Florida’s restaurant industry accounted for 48,516 locations, 1,113,700 restaurant and foodservice jobs, and $107.3 billion in sales in 2024. The National Restaurant Association’s Florida state fact sheet for 2025 also reports $16.8 billion in total taxes paid and an economic contribution of $1.91 for every dollar spent at Florida restaurants.
Contents
- Florida restaurant industry at a glance
- Employment and economic contribution
- Eating and drinking places by district
- District employment patterns
- Largest and smallest district totals
- How to read these Florida restaurant statistics
Florida restaurant industry at a glance
The statewide figures describe a large, broad restaurant and foodservice sector. In 2024, Florida had 48,516 restaurant locations. Those businesses generated $107.3 billion in sales and paid $16.8 billion in total taxes. The same source identifies restaurants as Florida’s second largest private-sector employer.
These figures use different measurements, so they should not be treated as interchangeable counts. Locations measure places of business, while jobs measure employment across the wider restaurant and foodservice workforce. Sales measure industry revenue, and taxes measure the total reported tax contribution. Each statistic describes a different part of the sector’s footprint.
The National Restaurant Association Florida state fact sheet for 2025 reports that every dollar spent in Florida restaurants contributed $1.91 to the state economy in 2024. This is an economic-contribution measure, not a restaurant sales total or a return paid directly to an individual restaurant. It places restaurant spending in the context of the wider state economy.
| 2024 Florida measure | Reported figure |
|---|---|
| Restaurant locations | 48,516 |
| Restaurant and foodservice jobs | 1,113,700 |
| Restaurant sales | $107.3 billion |
| Total taxes paid | $16.8 billion |
| Economic contribution per dollar spent | $1.91 |
Source for all figures in this table: National Restaurant Association Florida state fact sheet 2025, reporting 2024 measurements.
Employment and economic contribution
Florida had 1,113,700 restaurant and foodservice jobs in 2024, according to the National Restaurant Association Florida state fact sheet 2025. Within that total, 857,000 eating and drinking place jobs represented the majority of the state’s total restaurant and foodservice workforce. The two figures have different scopes: the larger total covers restaurant and foodservice jobs, while the eating and drinking place figure identifies the majority segment within that workforce.
The state fact sheet also describes Florida restaurants as the state’s second largest private-sector employer in 2024. That ranking is a descriptive classification in the source, while the 1,113,700 figure is a quantified workforce measure. Together, they show both the scale of restaurant employment and its position among private-sector employers.
The $107.3 billion sales figure gives the sector a substantial consumer-spending footprint. The $16.8 billion tax figure captures a separate public-finance dimension. Neither figure should be divided by the number of locations without additional assumptions about the measurement definitions, because the supplied statistics do not establish that every location has the same operating period, sales mix, or tax profile.
The $1.91 economic contribution figure is also best read as a source-reported multiplier-style measure. It says that each dollar spent in Florida restaurants contributed $1.91 to the state economy in 2024. It does not say that $1.91 of restaurant revenue was received by each business, nor does it provide a district-by-district economic-impact estimate.
Eating and drinking places by district
The district-level data below reports eating and drinking place establishments and employees for Florida Districts 1 through 28 in 2024. The geography is the district numbering used by the National Restaurant Association Florida state fact sheet 2025. These are district figures, not statewide totals for all restaurant locations or all restaurant and foodservice jobs.
| District | Establishments | Employees |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1,755 | 32,029 |
| 2 | 1,899 | 29,745 |
| 3 | 1,571 | 25,182 |
| 4 | 1,444 | 24,703 |
| 5 | 2,197 | 37,811 |
| 6 | 1,622 | 23,528 |
| 7 | 1,601 | 25,750 |
| 8 | 1,666 | 27,515 |
| 9 | 1,744 | 36,991 |
| 10 | 2,264 | 46,390 |
| 11 | 1,509 | 48,753 |
| 12 | 1,174 | 17,095 |
| 13 | 2,082 | 34,522 |
| 14 | 2,063 | 37,773 |
| 15 | 1,386 | 21,740 |
| 16 | 1,298 | 21,549 |
| 17 | 1,547 | 25,040 |
| 18 | 1,224 | 20,117 |
| 19 | 2,232 | 46,280 |
| 20 | 1,321 | 18,880 |
| 21 | 1,656 | 28,957 |
| 22 | 1,616 | 28,096 |
| 23 | 2,412 | 42,990 |
| 24 | 2,016 | 38,883 |
| 25 | 1,833 | 31,383 |
| 26 | 1,728 | 24,171 |
| 27 | 2,126 | 35,833 |
| 28 | 1,532 | 25,295 |
Source: National Restaurant Association Florida state fact sheet 2025, with 2024 district measurements.
