (40 cells) (2023)
Per 10,000 present
6.4
residents + daytime workers
U.S. average
6.7
per 10,000 present
County index
0.96×
vs. U.S.
Latest quarter (QCEW)
1,604
2026 Q1 — county total
Residents
1,935,981
59 ZIPs with data
Workers
1,162,159
jobs located in county

Is the area growing?

Population
1,926,325
Census PEP, July 1 2024
Change since 2020
+0.1%
+1,523 people
Net migration 2024
+22,610
international +44,644, domestic −22,034
Jobs located here
1,123,607
LODES 2022, +0.7% since 2019

Santa Clara County had an estimated 1,926,325 residents on July 1, 2024 — 0.1% more than in 2020 (+1,523). In the latest year it gained 29,188 people: births minus deaths +6,526, international migration +44,644, domestic migration −22,034. Components are published separately and may not sum exactly.

1,123,607 jobs were located in the county in 2022 (+0.7% since 2019), and 953,149 employed residents lived there (−0.7% since 2019). LODES counts wage and salary jobs covered by unemployment insurance plus federal jobs; it excludes the self-employed and military, and counts jobs rather than unique people. 2019→2022 spans the pandemic, so read it as one change, not a trend.

Population and migration say whether the customer base is growing. They do not say whether people want another business of this type. Definitions and limits →  ·  Full county detail →

ZIP gaining residents
2015–19 → 2020–24
Change
94305 Stanford
+12.9%
ZIP losing residents
2015–19 → 2020–24
Change
95116 San Jose
−13.9%
95127 San Jose
−11.2%
95128 San Jose
−10.3%

ACS 5-year estimates for 2015–2019 and 2020–2024. Only ZIPs with at least 2,000 residents in both windows and a change larger than the survey margin of error (90%) are listed — small ZIPs move a lot on paper without a real signal.

Nonemployer businesses (no paid employees)

Nonemployer businesses
442
no paid employees (2024)
Receipts
$24.6M
published gross receipts
Receipts per business
$56K
gross, not profit

Census Nonemployer Statistics counts businesses with no paid employees — a separate universe from the employer establishments counted above; a business is in one or the other, never both. They are not storefronts by definition: many are home-based, mobile, or part-time.

We show them beside the density index, not inside it. In categories such as nail and beauty salons, child care, and pet care, one-person businesses can outnumber employer establishments, so the employer-only count understates how many businesses exist. That is not evidence of higher demand.

Receipts are gross revenue reported for these businesses — not profit, and not the size of the local market. Census publishes this only at county level, so it is not shown on the ZIP map. See methodology.

Saturation map

Each ZIP area is shaded by its density of this business type per person present (residents + workers) vs. the U.S. average. Click any ZIP to zoom to its boundary, see its numbers, and switch to aerial imagery. Individual mapped shops appear as dots at street level — Show locations zooms you in to them (scroll or double-click to zoom).

Basemap:
Under 50% 50–100% 100–150% 150–250% 250%+ 0–2 (not published) / no data ZIP total (dot size) Mapped shop (OpenStreetMap, street level)

Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors, tiles by OpenFreeMap.

White dots are ZIP totals from the official Census count — the bigger the dot, the more fast food in that ZIP. They are aggregated, not individual shops. Turquoise dots are individual locations mapped in OpenStreetMap, shown only at street level; they are crowd-sourced and indicative, may be incomplete, and do not equal the official counts. Only the official ZIP totals feed the saturation index.

Market trend — up 7% since 2015

Number of fast food in Santa Clara County across 2015–2023, on a consistent set of ZIP codes present in every year — so changes are real, not ZIP-boundary artifacts. 2015/2018 are pre-pandemic baselines; 2020/2021 are COVID-distorted.

1,507
2015
1,641
2018
1,521
2020
1,537
2021
1,601
2022
1,612
2023

Highest measured density

ZIP
vs. U.S. average
Index
95122 San Jose
211%
95118 San Jose
208%
94087 Sunnyvale
172%
95050 Santa Clara
163%
95030 Los Gatos
147%
95035 Milpitas
144%
95129 San Jose
140%
94040 Mountain View
135%
95112 San Jose
129%
94301 Palo Alto
129%
95008 Campbell
129%
95128 San Jose
124%
95020 Gilroy
123%
95037 Morgan Hill
123%
95123 San Jose
119%

Lowest measured density

ZIP
vs. U.S. average
Index
94089 Sunnyvale
17%
94024 Los Altos
18%
95130 San Jose
32%
95134 San Jose
32%
95148 San Jose
51%
95136 San Jose
53%
94303 Palo Alto
54%
94041 Mountain View
56%
95070 Saratoga
57%
95117 San Jose
58%
95127 San Jose
59%
94306 Palo Alto
63%
95051 Santa Clara
65%
95120 San Jose
66%
95111 San Jose
70%
Low measured density is not evidence of opportunity. A ZIP with few fast food may simply lack foot traffic, retail space, or demand. We rank only residential and mixed ZIPs here; employment hubs and visitor destinations are listed separately below. ZIPs where Census did not publish a count (0–2 businesses) are not ranked: they may be the least served of all, but the data cannot tell 0 from 1 or 2. Verify those locally.

