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Ranked: The Most Popular Fast Food Brands in America

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fast food brands ranked by systemwide sales in 2021

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Ranked: The Most Popular Fast Food Brands in America

Ever since the McDonald brothers created the concept of fast food in 1940, the restaurant’s golden arches have continued to beckon customers to its quick, cheap, and tasty meals.

McDonald’s is still the most popular fast food brand in America today—with $46 billion in systemwide sales last year.

This graphic uses data from a report on America’s top 50 fast food chains by Quick Service Restaurant (QSR) Magazine. The popular brands are sized by their 2021 systemwide sales and broken down into six broad categories: Burger, Chicken, Snack, Pizza, Sandwich, and Global.

Note: a number of these figures are estimates. Unofficial figures are noted in the graphic with an asterisk.

The Most Popular Fast Food Companies

It’s indisputable that McDonald’s is America’s favorite fast food restaurant, if not the world’s. McDonald’s sales are almost double the second the place restaurant’s, Starbucks—totaling $46 billion compared to the coffee shop’s $24 billion.

Here’s a closer look at the numbers:

RankCompanySystemwide Sales (2021)Category
#1McDonald's$46.0 billionBurger
#2Starbucks$24.3 billionSnack
#3Chick-fil-A$16.7 billionChicken
#4Taco Bell$12.6 billionGlobal
#5Wendy's$11.1 billionBurger
#6Dunkin'$10.4 billionSnack
#7Burger King$10.0 billionBurger
#8Subway$9.4 billionSandwich
#9Domino's$8.6 billionPizza
#10Chipotle$7.5 billionGlobal
#11Sonic Drive-In$5.8 billionBurger
#12Panera Bread$5.7 billionSandwich
#13Pizza Hut$5.5 billionPizza
#14KFC$5.1 billionChicken
#15Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen$4.8 billionChicken
#16Dairy Queen$4.5 billionSnack
#17Arby's$4.5 billionSandwich
#18Panda Express$4.5 billionGlobal
#19Little Caesars$4.2 billionPizza
#20Jack in the Box$4.1 billionBurger
#21Papa Johns$3.5 billionPizza
#22Whataburger$2.7 billionBurger
#23Culver's$2.5 billionBurger
#24Raising Caine's$2.4 billionChicken
#25Jimmy John's$2.3 billionSandwich
#26Wingstop$2.3 billionChicken
#27Zaxby's$2.2 billionChicken
#28Jersey Mike's$2.2 billionSandwich
#29Hardee's$2.1 billionBurger
#30Five Guys$2.1 billionBurger
#31Carl's Jr.$1.6 billionBurger
#32Bojangles$1.5 billionChicken
#33In-N-Out Burger$1.2 billionBurger
#34Firehouse Subs$1.0 billionSandwich
#35Krispy Kreme$996 millionSnack
#36Pel Pollo Loco$973 millionChicken
#37Tropical Smoothie Cafe$948 millionSnack
#38Del Taco$931 millionGlobal
#39Checkers/Rally's$931 millionBurger
#40Marco's Pizza$899 millionPizza
#41McAlister's Deli$869 millionSandwich
#42Qdoba$835 millionGlobal
#43Papa Murphy's$809 millionPizza
#44Church's Chicken$776 millionChicken
#45Shake Shack$775 millionBurger
#46Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburger$759 millionBurger
#47Tim Hortons$687 millionSnack
#48Baskin-Robbins$686 millionSnack
#49Moe's$661 millionGlobal
#50White Castle$615 millionBurger

Most of the top 20 restaurants are extremely well known, like Chick-fil-A in third place and Taco Bell in fourth. Some of these chains, however, will be unrecognizable depending on which part of the U.S. you live in. While Bojangles is ubiquitous in the Southeast, for example, many on the West Coast may have never heard of it.

Some of the lower ranking restaurants include Shake Shack (#45), White Castle (#50), and the Canadian-founded Tim Hortons (#47).

Fast Food Industry Trends

America’s fast food industry is expected to generate $331 billion in sales in 2022, and many restaurants are capitalizing on trends shaped in part by the pandemic.

Fast food companies are already somewhat ideal for pandemic conditions with drive-thrus, fast service, and a model that doesn’t encourage sitting down to eat.

