mewayz Data

Full-Service Restaurants — profit margin & cost structure (U.S.)

For the U.S. full-service restaurants industry, IRS tax data shows an estimated 3.4% net margin on an owner-operator basis (national, sole proprietorships, tax year 2023). That figure — what a self-employed owner keeps per sales dollar before paying themselves — is the number this page exists to report; read the note below on how it's measured.

3.4%net margin · owner-operator basis
National as of tax year 2023   Moderate confidence   source ↗
Owner-operator basis (IRS SOI sole proprietorships, TY2023): net income less deficit ÷ business receipts. Measured at NAICS 722 — Food services & drinking places (all restaurants + bars); full-service restaurants are a subset. Owner's own labor is not expensed, so this overstates corporate-style profit.

Cost structure

National, from IRS Statistics of Income (weighted sample). Where a component is not separately reported, it is shown as insufficient data — never estimated.

ComponentValue
Cost of goods sold (% of receipts)37.5%National source ↗
Labor / officer compensation (% of receipts)16.1%National source ↗

2019–2023 trend (national)

Change in the number of full-service restaurants establishments and employment, nationally, from Census County Business Patterns.

Metric20192023Change
Establishments254,873258,626+1.5%
Employment5,598,7545,387,020-3.8%

Business size distribution (national)

Share of U.S. full-service restaurants establishments by number of employees (Census County Business Patterns, 2023). 26% have fewer than 5 employees.

1–4 emp67,995 (26%)
5–9 emp44,203 (17%)
10–19 emp54,634 (21%)
20–49 emp63,904 (25%)
50–99 emp22,751 (9%)
100+ emp5,138 (2%)

Where this industry operates — all 51 states

Establishment counts, employment, and wages are available for free elsewhere too (e.g. Data USA). States ordered by number of establishments — pick one for local context:

California
Texas
New York
Florida
Illinois
Pennsylvania
North Carolina
New Jersey
Georgia
Ohio
Michigan
Virginia
Washington
Massachusetts
Colorado
Wisconsin
Tennessee
Indiana
South Carolina
Missouri
Arizona
Oregon
Minnesota
Maryland
Connecticut
Louisiana
Oklahoma
Kentucky
Alabama
Iowa
Nevada
Kansas
Arkansas
Utah
Mississippi
Maine
Nebraska
New Hampshire
New Mexico
Idaho
Hawaii
West Virginia
Rhode Island
Montana
District of Columbia
Delaware
South Dakota
Vermont
North Dakota
Alaska
Wyoming
Full cost-structure breakdown by business-size class and side-by-side industry comparison are available to subscribers. This page shows the current-year national headline plus the multi-year establishment trend.

Frequently asked

What is the average profit margin for full-service restaurants businesses?
About 3.4% net margin on an owner-operator basis (national, IRS SOI sole proprietorships, tax year 2023). This counts the owner's own labor as profit, so it overstates corporate-style margin — see the note above.
How many full-service restaurants businesses are there in the U.S.?
258,626 establishments with paid employees (Census County Business Patterns, 2023).
What is the average wage in the full-service restaurants industry?
$588 per week (BLS QCEW 2024, private sector) — about $30,576/year.
Is the full-service restaurants industry growing?
The number of U.S. full-service restaurants establishments changed +1.5% from 2019 to 2023 (254,873 → 258,626), per Census CBP.
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machine-readable JSON · NAICS 722511

Related industries

AccommodationAccommodation & Food Services