Food entrepreneurship spans mobile food services, catering, restaurants, beverage bars, and related contractors. The latest business-count data below describes the U.S. in 2022, while employment snapshots come from the Bureau of Labor Statistics for July and November 2025. Together, the figures show the scale of the market and the different sizes of the categories within it.
Contents
- Mobile food and catering businesses
- Restaurants and eating places
- Employment across food services
- Production and nonsupervisory work
- Women in food-service employment
- How to read these statistics
Mobile food and catering businesses
The Census Bureau’s 2022 summary statistics provide a useful baseline for entrepreneurs comparing mobile operations with catering and adjacent hospitality businesses. The figures cover establishments, paid employees, and annual payroll in the United States. Payroll is reported in thousands of dollars in the source table.
U.S. caterers had 12,289 establishments in 2022 and employed 12,579 paid employees. Their annual payroll was $12,966,223 thousand, or approximately $12.97 billion as reported by the Census Bureau. Census Bureau, EC2272BASIC, 2022
Mobile food services had 10,062 establishments in 2022 and employed 10,155 paid employees. The category reported $3,019,256 thousand in annual payroll, or approximately $3.02 billion. Census Bureau, EC2272BASIC, 2022
These business counts are close in size: mobile food services had 2,227 fewer establishments than caterers. The categories should still be treated as distinct Census classifications rather than as interchangeable descriptions of every food truck, pop-up, or independent caterer.
Drinking places were a much larger establishment category in the same 2022 Census data. U.S. drinking places serving alcoholic beverages had 39,627 establishments, employed 40,911 paid employees, and reported $33,653,442 thousand in annual payroll. Census Bureau, EC2272BASIC, 2022
| U.S. category | Establishments, 2022 | Paid employees, 2022 | Annual payroll, $ thousand |
|---|---|---|---|
| Caterers | 12,289 | 12,579 | 12,966,223 |
| Mobile food services | 10,062 | 10,155 | 3,019,256 |
| Drinking places | 39,627 | 40,911 | 33,653,442 |
For a prospective food-cart operator, the mobile-food figure identifies a substantial national business category, but it does not describe profitability, sales per vehicle, startup costs, or survival rates. Those measures are not included in the cited 2022 establishment and payroll statistics.
Restaurants and eating places
Restaurants and other eating places represented the largest business footprint among the Census categories listed here. In 2022, the United States had 452,314 establishments in this category, 608,144 paid employees, and $800,120,264 thousand in annual payroll. That payroll amount is approximately $800.12 billion when expressed in dollars. Census Bureau, EC2272BASIC, 2022
The broad restaurant category contains several different operating models. Full-service restaurants accounted for 224,403 establishments, 254,201 paid employees, and $372,803,601 thousand in annual payroll in 2022. Limited-service restaurants had 166,733 establishments, 271,243 paid employees, and $358,864,144 thousand in annual payroll. Census Bureau, EC2272BASIC, 2022
Snack and nonalcoholic beverage bars formed another distinct group. The Census Bureau counted 58,462 establishments, 78,110 paid employees, and $62,769,408 thousand in annual payroll for this category in 2022. Census Bureau, EC2272BASIC, 2022
The establishment and payroll picture can be summarized as follows:
| U.S. category | Establishments | Paid employees | Annual payroll, $ thousand |
|---|---|---|---|
| Restaurants and other eating places | 452,314 | 608,144 | 800,120,264 |
| Full-service restaurants | 224,403 | 254,201 | 372,803,601 |
| Limited-service restaurants | 166,733 | 271,243 | 358,864,144 |
| Snack and nonalcoholic beverage bars | 58,462 | 78,110 | 62,769,408 |
These categories overlap in the sense that the narrower restaurant types sit within the broader restaurant-and-eating-place landscape. They should not be added together as separate, non-overlapping totals without a classification methodology.