Looking to the future, Starbucks, for example, has claimed 90% of its new stores will feature drive-thrus. Digital sales and transactions that limit contact, making fast food even more quick and convenient, are growing as well. Starbucks’ mobile order service has grown 400% over the last five years. And in 2021, the delivery side of their business grew 30% year-over-year, according to the QSR report.

Additionally, the report featured 50 up-and-coming fast food companies to watch in the industry. Here’s a look:

RankCompanySystemwide Sales (2021)Category
#1Smoothie King$602 millionSnack
#2Habit Burger$600 millionBurger
#3Auntie Anne's$576 millionSnack
#4Captain D's$567 millionSeafood
#5Steak 'N' Shake$539 millionBurger
#6Portillo's$526 millionSnack
#7Jamba$505 millionSnack
#8Schlotzsky's$332 millionSandwich
#9Krystal$323 millionBurger
#10Fazoli's$298 millionGlobal
#11Pizza Ranch$279 millionPizza
#12Scooter's Coffee$263 millionSnack
#13Penn Station$258 millionSandwich
#14Chicken Salad Chick$255 millionChicken
#15Mountain Mike's$254 millionPizza
#16Smashburger$253 millionBurger
#17Cinnabon$224 millionSnack
#18Wetzel's$219 millionSnack
#19Donatos$211 millionPizza
#20Newk's$208 millionSandwich
#21Bonchon$173 millionChicken
#22Waba Grill$170 millionGlobal
#23The Human Bean $109 millionSnack
#24Capriotti's$108 millionSandwich
#25Great Harvest Bread Company$108 millionSandwich
#26Teriyaki Madness$90 millionGlobal
#27Roy Rogers$82 millionBurger
#28Pizza Guys$79 millionPizza
#29Mooyah$71 millionBurger
#30Salsarita's$68 millionGlobal
#31Dog Haus$67 millionSnack
#32Gold Star$61 millionBurger
#33Hawaiian Bros$55 millionGlobal
#34Honeygrow$55 millionGlobal
#35Robeks$50 millionSnack
#36PJ’s Coffee of New Orleans$46 millionSnack
#37Kolache Factory$46 millionSnack
#38Juice it Up!$43 millionSnack
#39Happy Joe's$38 millionPizza
#40Rusty Taco$35 millionGlobal
#41Wing Zone$34 millionChicken
#42Swig$29 millionSnack
#43Pickleman's$29 millionSandwich
#44Killer Burger$17 millionBurger
#45Wing Snob$15 millionChicken
#46Sobol$13 millionGlobal
#47Bad Ass Coffee of Hawaii$12 millionSnack
#48Asian Box$11 millionGlobal
#49Sauce on the Side$9 millionGlobal
#50Mici Italian$6 millionGlobal

Some of these are well-established fast food joints that are simply growing their sales, like Cinnabon, while others are newer to the scene.

America’s Favorite Fast Food

Using the ranking’s food categories, we calculated the total sales in each category from the top 50 to figure out which foods are America’s favorites. The winner is evidently burgers, with $92.2 billion in collective sales. Here’s a look at the breakdown:

RankFood CategoryCategory Cumulative Sales
#1Burger$92.2 billion
#2Snack $42.5 billion
#3Chicken$36.7 billion
#4Global$27.0 billion
#5Sandwich$25.9 billion
#6Pizza$23.5 billion

Sales at Burger restaurants were more than double the runner-up, which was Snacks. After all, nothing is more American than a classic hamburger and fries.

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Markets

Ranked: The World’s Top Diamond Mining Countries, by Carats and Value

Who are the leaders in rough diamond production and how much is their diamond output worth?

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A cropped chart showing the leaders in rough diamond mining and how much their diamond output is worth.

Ranked: World Diamond Mining By Country, Carat, and Value

Only 22 countries in the world engage in rough diamond production—also known as uncut, raw or natural diamonds—mining for them from deposits within their territories.

This chart, by Sam Parker illustrates the leaders in rough diamond production by weight and value. It uses data from Kimberly Process (an international certification organization) along with estimates by Dr. Ashok Damarupurshad, a precious metals and diamond specialist in South Africa.

Rough Diamond Production, By Weight

Russia takes the top spot as the world’s largest rough diamond producer, mining close to 42 million carats in 2022, well ahead of its peers.

ℹ️ Carat is the unit of measurement for the physical weight of diamonds. One carat equals 0.200 grams, which means it takes over 2,265 carats to equal 1 pound.

