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Fast food in California

How many fast food exist per person present (residents + daytime workers) across the 35 California counties we cover, by ZIP code, compared with the U.S. average. Data: Census ZBP 2023 + ACS 2024 + BLS QCEW.

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

State verdict (covered counties): In line with the U.S. rate — 110% of the U.S. rate
Counties covered
35
in California
Fast food
33,629
establishments (2023)
Per 10,000 present
7.3
residents + 0.5×workers
U.S. average
6.7
per 10,000 present
State index
110%
vs. U.S.
Residents
38,319,676
in covered counties
Workers
15,030,202
jobs in covered counties
Coverage. This page aggregates only the 35 California counties BizGapMap covers — not the whole state. Counts and the index reflect those counties. The aggregate index uses only ZIP cells Census published, so it is a lower bound. Density is a supply-side signal: it counts existing fast food and the people present, not foot traffic, income, rent, or whether locals want more.

Counties in California

CityCounty Fast foodResidentsWorkers Per 10kIndexVerdict
San Luis Obispo San Luis Obispo County 288–324 271,285 97,546 9.0 135–142% Above average
Irvine Orange County 3,343–3,451 3,175,270 1,572,620 8.4 126–127% Above average
San Francisco San Francisco County 975–999 830,479 727,248 8.1 122–123% Above average
El Segundo Los Angeles County 9,349–9,631 9,801,306 3,924,098 7.9 119% Above average
Goleta Santa Barbara County 407–447 443,781 158,550 7.8 117–121% Above average
Roseville Placer County 389–417 422,233 166,507 7.7 115–124% Above average
San Diego San Diego County 3,063–3,225 3,282,423 1,385,217 7.7 115–117% Above average
Fremont Alameda County 1,488–1,514 1,655,008 750,285 7.3 110–110% Above average
Ventura Ventura County 718–758 841,297 285,173 7.3 109–111% Above average
Ontario San Bernardino County 1,851–1,961 2,195,107 711,262 7.2 109–113% Above average
Riverside Riverside County 2,011–2,083 2,482,806 674,999 7.1 106–107% Above average
Folsom Sacramento County 1,304–1,348 1,596,140 531,159 7.0 105–107% Above average
Bakersfield Kern County 709–765 915,763 218,146 6.9 104–108% Above average
Modesto Stanislaus County 432–450 559,023 148,684 6.8 102–105% Above average
Chico Butte County 160–186 207,286 61,889 6.7 101–113% Above average
Fresno Fresno County 787–851 1,021,317 301,306 6.7 101–106% Above average
West Sacramento Yolo County 173–197 222,458 74,293 6.7 100–111% Range spans bands
Hanford Kings County 108–116 152,269 28,375 6.5 97–103% Range spans bands
Santa Clara Santa Clara County 1,612–1,692 1,935,981 1,162,159 6.4 96–97% Below average
Santa Cruz Santa Cruz County 200–218 272,278 80,401 6.4 96–100% Below average
El Dorado Hills El Dorado County 139–175 192,693 49,889 6.4 96–115% Range spans bands
Menlo Park San Mateo County 611–639 713,109 457,352 6.3 95–97% Below average
Concord Contra Costa County 835–867 1,159,422 342,009 6.3 94–96% Below average
Fairfield Solano County 319–327 449,663 122,066 6.2 94–95% Below average
Monterey Monterey County 299–337 426,948 115,284 6.2 92–102% Range spans bands
Tracy San Joaquin County 552–586 796,477 232,266 6.0 91–94% Below average
Visalia Tulare County 318–360 473,757 104,822 6.0 91–100% Below average
San Rafael Marin County 185–229 257,061 106,330 6.0 89–102% Range spans bands
Santa Rosa Sonoma County 341–389 485,213 174,040 6.0 89–97% Below average
Redding Shasta County 128–172 190,130 53,985 5.9 88–113% Range spans bands
Eureka Humboldt County 84–136 134,385 33,944 5.5 83–131% Range spans bands
El Centro Imperial County 105–125 174,015 33,702 5.5 82–97% Below average
Madera Madera County 95–107 159,701 30,139 5.4 81–90% Below average
Napa Napa County 88–102 135,313 65,776 5.2 78–87% Below average
Merced Merced County 163–185 288,279 48,681 5.2 78–88% Below average

Scroll the table sideways to see all columns.

Lowest vs. highest measured density

Fewest competitors per capita

San Luis Obispo
135%
Irvine
126%
San Francisco
122%
El Segundo
119%
Goleta
117%
Roseville
115%
San Diego
115%
Fremont
110%

Most competitors per capita

Merced
78%
Napa
78%
Madera
81%
El Centro
82%
Eureka
83%
Redding
88%
Santa Rosa
89%
San Rafael
89%
Low measured density is not evidence of opportunity. A county with few fast food may simply lack foot traffic, retail space, or demand. Use the ranking to find where to look, then verify locally.

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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.