US food delivery statistics 2026: restaurant sales, app volumes, fees and prices
Updated October 20, 2026
Last updated: 20 October 2026. Every figure comes from the organization that produced it: US government agencies, company filings, trade association reports and the apps' own pricing pages. No market-research estimates.
US restaurants are on track for about $1.55 trillion in sales in 2026, and diners spent $1.41 trillion on food away from home in 2025, more than they spent on groceries. DoorDash alone handled $102 billion of orders in 2025 across its marketplaces. For restaurants the cost side is clear in the apps' own price lists: 15% to 30% commission on a delivery order, while menu prices rose 3.5% in the year to September 2026.
In short
- Restaurant sales: $92.9 billion in September 2026 alone, up 7.0% on a year earlier (Census Bureau).
- Delivery apps: DoorDash's marketplaces handled 903 million orders in the last quarter of 2025; Uber's delivery business took $25.4 billion of bookings in the same quarter.
- Commission: DoorDash 15% to 30%, Uber Eats 20% to 30%, Grubhub 15% to 30% plus card fees, on delivery orders.
- Prices: restaurant menu prices rose 3.5% in the year to September 2026 (BLS).
- Margins: 42% of restaurant operators said they weren't profitable in 2025 (National Restaurant Association).
How big is the US restaurant and food delivery market?
| # | Statistic | Source (date) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | US restaurant and foodservice sales are projected to reach $1.55 trillion in 2026 | National Restaurant Association, 2026 State of the Restaurant Industry (12 Feb 2026) |
| 2 | The Association later cut its 2026 growth forecast to 4.3% nominal, 0.8% after inflation, from 4.8% and 1.3% | National Restaurant Association (22 Jul 2026) |
| 3 | Food services and drinking places sold $92.9 billion in September 2026 (seasonally adjusted), up 1.1% on August and 7.0% on September 2025 | US Census Bureau, Advance Monthly Retail Trade (15 Oct 2026) |
| 4 | January to September 2026 sales at food services and drinking places: $807.3 billion, up 4.4% on the same months of 2025 (not seasonally adjusted) | US Census Bureau (15 Oct 2026) |
| 5 | Americans spent $1.41 trillion on food away from home in 2025, out of $2.51 trillion on all food (inflation-adjusted) | USDA Economic Research Service, Food Expenditure Series (1 Jun 2026) |
| 6 | Food away from home took 4.9% of disposable income in 2025, against 4.8% for food at home | USDA ERS (1 Jun 2026) |
| 7 | Restaurant and foodservice employment is projected to reach 15.8 million jobs in 2026 | National Restaurant Association (12 Feb 2026) |
What the government data can't tell you: the Census Bureau's monthly survey counts restaurant sales as a whole. No federal series splits out delivery orders, so any "delivery share of restaurant sales" figure comes from a private estimate.
How many orders do DoorDash and Uber Eats handle?
| # | Statistic | Source (date) |
|---|---|---|
| 8 | DoorDash's Marketplace GOV was $102.0 billion in 2025, up 27% (23% without Deliveroo, bought in October 2025) | DoorDash Q4 and full-year 2025 results (18 Feb 2026) |
| 9 | DoorDash completed 903 million orders in Q4 2025, up 32% year on year (20% without Deliveroo); adding its four quarters gives about 3.17 billion orders in 2025 | DoorDash (18 Feb 2026); the yearly sum is our addition of its quarterly figures |
| 10 | DoorDash's 2025 revenue was $13.7 billion, about 13.4% of the order value on its marketplaces | DoorDash (18 Feb 2026) |
| 11 | DoorDash had over 56 million monthly active users and over 35 million paying, trial and partner members (DashPass, Wolt+, Deliveroo Plus) in December 2025 | DoorDash (18 Feb 2026) |
| 12 | Over 9 million people delivered for DoorDash in 2025, earning over $20 billion | DoorDash 2025 Form 10-K |
| 13 | Uber's Delivery gross bookings were $25.4 billion in Q4 2025, up 26%, on $4.9 billion of Delivery revenue | Uber Q4 and full-year 2025 results (Feb 2026) |
| 14 | Uber had 202 million monthly active platform consumers in Q4 2025 across rides and delivery | Uber (Feb 2026) |
These are global figures (DoorDash runs in over 40 countries) and include grocery and retail, not just restaurants. DoorDash said its US restaurant category grew Marketplace GOV in Q4 2025 at its second-fastest rate in fifteen quarters, but it doesn't publish a US-restaurant dollar figure.
