Ranked: U.S. cities with the most fast food restaurants per capita

Sometimes all you need is a quick meal like a juicy burger. This mood tends to strike when you are miles away from any decent stops. Scavenging on late-night gas station offerings is not a sustainable way to live. Thankfully, there are plenty of places across the U.S. that are sanctuaries for fast food joints.

Living in an area with plenty of fast food restaurants presents a double-edged sword. The good news is you could always have a Taco Bell 12 Pack to keep you company. The bad news is living near fast food and its sodium-laden charms correlates with greater food consumption and higher obesity rates in children. One study even concluded that “fast food can inhibit savoring, producing negative consequences for how we experience pleasurable events.”

The data scientists at FindTheHome, part of the Graphiq network, identified places that have the highest density of fast food restaurants in each state. Using company classification information from Dun & Bradstreet, we calculated the number of fast food restaurants per 10,000 people. We then identified the city within each state with the highest density of fast food restaurants. Only cities with a population threshold over the 95th percentile of the state were considered in our analysis.

Note: For the sake of simplicity, we round the “Fast Food Restaurants per 10K People” to the nearest hundredth, which results in ties. Ties do not exist in the unrounded list. The order of the list reflects ranking based on the original calculation. The cities displayed in the accompanying visualization do not represent all the cities that were considered, just the cities with the top density of fast food restaurants.

#50. Connecticut: Norwalk

Population: 87,214
Fast Food Restaurants per 10K People: 1.84
Notable Restaurant: Five Guys

#49. Massachusetts: Fall River

Population: 88,756
Fast Food Restaurants per 10K People: 1.92
Notable Restaurant: Popeye's Chicken and Biscuits

#48. New Hampshire: Rochester

Population: 29,883
Fast Food Restaurants per 10K People: 2.68
Notable Restaurant: Wendy's

#47. New Jersey: Vineland

Population: 60,985
Fast Food Restaurants per 10K People: 2.95
Notable Restaurant: Stewart's Drive-In

#46. Rhode Island: Warwick

Population: 82,065
Fast Food Restaurants per 10K People: 3.29
Notable Restaurant: Walt's Roast Beef

#45. Maine: Bangor

Population: 32,800
Fast Food Restaurants per 10K People: 3.66
Notable Restaurant: Chipotle

#44. Hawaii: Hilo

Population: 44,549
Fast Food Restaurants per 10K People: 4.27
Notable Restaurant: Cafe 100

#43. New York: Watertown

Population: 27,590
Fast Food Restaurants per 10K People: 4.35
Notable Restaurant: Sonic Drive-In

#42. Washington: Lakewood

Population: 58,890
Fast Food Restaurants per 10K People: 4.42
Notable Restaurant: Church's Chicken

#41. Utah: Sandy

Population: 89,521
Fast Food Restaurants per 10K People: 4.58
Notable Restaurant: The Philadelphian

#40. Arizona: Tempe

Population: 166,975
Fast Food Restaurants per 10K People: 4.61
Notable Restaurant: French Fry Heaven

#39. Wisconsin: Eau Claire

Population: 67,036
Fast Food Restaurants per 10K People: 4.62
Notable Restaurant: Culver's

#38. Florida: Boca Raton

Population: 88,187
Fast Food Restaurants per 10K People: 4.65
Notable Restaurant: Chipotle

#37. Colorado: Grand Junction

Population: 59,731
Fast Food Restaurants per 10K People: 4.69
Notable Restaurant: McAlister's Deli

#36. Nevada: Paradise

Population: 223,182
Fast Food Restaurants per 10K People: 4.71
Notable Restaurant: Izzy's Burger Spa

#35. California: Costa Mesa

Population: 111,635
Fast Food Restaurants per 10K People: 4.75
Notable Restaurant: In-N-Out Burger

#34. Michigan: Southfield

Population: 72,480
Fast Food Restaurants per 10K People: 4.83
Notable Restaurant: Lou's Deli

#33. Idaho: Rexburg

Population: 26,301
Fast Food Restaurants per 10K People: 4.94
Notable Restaurant: Jimmy John's

#32. Oregon: Redmond

Population: 27,002
Fast Food Restaurants per 10K People: 5.19
Notable Restaurant: Dairy Queen

#31. Maryland: Hagerstown

Population: 40,295
Fast Food Restaurants per 10K People: 5.21
Notable Restaurant: Burkett's Deli

#30. Minnesota: Mankato

Population: 39,871
Fast Food Restaurants per 10K People: 5.52
Notable Restaurant: Jersey Mike's Subs

