Restaurant opening statistics are easiest to interpret when the measurement is clear. The Census Bureau recorded weekly business applications in NAICS 722, Food Services and Drinking Places, across the United States during 2024. These applications indicate an opening pipeline, not confirmed restaurant openings. The series is broader than restaurants alone and is not seasonally adjusted.
Contents
- How to read these restaurant opening statistics
- Weeks 1–9: a strong early-year pipeline
- Weeks 10–18: a steadier spring range
- Weeks 19–27: the summer low point
- Weeks 28–45: late-summer and fall applications
- Weeks 46–52: a holiday-season slowdown
How to read these restaurant opening statistics
The source is the Census Bureau’s Business Formation Statistics - Weekly BFS by Industry. Its NAICS 722 series counts business applications for an Employer Identification Number, or EIN, classified to Food Services and Drinking Places. It does not verify that an application became a licensed, staffed, or operating restaurant.
The geography is national, and the measurement period is each numbered week of 2024. The values are not seasonally adjusted, so changes from one week to another may reflect ordinary calendar patterns as well as changes in business formation activity. The published CSV is restated to 2022 NAICS. The classification includes restaurants, other eating places, drinking places, special food services, and related food-service activity. As a result, the figures are useful as a broad dining-business pipeline indicator, but they should not be read as a precise count of restaurant openings.
Here is the weekly comparison across the supplied periods:
| 2024 weeks | Weekly values, applications | Highest week in period | Lowest week in period |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1–9 | 4,230; 6,430; 5,240; 5,370; 5,600; 5,500; 4,940; 5,220; 5,350 | 6,430 in week 2 | 4,230 in week 1 |
| 10–18 | 5,250; 5,260; 5,300; 5,140; 4,750; 4,800; 4,960; 5,190; 5,300 | 5,300 in weeks 12 and 18 | 4,750 in week 14 |
| 19–27 | 4,990; 4,640; 4,700; 4,020; 4,790; 4,570; 4,400; 4,660; 3,440 | 4,990 in week 19 | 3,440 in week 27 |
| 28–36 | 4,420; 4,400; 4,580; 4,390; 4,320; 4,290; 4,560; 4,560; 3,780 | 4,580 in week 30 | 3,780 in week 36 |
| 37–45 | 4,360; 4,450; 4,420; 4,130; 4,010; 4,070; 4,230; 4,210; 4,170 | 4,450 in week 38 | 4,010 in week 41 |
| 46–52 | 4,050; 4,150; 2,990; 3,370; 3,730; 3,820; 2,130 | 4,150 in week 47 | 2,130 in week 52 |
These are reported values, not calculations or forecasts. The table keeps the weekly detail visible because the series can move substantially inside a short period.
Weeks 1–9: a strong early-year pipeline
The Census Bureau recorded 4,230 applications in week 1 of 2024. The measure rose to 6,430 in week 2, the highest weekly value in the supplied year. Week 3 recorded 5,240 applications, followed by 5,370 in week 4.
Applications remained above 5,000 for the next five weeks: 5,600 in week 5, 5,500 in week 6, 4,940 in week 7, 5,220 in week 8, and 5,350 in week 9. The first nine weeks therefore show a high early-year reading concentrated around week 2, followed by a cluster mostly between about 4,900 and 5,600 applications.
Each figure comes from the Business Formation Statistics - Weekly BFS by Industry. Because the series counts applications in the full NAICS 722 category, these weeks cannot establish how many new restaurants actually opened, where they opened, or how many applications later became active businesses.
Weeks 10–18: a steadier spring range
The next period began at 5,250 applications in week 10 and 5,260 in week 11. Week 12 reached 5,300, matching week 18 as the period’s highest value. The Census Bureau recorded 5,140 applications in week 13.
The lower readings arrived in weeks 14 and 15, at 4,750 and 4,800 applications. Activity then moved to 4,960 in week 16 and 5,190 in week 17 before returning to 5,300 in week 18.
This section is comparatively compact: every weekly observation is between 4,750 and 5,300 applications. That pattern describes the application series itself; it does not prove that restaurant demand, construction activity, or consumer spending stayed within the same range. Those are separate measures and are not included here.
Weeks 19–27: the summer low point
Week 19 opened this period with 4,990 applications, followed by 4,640 in week 20 and 4,700 in week 21. The series fell to 4,020 in week 22, then rose to 4,790 in week 23. Weeks 24 through 26 recorded 4,570, 4,400, and 4,660 applications, respectively.
Week 27 was the lowest reading in the supplied 2024 series through that point, with 3,440 applications. The change from 4,660 in week 26 to 3,440 in week 27 is a movement in weekly applications, not evidence of a corresponding change in completed restaurant openings.
The Census Bureau’s classification scope matters especially when comparing a lower week with a higher one. NAICS 722 includes drinking places, special food services, and other related activity in addition to restaurants and other eating places. A weekly count can therefore reflect the broader food-service business population.
Weeks 28–45: late-summer and fall applications
The Census Bureau recorded 4,420 applications in week 28 and 4,400 in week 29. Week 30 reached 4,580, the highest value in weeks 28–36. The next observations were 4,390 in week 31, 4,320 in week 32, and 4,290 in week 33. Applications then measured 4,560 in both week 34 and week 35, before falling to 3,780 in week 36.
The series moved back above 4,000 in week 37, at 4,360 applications. Week 38 recorded 4,450, followed by 4,420 in week 39. Applications then measured 4,130 in week 40, 4,010 in week 41, 4,070 in week 42, 4,230 in week 43, 4,210 in week 44, and 4,170 in week 45.
Taken together, the weeks 28–45 observations show repeated readings around the low-to-mid 4,000s, with a 3,780 value in week 36 and a 4,450 high in week 38. The data does not identify whether applications were for independent restaurants, chains, catering businesses, bars, or another activity inside NAICS 722.
Weeks 46–52: a holiday-season slowdown
Week 46 recorded 4,050 applications and week 47 recorded 4,150. The series then dropped to 2,990 in week 48. It recovered to 3,370 in week 49, 3,730 in week 50, and 3,820 in week 51 before reaching 2,130 in week 52.
Week 52 was the lowest weekly value in the supplied 2024 data. It is important not to label that number a forecast or to treat it as a confirmed count of restaurant closures or openings. It is a reported, non-seasonally-adjusted application value for one national calendar week.
For readers comparing restaurant-opening activity across years, the measurement definition should remain constant. This series can support comparisons of food-service application pipelines when the same NAICS scope, geography, time unit, and treatment of revisions are used. It cannot by itself answer how many restaurants opened, how many closed, or how many businesses survived after applying.
The most accurate summary is therefore narrow: in the Census Bureau’s national 2024 NAICS 722 business-application series, weekly values ranged from 2,130 applications in week 52 to 6,430 in week 2. The series is a broad, clearly labeled opening-pipeline indicator for food services and drinking places, not a verified restaurant-opening count. Source: Business Formation Statistics - Weekly BFS by Industry.