Pittsburgh restaurant statistics show a large and varied inspection system inside Allegheny County. The county dataset contains 124,674 restaurant and food-facility inspection rows, including 78,985 records associated with Pittsburgh. Those records identify 10,700 unique facility IDs and 9,546 unique facility names, while also showing how inspection results, purposes, years, months, and ZIP codes are distributed.
Contents
- Pittsburgh restaurant inspection snapshot
- Facility counts and placard results
- Why Pittsburgh facilities were inspected
- Inspection activity by year
- Busiest inspection months
- ZIP codes with the most records
- How the food-safety system works
Pittsburgh restaurant inspection snapshot
The Allegheny County Restaurant/Food Facility Inspections and Locations dataset records 124,674 total inspection rows across the county. Pittsburgh accounts for 78,985 of those rows, or about 63.3% of the dataset. This is a count of inspection records rather than a count of operating restaurants, so repeated inspections of the same facility remain separate rows.
The Pittsburgh portion includes 10,700 unique facility IDs and 9,546 unique facility names. The difference between those two counts matters when interpreting the data: a facility ID is a system identifier, while a facility name is a displayed name. Neither total should be treated as a precise count of currently open restaurants.
| Pittsburgh measure | Count |
|---|---|
| Inspection rows | 78,985 |
| Share of county dataset | About 63.3% |
| Unique facility IDs | 10,700 |
| Unique facility names | 9,546 |
The dataset therefore describes regulatory activity at food facilities over its recorded period. It can help readers understand the scale and pattern of inspections, but it does not by itself establish how many restaurants are open on a particular date or how many meals are served.
Facility counts and placard results
“Inspected & Permitted” is the dominant placard result in the Pittsburgh records, appearing 77,748 times. That represents about 98.4% of Pittsburgh inspection rows. The remaining listed outcomes are much smaller categories, including 503 “Inspected/Permit denied” records, 296 “Consumer Alert” records, and 193 “Ordered To Close” records.
The dataset also lists 118 “Not Selected” records, 99 “Closure/Imminent Hazard” records, 16 “Closure/Unpaid Fees” records, and 12 “Closure/No Entry” records. These are record counts by placard result; they should not be read as a count of unique businesses or as a rate of permanent closure.
| Placard or inspection result | Pittsburgh records |
|---|---|
| Inspected & Permitted | 77,748 |
| Inspected/Permit denied | 503 |
| Consumer Alert | 296 |
| Ordered To Close | 193 |
| Not Selected | 118 |
| Closure/Imminent Hazard | 99 |
| Closure/Unpaid Fees | 16 |
| Closure/No Entry | 12 |
The Allegheny County Health Department’s Food Safety information describes three public placard states: green for Inspected & Permitted, yellow for Consumer Alert, and red for Closed. The department also says every permitted food facility receives a placard at the entrance. That makes the placard system a visible part of the county’s food-safety framework, while the dataset provides the historical record counts behind the categories.
Why Pittsburgh facilities were inspected
Inspection purpose is another way to understand the records. Initial inspections are the largest purpose class in Pittsburgh, with 42,993 records, or about 54.4% of all Pittsburgh inspection rows. Reinspections account for 11,948 records, or about 15.1%. New Facility inspections total 4,441 records, or about 5.6%.
Other purpose categories include 4,128 COVID-19 Assessment inspections, 3,440 Complaint inspections, 3,051 Service Request inspections, and 2,061 Consultation inspections. The dataset also contains 1,919 “Initial, Complaint” records, 1,007 “COVID-19, Initial Inspection” records, and 851 “Initial, New Facility” records.
These purpose labels describe why a record was created in the inspection system. They are not a ranking of restaurant quality, and a complaint record does not by itself prove that a complaint was substantiated. Likewise, a reinspection record indicates another inspection event, not necessarily a failed previous inspection.
| Inspection purpose | Pittsburgh records |
|---|---|
| Initial | 42,993 |
| Reinspection | 11,948 |
| New Facility | 4,441 |
| COVID-19 Assessment | 4,128 |
| Complaint | 3,440 |
| Service Request | 3,051 |
| Consultation | 2,061 |
| Initial, Complaint | 1,919 |
| COVID-19, Initial Inspection | 1,007 |
| Initial, New Facility | 851 |
The Health Department says food facilities are inspected twice a year, every year, or every other year, depending on the type of food prepared and prior inspection history. That schedule helps explain why the same facility can appear in the dataset repeatedly and why inspection-row totals should not be substituted for business counts.