#29. North Dakota: Devils Lake

Population: 7,218
Fast Food Restaurants per 10K People: 5.54
Notable Restaurant: McDonald's

#28. South Dakota: Mitchell

Population: 15,490
Fast Food Restaurants per 10K People: 5.81
Notable Restaurant: Quiznos

#27. Vermont: South Burlington

Population: 18,378
Fast Food Restaurants per 10K People: 5.99
Notable Restaurant: Al's French Frys

#26. Texas: Longview

Population: 82,030
Fast Food Restaurants per 10K People: 6.22
Notable Restaurant: Raising Cane's Chicken Fingers

#25. Delaware: Dover

Population: 36,826
Fast Food Restaurants per 10K People: 6.25
Notable Restaurant: Wayback Burgers

#24. Illinois: Belleville

Population: 43,296
Fast Food Restaurants per 10K People: 6.47
Notable Restaurant: Rally's

#23. Wyoming: Rock Springs

Population: 23,684
Fast Food Restaurants per 10K People: 6.76
Notable Restaurant: Burger King

#22. Pennsylvania: Kingston

Population: 13,105
Fast Food Restaurants per 10K People: 6.87
Notable Restaurant: Abe's Hot Dogs

#21. Indiana: Marion

Population: 29,403
Fast Food Restaurants per 10K People: 7.14
Notable Restaurant: Penguin Point

#20. Iowa: Spencer

Population: 11,177
Fast Food Restaurants per 10K People: 7.16
Notable Restaurant: Dairy Queen

#19. Montana: Lockwood

Population: 6,943
Fast Food Restaurants per 10K People: 7.20
Notable Restaurant: Burger King

#18. Kansas: Arkansas City

Population: 12,316
Fast Food Restaurants per 10K People: 7.31
Notable Restaurant: Long John Silver's

#17. Ohio: Zanesville

Population: 25,444
Fast Food Restaurants per 10K People: 7.47
Notable Restaurant: Wendy's

#16. Virginia: Danville

Population: 42,704
Fast Food Restaurants per 10K People: 7.49
Notable Restaurant: Bojangle's Famous Chicken 'n Biscuits

#15. Georgia: Dalton

Population: 33,336
Fast Food Restaurants per 10K People: 7.50
Notable Restaurant: Krystal

#14. Tennessee: Kingsport

Population: 52,835
Fast Food Restaurants per 10K People: 7.57
Notable Restaurant: Pal's

#13. Alabama: Bessemer

Population: 27,202
Fast Food Restaurants per 10K People: 7.72
Notable Restaurant: Chick-fil-A

#12. Missouri: Farmington

Population: 17,213
Fast Food Restaurants per 10K People: 8.71
Notable Restaurant: KFC

#11. Nebraska: Lexington

Population: 10,189
Fast Food Restaurants per 10K People: 8.83
Notable Restaurant: Taco John's

#10. South Carolina: Florence

Population: 37,512
Fast Food Restaurants per 10K People: 9.06
Notable Restaurant: Five Guys

#9. North Carolina: Statesville

Population: 25,132
Fast Food Restaurants per 10K People: 9.15
Notable Restaurant: Taco Bell

#8. Arkansas: Russellville

Population: 28,581
Fast Food Restaurants per 10K People: 9.45
Notable Restaurant: Feltner's Whatta-Burger

#7. New Mexico: Gallup

Population: 22,189
Fast Food Restaurants per 10K People: 9.46
Notable Restaurant: Sonic Drive-In

#6. Mississippi: Ridgeland

Population: 24,209
Fast Food Restaurants per 10K People: 9.50
Notable Restaurant: Whataburger

#5. Alaska: Wasilla

Population: 8,406
Fast Food Restaurants per 10K People: 9.52
Notable Restaurant: Arby's

#4. Louisiana: Slidell

Population: 27,372
Fast Food Restaurants per 10K People: 10.23
Notable Restaurant: Raising Cane's Chicken Fingers

#3. West Virginia: Beckley

Population: 17,529
Fast Food Restaurants per 10K People: 10.84
Notable Restaurant: DQ Grill and Chill

#2. Oklahoma: Durant

Population: 16,507
Fast Food Restaurants per 10K People: 10.90
Notable Restaurant: Jack in the Box

#1. Kentucky: Paducah

Population: 25,046
Fast Food Restaurants per 10K People: 13.18
Notable Restaurant: Burger King

Explore More Places on FindTheHome