Research
January 09, 2026
Total restaurant industry jobs
Restaurants added 150k jobs in 2025
Restaurants continued to add jobs at a healthy pace in December, even as the overall labor market continued to cool.
Eating and drinking places added a net 27,200 jobs in December on a seasonally-adjusted basis, according to preliminary data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). That was up from a gain of 6,800 jobs in November and represented the 6th consecutive monthly increase in restaurant employment.
In total during 2025, eating and drinking places added nearly 150,000 jobs. That calendar-year increase was particularly impressive, considering that the industry lost nearly 66,000 jobs during the first 2 months of the year.
The 150,000 jobs added in 2025 was an improvement from 2024, when restaurant payrolls expanded by 129,500 jobs.
Despite the ongoing challenging business environment for restaurants, the industry is continuing to grow its workforce.
The steady growth in recent months continued to expand the industry workforce beyond pre-pandemic levels. As of December 2025, eating and drinking place employment was nearly 230,000 jobs (or 1.9%) above its February 2020 level.
Fullservice segment posted strongest job growth in recent months
The fullservice segment registered solid employment growth in recent months, but still remains 173,000 jobs (or 3.0%) below pre-pandemic levels.
Employment in the limited-service segments recovered much faster from the pandemic-induced job losses. As of November 2025, employment at snack and nonalcoholic beverage bars – including coffee, donut and ice cream shops – was 205,000 jobs (or 25%) above February 2020 readings.
Employee counts at quickservice and fast casual restaurants were 140,000 jobs (or 3%) above pre-pandemic levels.
[Note that the segment-level employment figures are lagged by one month, so November 2025 is the most current data available.]
Restaurant job growth uneven across states
More than 5 years after the onset of the pandemic in the U.S., restaurant staffing levels remain below pre-pandemic readings in 17 states and the District of Columbia.
This group was led by Massachusetts, Illinois, West Virginia, Maryland and California, which had about 3% fewer eating and drinking place jobs in the third quarter of 2025 than they did in the third quarter of 2019. Michigan, Minnesota and Vermont remained about 2% below their pre-pandemic restaurant employment levels.
In contrast, restaurant employment in several of the mountain states has climbed well beyond pre-pandemic levels. This group is led by Idaho (+20%), South Dakota (+19%), Utah (+15%) and Nevada (+14%).
[Note that the state-level analysis uses 2019 as the pre-pandemic comparison instead of February 2020, because seasonally-adjusted employment figures are not available for every state.]
View the latest employment data for every state.
Note: Eating and drinking places are the primary component of the total restaurant and foodservice industry, providing jobs for roughly 80% of the total restaurant and foodservice workforce of more than 15.7 million.
Track more economic indicators and read more analysis and commentary from the Association's economists.
Eating and drinking places added a net 27,200 jobs in December on a seasonally-adjusted basis, according to preliminary data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). That was up from a gain of 6,800 jobs in November and represented the 6th consecutive monthly increase in restaurant employment.
In total during 2025, eating and drinking places added nearly 150,000 jobs. That calendar-year increase was particularly impressive, considering that the industry lost nearly 66,000 jobs during the first 2 months of the year.
The 150,000 jobs added in 2025 was an improvement from 2024, when restaurant payrolls expanded by 129,500 jobs.
Despite the ongoing challenging business environment for restaurants, the industry is continuing to grow its workforce.
The steady growth in recent months continued to expand the industry workforce beyond pre-pandemic levels. As of December 2025, eating and drinking place employment was nearly 230,000 jobs (or 1.9%) above its February 2020 level.
Fullservice segment posted strongest job growth in recent months
The fullservice segment registered solid employment growth in recent months, but still remains 173,000 jobs (or 3.0%) below pre-pandemic levels.
Employment in the limited-service segments recovered much faster from the pandemic-induced job losses. As of November 2025, employment at snack and nonalcoholic beverage bars – including coffee, donut and ice cream shops – was 205,000 jobs (or 25%) above February 2020 readings.
Employee counts at quickservice and fast casual restaurants were 140,000 jobs (or 3%) above pre-pandemic levels.
[Note that the segment-level employment figures are lagged by one month, so November 2025 is the most current data available.]
Restaurant job growth uneven across states
More than 5 years after the onset of the pandemic in the U.S., restaurant staffing levels remain below pre-pandemic readings in 17 states and the District of Columbia.
This group was led by Massachusetts, Illinois, West Virginia, Maryland and California, which had about 3% fewer eating and drinking place jobs in the third quarter of 2025 than they did in the third quarter of 2019. Michigan, Minnesota and Vermont remained about 2% below their pre-pandemic restaurant employment levels.
In contrast, restaurant employment in several of the mountain states has climbed well beyond pre-pandemic levels. This group is led by Idaho (+20%), South Dakota (+19%), Utah (+15%) and Nevada (+14%).
[Note that the state-level analysis uses 2019 as the pre-pandemic comparison instead of February 2020, because seasonally-adjusted employment figures are not available for every state.]
View the latest employment data for every state.
Note: Eating and drinking places are the primary component of the total restaurant and foodservice industry, providing jobs for roughly 80% of the total restaurant and foodservice workforce of more than 15.7 million.
Track more economic indicators and read more analysis and commentary from the Association's economists.