GO TO THE CHARTS:
| 2023 Rank | Company | Category | 2023 U.S. Sales Millions | 2023 AUV Thousands | 2023 Franchisedlicensed Units | 2023 Company Units | 2023 Total Units | Total Change In Units From 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | McDonald's | Burger | 53,135 | 4,001 | 12,772 | 685 | 13,457 | |
| 2 | Wendy's | Burger | 12,285 | 2,060 | 5,627 | 403 | 6,030 | |
| 3 | Burger King | Burger | 10,957 | 1,642 | 6,640 | 138 | 6,778 | |
| 4 | Sonic Drive-In | Burger | 5,534 | 1,600 | 3,195 | 326 | 3,521 | |
| 5 | Dairy Queen | Burger | 4,968 | 1,168 | 4,252 | 2 | 4,254 | |
| 6 | Jack in the Box | Burger | 4,355 | 2,032 | 2,043 | 142 | 2,185 | |
| 7 | Whataburger | Burger | 3,769 | 3,962 | 171 | 826 | 997 | |
| 8 | Culver's | Burger | 3,000 | 3,487 | 937 | 7 | 944 | |
| 9 | Five Guys** | Burger | 2,626 | 1,811 | 890 | 594 | 1,484 | |
| 10 | Hardee's* | Burger | 1,981 | 1,160 | 1,512 | 195 | 1,707 | |
| 11 | Carl's Jr.* | Burger | 1,546 | 1,450 | 1,018 | 48 | 1,066 | |
| 12 | In-N-Out Burger* | Burger | 1,246 | 3,130 | 0 | 398 | 398 | |
| 13 | Shake Shack* | Burger | 1,199 | 3,900 | 39 | 295 | 334 | |
| 14 | Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers | Burger | 925 | 1,898 | 482 | 33 | 515 | |
| 15 | Checkers/Rally's | Burger | 883 | 1,100 | 546 | 238 | 784 |
About the QSR 50/
The QSR 50 is an annual ranking of limited-service restaurant companies by U.S. system-wide sales. QSR magazine collected information directly from restaurant companies from March to May 2024.
* Indicates a number estimated by QSR.
** Indicates a number estimated by Datassential. Chain operators were invited to share unit and systemwide sales figures, and Datassential supplemented those numbers with data from its analytics platforms, including and especially the Datassential Operators platform, as well as Concept Testing and Brand Performance. Publicly available brand data from securities filings, investor research, and franchise disclosures also informed Datassential estimates. Where specific chain information was not available, estimates were made based on growth rates seen in the industry overall and among similar chains.
The Contenders
From legacy chains to rising upstarts, here’s a look at 50 brands ready to break through in the coming years. All information in this chart, except for where * is indicated, was submitted directly to QSR magazine. The list was ranked by total systemwide sales from the pool of submissions.