Inspection activity by year
Pittsburgh inspection activity peaked in 2016, when the dataset records 8,344 inspections. The next highest listed year is 2015, with 8,247 records. Activity reached 8,081 records in 2021, followed by 7,775 in 2020, 7,724 in 2018, 7,637 in 2017, and 7,209 in 2019.
The later listed years have lower totals: 6,908 inspections in 2014, 5,354 in 2024, 4,074 in 2023, 3,844 in 2025, and 3,788 in 2022. These are the counts reported for each year in the dataset. The figures should be compared with care because the supplied facts do not establish whether every year covers the same number of months or whether the data extract has the same completeness for each year.
| Year | Pittsburgh inspection records |
|---|---|
| 2014 | 6,908 |
| 2015 | 8,247 |
| 2016 | 8,344 |
| 2017 | 7,637 |
| 2018 | 7,724 |
| 2019 | 7,209 |
| 2020 | 7,775 |
| 2021 | 8,081 |
| 2022 | 3,788 |
| 2023 | 4,074 |
| 2024 | 5,354 |
| 2025 | 3,844 |
The peak year is useful as a historical reference point, but it is not a forecast of future inspection volume. The 2025 figure is likewise a reported dataset count, not an estimate of a full future-year total.
Busiest inspection months
Among the listed months, October has the most Pittsburgh inspection records, with 7,218. March follows closely at 7,148, and August has 7,086. January records total 6,772, while February has 6,754 and July has 6,748. September has 6,721.
| Month | Pittsburgh inspection records |
|---|---|
| October | 7,218 |
| March | 7,148 |
| August | 7,086 |
| January | 6,772 |
| February | 6,754 |
| July | 6,748 |
| September | 6,721 |
The month counts describe inspection timing in the dataset, not restaurant customer traffic, sales, or dining popularity. A busy inspection month can reflect scheduling and regulatory activity rather than a change in how many people are eating out.
ZIP codes with the most records
ZIP code 15222 has the largest listed Pittsburgh total, with 6,519 inspection records. ZIP code 15213 follows with 5,369, then 15237 with 4,924 and 15212 with 4,773. The next listed totals are 4,028 in 15205, 3,692 in 15219, 2,973 in 15203, 2,903 in 15217, 2,754 in 15206, and 2,731 in 15238.
| ZIP code | Pittsburgh inspection records |
|---|---|
| 15222 | 6,519 |
| 15213 | 5,369 |
| 15237 | 4,924 |
| 15212 | 4,773 |
| 15205 | 4,028 |
| 15219 | 3,692 |
| 15203 | 2,973 |
| 15217 | 2,903 |
| 15206 | 2,754 |
| 15238 | 2,731 |
ZIP-code totals are inspection-record counts, not rankings of restaurant quality or counts of unique locations. Areas with more records may have more facilities, more repeat inspections, or both. The dataset facts provided here do not support a neighborhood-level comparison beyond the listed record totals.
How the food-safety system works
The inspection statistics sit within a broader local licensing and food-safety structure. Allegheny County covers 745 square miles and includes 130 municipalities, with Pittsburgh as the county seat. Those geographic facts provide the countywide context for a dataset that includes both Pittsburgh records and records from elsewhere in the county.
The Allegheny County Health Department says inspection frequency depends on the type of food prepared and prior inspection history. It also says every permitted food facility receives an entrance placard. Together, those points explain why diners may encounter visible placards while facilities can have different inspection schedules.
The City of Pittsburgh says business licenses expire 365 days from the date of issuance. Separately, the city’s Outdoor Dining & Retail License was created by Ordinance 2022-0073, signed on February 17, 2022. These city licensing details are distinct from the county inspection and placard records, so a business-license date or outdoor-dining authorization should not be treated as an inspection result.
For readers comparing Pittsburgh restaurants, the clearest interpretation is to keep these systems separate: inspection rows measure recorded regulatory events, facility IDs and names identify entries in the dataset, placards communicate food-safety status, and city licenses govern separate business or outdoor-dining requirements.