Employment hubs & destinations

These ZIPs have far more workers (or visitors) than residents, so their counts are driven by daytime and visitor demand — not a place to read "shortage" from resident numbers alone.

ZIPNeighborhoodType ResidentsWorkersFast foodIndex
95113San Jose Employment hub 2,64022,385 29 314%
95110San Jose Employment hub 19,96344,547 49 174%
95054Santa Clara Employment hub 25,70499,768 31 61%
94043Mountain View Employment hub 33,17669,408 21 46%
94304Palo Alto Destination 5,00056,576 10 45%
94305Stanford Employment hub 18,50954,779 8 26%
95002Alviso Employment hub 1,5427,483 0–2 —

Scroll the table sideways to see all columns.

All ZIP codes

Click a column header to sort. Index = fast food per 10,000 people present (residents + 0.5×workers) ÷ the U.S. average. 100% = exactly average.

ZIPNeighborhood ResidentsWorkersFast food Per 10kIndexStatus
95113San Jose 2,64022,385 29 21.0 314% Very high density
95122San Jose 50,77510,496 79 14.1 211% High density
95118San Jose 32,0158,040 50 13.9 208% High density
95110San Jose 19,96344,547 49 11.6 174% High density
94087Sunnyvale 57,76710,258 72 11.4 172% High density
95050Santa Clara 39,83428,753 59 10.9 163% High density
95030Los Gatos 13,1516,283 16 9.8 147% Above average
95035Milpitas 78,81048,580 99 9.6 144% Above average
95129San Jose 41,32111,357 44 9.4 140% Above average
94040Mountain View 35,63217,272 40 9.0 135% Above average
95112San Jose 57,37340,408 67 8.6 129% Above average
94301Palo Alto 17,50825,414 26 8.6 129% Above average
95008Campbell 48,33329,159 54 8.6 129% Above average
95128San Jose 33,16530,472 40 8.3 124% Above average
95020Gilroy 67,18119,193 63 8.2 123% Above average
95037Morgan Hill 51,94318,080 50 8.2 123% Above average
95123San Jose 69,67711,348 60 8.0 119% Above average
94085Sunnyvale 24,02421,768 27 7.7 116% Above average
95133San Jose 29,7108,301 24 7.1 106% Above average
95121San Jose 36,4634,199 27 7.0 105% Above average
95125San Jose 54,41917,202 44 7.0 105% Above average
95131San Jose 31,17953,034 39 6.8 101% Above average
95124San Jose 52,09610,965 35 6.1 91% Below average
94022Los Altos 20,0278,622 14 5.8 86% Below average
95132San Jose 40,3343,591 24 5.7 85% Below average
95138San Jose 18,96011,519 14 5.7 85% Below average
94086Sunnyvale 49,74629,429 35 5.4 81% Below average
95126San Jose 38,32712,398 24 5.4 81% Below average
95032Los Gatos 27,31312,922 18 5.3 80% Below average
95135San Jose 20,1291,665 11 5.2 79% Below average
95014Cupertino 60,93259,243 47 5.2 78% Below average
95116San Jose 48,0427,103 26 5.0 76% Below average
95119San Jose 10,84115,073 9 4.9 73% Below average
95111San Jose 57,2025,240 28 4.7 70% Below average
95120San Jose 36,9673,838 17 4.4 66% Below average
95051Santa Clara 62,05427,577 33 4.4 65% Below average
94306Palo Alto 27,18316,926 15 4.2 63% Below average
95054Santa Clara 25,70499,768 31 4.1 61% Below average
95127San Jose 58,8255,115 24 3.9 59% Below average
95117San Jose 26,9533,322 11 3.8 58% Below average
95070Saratoga 31,4175,888 13 3.8 57% Below average
94041Mountain View 16,05015,922 9 3.7 56% Below average
94303Palo Alto 46,87917,648 20 3.6 54% Below average
95136San Jose 48,0565,827 18 3.5 53% Below average
95148San Jose 44,9953,371 16 3.4 51% Below average
94043Mountain View 33,17669,408 21 3.1 46% Far below average
94304Palo Alto 5,00056,576 10 3.0 45% Far below average
95134San Jose 30,47150,098 12 2.2 32% Far below average
95130San Jose 13,5111,039 3 2.1 32% Far below average
94305Stanford 18,50954,779 8 1.7 26% Far below average
94024Los Altos 23,0513,126 3 1.2 18% Far below average
94089Sunnyvale 22,69944,041 5 1.1 17% Far below average
94023Los Altos —42 0–2 — — Not published
94035Mountain View —2,042 0–2 — — Not published
94039Mountain View —320 0–2 — — Not published
94042Mountain View —61 0–2 — — Not published
94088Sunnyvale —576 0–2 — — Not published
94302Palo Alto —50 0–2 — — Not published
94309Palo Alto —93 0–2 — — Not published
95002Alviso 1,5427,483 0–2 — — Not published
95009Campbell —39 0–2 — — Not published
95011Campbell —5 0–2 — — Not published
95013Coyote 5764 0–2 — — Not published
95015Cupertino —262 0–2 — — Not published
95021Gilroy —118 0–2 — — Not published
95031Los Gatos —358 0–2 — — Not published
95033Los Gatos 9,600623 0–2 — — Not published
95036Milpitas —28 0–2 — — Not published
95038Morgan Hill —207 0–2 — — Not published
95044Redwood Estates —14 0–2 — — Not published
95046San Martin 6,3241,344 0–2 — — Not published
95052Santa Clara —5,316 0–2 — — Not published
95053Santa Clara 3,0493,482 0–2 — — Not published
95055Santa Clara —24 0–2 — — Not published
95056Santa Clara —23 0–2 — — Not published
95101San Jose —185 0–2 — — Not published
95108San Jose —12 0–2 — — Not published
95139San Jose 7,035507 0–2 — — Not published
95140Mount Hamilton 4268 0–2 — — Not published
95141San Jose —1,824 0–2 — — Not published
95150San Jose —32 0–2 — — Not published
95151San Jose —20 0–2 — — Not published
95153San Jose —334 0–2 — — Not published
95154San Jose —23 0–2 — — Not published
95155San Jose —21 0–2 — — Not published
95158San Jose —86 0–2 — — Not published
95159San Jose —36 0–2 — — Not published
95160San Jose —89 0–2 — — Not published
95161San Jose —5 0–2 — — Not published
95164San Jose —16 0–2 — — Not published
95170San Jose —25 0–2 — — Not published
95192San Jose —1,067 0–2 — — Not published

