A Look At Illinois’ Most Popular Fast Food Joints By The Numbers

I just did a quick survey around the offices here at the radio ranch about Illinois fast food restaurants. There was just one question: Which fast food joint has the most Illinois locations?

Out of the 8 people I asked, only one person had the correct answer.

Subway.

Every other person replied with great certainty that the answer was McDonald's.

McDonald's is not only not number one, they're also not number two, either. That honor goes to Dunkin' Donuts (or, just Dunkin' if you prefer).

I found all this out while perusing an article on TheTakeOut.com entitled "What's The Biggest Fast Food Chain In Your State." And, before reading it, I thought McDonald's would be number one by a good margin.

The author of the piece used a map published by NiceRx.com that breaks down fast food availability in all 50 states by showing how many fast food restaurants a state has per 100,000 residents. TheTakeOut.com says that Illinois has 112 fast food restaurants for every 100,000 Illinoisans. For contrast, Wisconsin has 115, Iowa has 108, and Missouri has 104.

In Illinois, NiceRX.com says that Subway reigns supreme, at least in terms of overall stores per 100,000 people, with 7.8

Dunkin' comes in next with 5.5 stores per 100,000. McDonald's is at number three with 5.2. Rounding out the Illinois list, you've got:

Starbucks (4.8)
Burger King (2.4)
Taco Bell (2.1)
Dairy Queen (2.0)
Dominos/Wendy's (1.6)
KFC (1.2)

Somebody want to tell me where Beef-a-Roo is on the list? That's okay, Beef-a-Roo falls under the "regional favorites" banner.

TheTakeOut.com points out the fact that different regions certainly have different preferences:

Dunkin’ is an absolute titan on the east coast, coming in at 16.4 locations per 100,000 people in Rhode Island, 16.3 in Massachusetts, and 16.2 in New Hampshire.

The three states with the highest density of fast food joints per 100,000 people are strange bedfellows, though. They are, in order, Hawaii, New York, and Maryland.

You can check out NiceRx.com's full map with further details by clicking here.