Employment across food services
Business counts show the number of establishments at a point in the 2022 Census coverage. BLS payroll employment data provides a later labor-market snapshot. In July 2025, BLS recorded 778.4 thousand seasonally adjusted employees in special food services. Within that industry grouping, food service contractors had 552.6 thousand employees, while caterers and mobile food services had 229.8 thousand. BLS, Table B-1a, July 2025
The July 2025 BLS series also recorded 437.0 thousand seasonally adjusted employees in drinking places. Restaurants and other eating places employed 11,162.7 thousand seasonally adjusted workers. Full-service restaurants accounted for 5,424.7 thousand, limited-service restaurants for 4,666.6 thousand, and snack and nonalcoholic beverage bars for 981.0 thousand. BLS, Table B-1a, July 2025
| Industry detail | Seasonally adjusted employees, July 2025 (thousand) |
|---|---|
| Special food services | 778.4 |
| Food service contractors | 552.6 |
| Caterers and mobile food services | 229.8 |
| Drinking places | 437.0 |
| Restaurants and other eating places | 11,162.7 |
| Full-service restaurants | 5,424.7 |
| Limited-service restaurants | 4,666.6 |
| Snack and nonalcoholic beverage bars | 981.0 |
The BLS employment series and the Census paid-employee counts measure different things and cover different periods. The July 2025 numbers are seasonally adjusted payroll employment estimates, while the Census figures are 2022 business summary statistics. They are useful for context, but they are not a direct year-over-year growth calculation.
Production and nonsupervisory work
A second BLS view isolates production and nonsupervisory employees on private nonfarm payrolls. In July 2025, food services and drinking places had 10,878.8 thousand seasonally adjusted production or nonsupervisory employees. BLS, Table B-6a, July 2025
Special food services had 667.8 thousand production or nonsupervisory employees. Food service contractors accounted for 479.3 thousand, and caterers and mobile food services accounted for 192.8 thousand. Drinking places had 389.4 thousand in this employee measure. BLS, Table B-6a, July 2025
Within restaurants and other eating places, BLS recorded 9,826.4 thousand production or nonsupervisory employees in July 2025. Full-service restaurants accounted for 4,856.4 thousand, while limited-service restaurants accounted for 4,066.7 thousand. BLS, Table B-6a, July 2025
These figures are relevant to food entrepreneurs because they describe a large operational workforce, including roles involved in preparing, serving, and supporting food-service activity. They do not identify business owners, independent contractors, unpaid workers, or the share of employment attached to any one business model.
Women in food-service employment
The BLS November 2025 women’s employment table provides a not-seasonally-adjusted view of participation across the same broad industry family. Women accounted for 6,548.4 thousand employees in food services and drinking places, representing 52.6% of all employees in that category. BLS, Table B-5b, November 2025
In special food services, women accounted for 470.8 thousand employees, or 57.5% of all employees. Food service contractors had 342.4 thousand women employees, representing 59.8%. Caterers and mobile food services had 128.4 thousand women employees, representing 52.2%. BLS, Table B-5b, November 2025
Women accounted for 240.7 thousand employees in drinking places, or 54.5% of all employees in that category. In restaurants and other eating places, women accounted for 5,836.9 thousand employees, or 52.2%. BLS, Table B-5b, November 2025
The restaurant subcategories show a more varied pattern. Women accounted for 2,666.2 thousand employees in full-service restaurants, or 49.1% of all employees. In limited-service restaurants, women accounted for 2,424.6 thousand employees, or 51.8%. Snack and nonalcoholic beverage bars had 706.3 thousand women employees, representing 70.5% of all employees. BLS, Table B-5b, November 2025
| Industry detail | Women employees, November 2025 (thousand) | Women’s share |
|---|---|---|
| Food services and drinking places | 6,548.4 | 52.6% |
| Special food services | 470.8 | 57.5% |
| Caterers and mobile food services | 128.4 | 52.2% |
| Restaurants and other eating places | 5,836.9 | 52.2% |
| Full-service restaurants | 2,666.2 | 49.1% |
| Limited-service restaurants | 2,424.6 | 51.8% |
| Snack and nonalcoholic beverage bars | 706.3 | 70.5% |
The women’s employment figures describe employees, not ownership. They therefore cannot establish how many food businesses are women-owned or how many women are founders. They do show that women represented more than half of employees in the broad food-services-and-drinking-places category and in several narrower categories during November 2025.
How to read these statistics
For food-cart and catering research, the most relevant categories are mobile food services, caterers, and the BLS combined category of caterers and mobile food services. The 2022 Census data supplies establishment, paid-employee, and payroll measures; the July 2025 BLS tables supply seasonally adjusted employment measures; and the November 2025 BLS table supplies women’s employment counts and shares.
The dates and definitions matter. A 2022 establishment count is not a current 2025 or 2026 count. A seasonally adjusted payroll-employment estimate is not the same measure as an annual Census paid-employee count. Likewise, annual payroll is not revenue, profit, owner income, or an estimate of what a new venture can expect to earn.
Used with those limits in mind, the statistics provide a clear map of the opportunity’s scale: mobile food services and caterers form identifiable national categories, restaurants and eating places operate at much larger employment scale, and women make up a substantial share of food-service employment across several segments.