In 1960, there was about 1 fast food outlet per 10,000–20,000 people in most urban areas.
In 2025, there is about 1 outlet per 500–1,000 people, with some cities near 1 in 200 to 300.
Growth accelerated in the 1980s but really took off in the 1990s. From 1980 to today, the # of restaurants per capita doubled or tripled depending on the area.
In 1970, 2 in 3 workers brought a homemade lunch to work. Today, just 1 in 3 workers do that. The majority now buy fast food lunches or eat at a company cafeteria.
I live in a town of 29,000 people. I used Google Maps to look up fast food and casual dining places – and there are at least 37, not including the food trucks. If we add in food trucks, we would have an addition 15-20 locations.
That’s about 50 food places for 29,000 population. Sure, we are on a highway and have others stopping buy.
But for a crude approximation, that’s 1 per 580 people.
