News

Study: Dallas is the busiest market for QSRs

June 28, 2012

In 2011, 34 percent of the population in Dallas patronized a quick-service restaurant 20 or more times a month, making it the No. 1 market for incidence of super-heavy QSR users in the U.S.

The findings are based on the quarterly syndicated Quick-Track Study conducted by Sandelman & Associates, a San Clemente, Calif.-based market research firm that monitors usage in the restaurant industry.

In 2011, the study tracked more than 90 U.S. media markets.

Three of the Top 10 super-heavy user markets are in Texas and three are in the Carolinas. Nine of the Top 10 markets are in the South.

Providence, R.I., is the only northern market with such a high incidence of super-heavy QSR usage. Sandelman analysts point to Dunkin' Donuts' deep penetration in New England for the prevalence of users in Providence.

At the other end of the spectrum are the Top 10 markets with the greatest incidence of QSR nonusers. Nonusers have no past-month QSR visits.

Monterey/Salinas, Calif., has the greatest incidence of QSR nonusers (19.4 percent). Nine of the Top 10 QSR nonuser markets are in the North or West; West Palm Beach, Fla., is the only exception. In all of these markets at least 15 percent of the population has not been to any QSR in the past month.

The top 10 super-heavy QSR users (20-plus visits in the past month) include:

1. Dallas, 34 percent;
2. McAllen, Texas, 33.1 percent;
3. Providence, R.I., 31.5 percent;
4. Memphis, Tenn., 31.1 percent;
5. Greensboro, N.C., 30.5 percent;
6. Charleston/Huntington, W.Va., 30.4 percent;
7. Lexington, Ky., 30 percent;
8. Houston, 29.8 percent;
9. Columbia, S.C., 29.8 percent;
10. Greenville, N.C., 29.8 percent.

The top 10 QSR nonuser markets (no past-month visits) include:

1. Monterey/Salinas, Calif., 19.40 percent;
2. Eugene, Ore., 17.4 percent;
3. Hartford, Conn., 17.4 percent;
4. West Palm Beach, Fla., 17.2 percent;
5. Providence, R.I., 16.5 percent;
6. Boston, 16.5 percent;
7. Syracuse, N.Y.,16.5 percent;
8. Anchorage, Alaska, 16.1 percent;
9. San Francisco, 15.7 percent;
10. Albany, N.Y., 15.6 percent.

Read more about trends and statistics.