Ranked: The Top Fast-Food Chicken Chains in America (2024)

FAQs

Who is the #1 chicken chain in America? ›

In fact, Chick-fil-A is not only America's largest chicken chain by sales, but it's also the third largest fast-food chain in America, according to data from the research firm Technomic.

McDonald's. McDonald's is nearly synonymous with the words “fast food,” so it's no surprise that it's often the restaurant of choice for those seeking a satisfying menu and quick bite. Like many restaurants, they frequently offer special deals for those ordering through the McDonald's app.

Humans are sometimes called apex predators, which means they occupy the top position in the food chain and have no natural predators.

Popeyes and Chick-fil-A have nearly the same number of US locations at 2,900 and 2,800, respectively, at the end of 2022, according to data from Technomics. But the company's 2022 US sales were quite different. Popeyes was about $5 billion, while Chick-fil-A's was $18 billion, per Technomics.

McDonald's, which is the largest U.S. restaurant chain by sales, has a clear size advantage over Chick-fil-A, with roughly 14,000 U.S. locations, and plans to build 900 more by 2027. But McDonald's hasn't been able to match Chick-fil-A's massive annual unit volumes or its reputation for customer service.

Most popular fast food companies

McDonald's is by far the most popular fast food chain in the United States. It has about 13,500 locations in the U.S., 40,000 worldwide, and it operates in 118 countries. McDonald's serves 69 million people every day, more than the population of Thailand and the United Kingdom.

Indeed, Kalinowski Equity Research noted all the way back in 2018 that Chick-fil-A's biggest competitor is McDonald's and it's no wonder why the Golden Arches and seemingly every other QSR concept (and beyond) have since ignited a chicken sandwich war replicating the Atlanta-based chain's signature product.

McDonald's was the most valuable fast food brand in the world with an estimated brand value of about 191 billion U.S. dollars in 2023. That same year, the brand value of Starbucks amounted to approximately 61.5 billion U.S. dollars.

Popeyes beats KFC at every level – flavor, presentation, and brand experience. It's easy to see why Popeyes is stealing market share from KFC. Popeyes, hands down, is giving consumers a better product than KFC, with the prices virtually the same on most menu items.

What fast food is the least bad for you? ›

When it comes to brand loyalty, McDonald's is by far the least popular fast food restaurant in America. Only 28 percent of people surveyed said they would eat there because of the brand., meaning people typically visit the Golden Arches out of pure convenience.

While Chick-fil-A continues to secure the top spot.

Following increasingly aggressive competition in the past few years, KFC has been gradually losing ground in its native country. Based on data from Barclays report, KFC has seen a decline in its market shares, which dropped from 16.1% to 11.3% in just last year.

Which country eats the most chicken? The United States consumes the greatest amount of chicken annually.

McDonald's is now the biggest purchaser in the world of beef, pork, potatoes, lettuce and tomatoes, and the second-biggest buyer of chicken, after KFC. When it decided to add apple slices to Happy Meals a few years ago, the company quickly became the biggest buyer of the shiny red fruit in the United States.