Chick-fil-A Makes More Per Restaurant Than McDonald’s, Starbucks and Subway Combined — While Closing Every Sunday

At first glance, Chick-fil-A doesn’t appear to be that close to McDonald’s. McDonald’s has a vastly larger restaurant footprint, with more than 13,700 U.S. locations and more than 45,000 restaurants worldwide. Chick-fil-A, meanwhile, had 3,109 U.S. restaurants in 2024.

But when you look at sales per restaurant, the comparison becomes much more interesting.

Joe Budden recently made the point that Chick-fil-A is not as far behind McDonald’s as people might think. The numbers largely support that observation—at least when comparing U.S. systemwide sales.

According to 2024 industry data, McDonald’s generated approximately $53.47 billion in U.S. systemwide sales, compared with approximately $22.75 billion for Chick-fil-A. That means Chick-fil-A generated about 43% as much total U.S. sales as McDonald’s despite having only about 23% as many U.S. restaurants.

And that’s where Chick-fil-A’s performance becomes remarkable.

Chick-fil-A’s sales per restaurant are enormous

In 2024, Chick-fil-A’s approximately 3,109 U.S. restaurants generated an average of roughly $7.5 million per restaurantin annual systemwide sales.

By comparison:

• McDonald’s: about $4.0 million per U.S. restaurant
• Starbucks: about $1.8 million per U.S. restaurant
• Subway: about $495,000 per U.S. restaurant
• Chick-fil-A: about $7.5 million per U.S. restaurant

Based on those figures, Chick-fil-A’s average sales per U.S. location were higher than the combined average of McDonald’s, Starbucks and Subway—roughly $6.3 million per location when those three chains’ reported averages are added together.

That does not mean Chick-fil-A generates more total sales than those three companies combined. It means its average restaurant produces more sales than the average restaurant in each of those three chains combined on a per-location basis.

And Chick-fil-A is closed every Sunday

Perhaps the most surprising part of the story is that Chick-fil-A achieves those numbers while voluntarily giving up an entire day of business every week.

Chick-fil-A says its restaurants have been closed on Sundays since founder S. Truett Cathy made the decision in 1946. The company says the policy was established to give employees a day to rest, spend time with family and worship if they choose. The policy remains in place today.

In other words, Chick-fil-A operates primarily six days a week, while many of its largest competitors operate seven days.

The bigger story isn’t just sales—it’s efficiency

Chick-fil-A’s advantage becomes clearer when you consider its relatively small footprint.

In 2024, Chick-fil-A’s U.S. systemwide sales reached approximately $22.7 billion, up 5.4% from $21.6 billion in 2023. The chain had just over 3,100 U.S. locations.

McDonald’s, meanwhile, had approximately 13,700 U.S. restaurants at the end of 2025.

So McDonald’s remains in a completely different league in terms of size and total sales. But Chick-fil-A has built an unusually powerful business model around generating extremely high sales from each individual location.

One important fact-check

The headline “Chick-fil-A makes more per restaurant than McDonald’s, Starbucks and Subway combined” needs some clarification.

It is accurate if “makes” means average systemwide sales per U.S. restaurant using the 2024 figures. It is not a claim that Chick-fil-A earns more profit per restaurant than those companies combined.

Systemwide sales are the sales generated at the restaurants, including franchised locations. They are not the same thing as the corporation’s revenue or the restaurant operator’s profit.

Still, the underlying statistic is striking: a Chick-fil-A restaurant averaged roughly $7.5 million in annual U.S. sales in 2024—nearly twice the McDonald’s average and far above Starbucks and Subway—while remaining closed every Sunday.

That’s why the Chick-fil-A story isn’t simply about having fewer restaurants than McDonald’s. It’s about how much revenue the company can generate from each location.