Russia’s large lead over second-place Botswana (24.8 million carats) and third-ranked Canada (16.2 million carats) indicates that the country’s diamond production is circumventing sanctions due to the difficulties in tracing a diamond’s origin.

Here’s a quick breakdown of rough diamond production in the world.

RankCountryRough Diamond
Production (Carats)
1🇷🇺 Russia41,923,910
2🇧🇼 Botswana24,752,967
3🇨🇦 Canada16,249,218
4🇨🇩 DRC9,908,998
5🇿🇦 South Africa9,660,233
6🇦🇴 Angola8,763,309
7🇿🇼 Zimbabwe4,461,450
8🇳🇦 Namibia2,054,227
9🇱🇸 Lesotho727,737
10🇸🇱 Sierra Leone688,970
11🇹🇿 Tanzania375,533
12🇧🇷 Brazil158,420
13🇬🇳 Guinea128,771
14🇨🇫 Central
African Republic
118,044
15🇬🇾 Guyana83,382
16🇬🇭 Ghana82,500
17🇱🇷 Liberia52,165
18🇨🇮 Cote D'Ivoire3,904
19🇨🇬 Republic of Congo3,534
20🇨🇲 Cameroon2,431
21🇻🇪 Venezuela1,665
22🇲🇱 Mali92
Total120,201,460

Note: South Africa’s figures are estimated.

As with most other resources, (oil, gold, uranium), rough diamond production is distributed unequally. The top 10 rough diamond producing countries by weight account for 99.2% of all rough diamonds mined in 2022.

Diamond Mining, by Country

However, higher carat mined doesn’t necessarily mean better value for the diamond. Other factors like the cut, color, and clarity also influence a diamond’s value.

Here’s a quick breakdown of diamond production by value (USD) in 2022.

RankCountryRough Diamond
Value (USD)
1🇧🇼 Botswana$4,975M
2🇷🇺 Russia$3,553M
3🇦🇴 Angola$1,965M
4🇨🇦 Canada$1,877M
5🇿🇦 South Africa$1,538M
6🇳🇦 Namibia$1,234M
7🇿🇼 Zimbabwe$424M
8🇱🇸 Lesotho$314M
9🇸🇱 Sierra Leone$143M
10🇹🇿 Tanzania$110M
11🇨🇩 DRC$65M
12🇧🇷 Brazil$30M
13🇱🇷 Liberia$18M
14🇨🇫 Central
African Republic
$15M
15🇬🇾 Guyana$14M
16🇬🇳 Guinea$6M
17🇬🇭 Ghana$3M
18🇨🇲 Cameroon$0.25M
19🇨🇬 Republic of Congo$0.20M
20🇨🇮 Cote D'Ivoire$0.16M
21🇻🇪 Venezuela$0.10M
22🇲🇱 Mali$0.06M
Total$16,290M

Note: South Africa’s figures are estimated. Furthermore, numbers have been rounded and may not sum to the total.

Thus, even though Botswana only produced 59% of Russia’s diamond weight in 2022, it had a trade value of nearly $5 billion, approximately 1.5 times higher than Russia’s for the same year.

Another example is Angola, which is ranked 6th in diamond production, but 3rd in diamond value.

Both countries (as well as South Africa, Canada, and Namibia) produce gem-quality rough diamonds versus countries like Russia and the DRC whose diamonds are produced mainly for industrial use.

Which Regions Produce the Most Diamonds in 2022?

Unsurprisingly, Africa is the largest rough diamond producing region, accounting for 51% of output by weight, and 66% by value.

RankRegionShare of Rough
Diamond Production (%)
Share of Rough
Diamond Value (%)
1Africa51.4%66.4%
2Europe34.9%32.9%
3North America13.5%52.8%
4South America0.2%2.4%

However diamond mining in Africa is a relatively recent phenomenon, fewer than 200 years old. Diamonds had been discovered—and prized—as far back as 2,000 years ago in India, later on spreading west to Egyptian pharaohs and the Roman Empire.

By the start of the 20th century, diamond production on a large scale took off: first in South Africa, and decades later in other African countries. In fact between 1889–1959, Africa produced 98% of the world’s diamonds.

And in the latter half of the 20th century, the term blood diamond evolved from diamonds mined in African conflict zones used to finance insurgency or crime.

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