United States restaurant industry

The United States restaurant industry was projected at $899 billion in sales for 2020 by the National Restaurant Association, the main trade association for the industry in the United States.[1][2] An estimated 99% of companies in the industry are family-owned small businesses with fewer than 50 employees.[3] The industry as a whole as of February of 2020 employed more than 15 million people, representing 10% of the workforce directly.[1] It is the nation's second largest private employer and the third largest employer overall.[4][5] It indirectly employed close to another 10% when dependent businesses such as food producers, trucking, and delivery services were factored in, according to Ohio restaurateur Britney Ruby Miller.[1] In Delaware and Massachusetts, one in ten workers is employed in the restaurant industry.[6][7] In North Carolina, 11% of workers are employed by the industry.[8] In Texas, 12% of workers were employed by the industry as of 2016.[9]

The effect of the 2020 coronavirus epidemic was in March of 2020 projected to be $225 billion in losses.[10]