Scroll the table sideways to see all columns.

Find an actual space in Santa Clara

The numbers above tell you how the market looks. To find a specific storefront, these marketplaces list available retail space for lease.

LoopNet
Largest commercial marketplace
Browse Santa Clara retail space →
Crexi
Free listings + market data
Browse Santa Clara retail space →
CityFeet
Retail space for lease
Browse Santa Clara retail space →

Open vacancy data (actual empty units) is only published by some cities; where it exists we show it directly. Listings above are third-party.

Census withholds some ZIP-by-industry cells to protect small businesses. 0–2 means the cell was not published (Census publishes industry counts only at 3+ per ZIP), so the ZIP is left unranked rather than counted as zero. ~ means the count is estimated from the broader industry group and can be off by a business or two.

Follow Santa Clara County and fast food

When a data vintage changes or a section of this report is revised, we post it to a public update feed. No email address, no account, no tracking — and nothing is sent unless something actually changed.

Subscribe to updates (RSS) How these numbers are built →

Methodology & sources

Establishments. U.S. Census ZIP Code Business Patterns (ZBP 2023), NAICS 722513 — limited-service restaurants. Counts establishments with paid employees. ZBP is published annually with a ~2-year lag.

Fresh county signal. BLS QCEW (quarterly) is newer than ZBP — 2026 Q1 shows 1,604 establishments county-wide for this industry. It cannot be broken down by ZIP.

Population. U.S. Census American Community Survey 2024 5-year ZCTA population (table B01003). Workers are the ZIP's total employment from the same 2023 ZBP file.

Demand ("people present"). Demand comes from residents and daytime workers: residents + 0.5 × workers. This is the single documented assumption in the model and can be tuned.

Index. index = (ZIP establishments ÷ ZIP demand × 10,000) ÷ the U.S. average for this industry (6.67 per 10,000 present). It is a supply-side density measure; it does not capture income, rent, tourism, or whether locals actually want more.

Read the full methodology →  ·  Data sources & vintages →

BizGapMap — free, no-login small-business saturation reports for major U.S. counties. Built entirely from public U.S. Census, BLS, and IRS data (ZBP 2023, ACS 2024 5-year, PEP 2024, LODES, QCEW, IRS SOI). No forecasts, no revenue guesses — withheld cells are marked, and the few derived counts are labelled as estimates.