The establishment counts range from 1,174 in District 12 to 2,412 in District 23. Employee counts range from 17,095 in District 12 to 48,753 in District 11. A district can therefore rank differently on locations and employees. District 23 has the most establishments in this set, while District 11 has the most employees.
District employment patterns
Several districts combine more than 2,000 eating and drinking place establishments with large employee totals. District 10 had 2,264 establishments and 46,390 employees. District 19 had 2,232 establishments and 46,280 employees. District 23 had 2,412 establishments and 42,990 employees. District 5 had 2,197 establishments and 37,811 employees, while District 27 had 2,126 establishments and 35,833 employees.
Other districts show a high employee count despite a comparatively smaller establishment count. District 11 had 1,509 establishments and 48,753 employees. District 9 had 1,744 establishments and 36,991 employees. District 14 had 2,063 establishments and 37,773 employees, and District 24 had 2,016 establishments and 38,883 employees.
At the lower end of the employee figures, District 12 had 1,174 establishments and 17,095 employees. District 20 had 1,321 establishments and 18,880 employees. District 18 had 1,224 establishments and 20,117 employees. District 16 had 1,298 establishments and 21,549 employees, while District 15 had 1,386 establishments and 21,740 employees.
The district figures are useful for comparing the distribution of eating and drinking places and employees, but they do not explain why one district has more employees per establishment than another. The supplied source does not provide operating hours, business size, job type, turnover, or full-time and part-time status for these district counts. Those factors could affect the relationship between establishments and employees, so a simple district ranking should not be treated as a measure of productivity or restaurant performance.
Largest and smallest district totals
The following comparisons use only the reported 2024 district figures. District 23 had the highest establishment count at 2,412, followed by District 10 at 2,264, District 19 at 2,232, District 5 at 2,197, and District 27 at 2,126. District 12 had the lowest establishment count at 1,174, followed by District 18 at 1,224, District 16 at 1,298, District 20 at 1,321, and District 15 at 1,386.
For employees, District 11 led with 48,753, followed by District 10 with 46,390 and District 19 with 46,280. District 23 recorded 42,990 employees, and District 24 recorded 38,883. At the other end, District 12 reported 17,095 employees, District 20 reported 18,880, and District 18 reported 20,117.
These comparisons highlight why both measures matter. District 23 led on establishments but not employees. District 11 had the highest employee count without being among the five districts with the most establishments. The source therefore supports a two-dimensional view of district restaurant activity: one dimension describes the number of eating and drinking places, and the other describes the number of employees.
How to read these Florida restaurant statistics
The statewide and district numbers refer to 2024, while the source is identified as the National Restaurant Association Florida state fact sheet 2025. The year in the source label identifies the fact sheet; the measurement year identifies when the reported Florida activity occurred. Keeping those dates separate prevents the 2024 statistics from being mistaken for a 2025 measurement.
The statewide location count is 48,516 restaurant locations, whereas the district table uses eating and drinking place establishments. The source presents both categories, but the supplied figures do not establish that the two counts use identical definitions or that the 28 district entries should be added to recreate the statewide location total. They should therefore be used in their stated scopes.
Likewise, the statewide workforce total is 1,113,700 restaurant and foodservice jobs, while the district table reports eating and drinking place employees. The separate statewide figure of 857,000 eating and drinking place jobs is described as the majority of the total workforce. These distinctions matter when comparing employment measures across the state and districts.
For a concise snapshot, use the statewide figures for the industry’s overall scale: 48,516 locations, 1,113,700 restaurant and foodservice jobs, $107.3 billion in sales, and $16.8 billion in total taxes in 2024. For geographic comparison, use the district figures as reported: District 23 had the most establishments, District 11 had the most employees, and District 12 had the fewest of both among Districts 1 through 28.