What do delivery apps charge US restaurants?
| # | Statistic | Source (date) |
|---|---|---|
| 15 | DoorDash: 15% (Basic), 25% (Plus) or 30% (Premier) on delivery orders; 6% on pickup; card processing included | DoorDash merchant pricing (read 20 Oct 2026) |
| 16 | Uber Eats: 20% (Lite), 25% (Plus) or 30% (Premium); 7% on pickup. Lite rose from 15% to 20% on 11 March 2026 | Uber Eats pricing and fee-change notice (read 20 Oct 2026) |
| 17 | Grubhub: a 5%, 15% or 20% marketing commission plus a delivery fee from 10% when its drivers deliver, with card processing on top | Grubhub pricing and fees (updated 7 Apr 2026, read 20 Oct 2026) |
| 18 | Seven US cities cap delivery app fees: New York City, San Francisco, Seattle, Philadelphia, Minneapolis, Washington DC and Portland, Oregon | Each city's own code (our fee-cap summary, read 20 Oct 2026) |
| 19 | Delivery-only couriers cost $6.99 to $10.99 a delivery with DoorDash Drive On-Demand, and from $7.99 with Uber Direct | DoorDash and Uber merchant pages (read 20 Oct 2026) |
Worked example: a restaurant sends 300 delivery orders a month at a $30 average. At 25% commission (DoorDash Plus or Uber Eats Plus) it pays $2,250 a month, or $27,000 a year. The same orders through its own ordering page with Stripe's standard 2.9% + 30¢ card fee cost $351 a month in card fees, before its own delivery costs. See every plan in US delivery app commission and test your numbers in the delivery app loss calculator.
How fast are restaurant prices and costs rising?
| # | Statistic | Source (date) |
|---|---|---|
| 20 | Prices for food away from home rose 3.5% in the 12 months to September 2026: 3.8% at full-service and 3.2% at limited-service restaurants | Bureau of Labor Statistics, CPI (14 Oct 2026) |
| 21 | USDA forecasts food-away-from-home prices up 3.5% in 2026 (range 3.3% to 3.8%), after 3.8% in 2025 and 4.1% in 2024 | USDA ERS Food Price Outlook (25 Sep 2026) |
| 22 | 42% of operators said their restaurant was not profitable in 2025, and 33% said so for the first half of 2026 | National Restaurant Association (12 Feb and 22 Jul 2026) |
| 23 | Food and labor each take about 33 cents of every sales dollar; average restaurant hourly earnings are up 41% since February 2020 and wholesale food prices up 35% | National Restaurant Association (22 Jul 2026) |
How do US customers reach restaurants on messaging apps?
| # | Statistic | Source (date) |
|---|---|---|
| 24 | 33% of US adults use WhatsApp, and 56% of Hispanic adults | Pew Research Center, Social Media Fact Sheet (19 Oct 2026; survey of 5,511 adults, 30 Jan to 18 Jun 2026) |
In the US, WhatsApp can send order updates but not promotions: Meta doesn't deliver marketing templates to +1 numbers, and an order update (a utility message) costs about US$0.0034. Use email for offers. More in the WhatsApp cost per order index and WhatsApp ordering in the USA.
What the numbers mean for a restaurant
- Demand is there, margins are thin. Restaurant sales grew 7.0% year on year in September 2026 while menu prices rose 3.5%, and a third of operators were still unprofitable in the first half of the year.
- Commission comes on top of everything else. Food and labor already take about 66 cents of every sales dollar; a 15% to 30% commission is charged on the same order.
- The caps help only in seven cities. Everywhere else the plan rates apply.
- Direct orders change the math. Keep the apps for new customers and move regulars to your own ordering page. Compare running your own delivery with the own-delivery cost calculator.
Take your regulars' orders with 0% commission. More:.
Cite this: Menuthere, "US Food Delivery Statistics 2026", 20 October 2026, https://menuthere.com/en/food-delivery-statistics
Method
- Sources: only the publisher of each number: the Census Bureau, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, USDA's Economic Research Service, the National Restaurant Association, Pew Research Center, DoorDash's and Uber's own results, and the apps' own pricing pages. We left out market-size estimates from research firms that don't publish their method.
- Dates: each row shows when the source published it, or when we read a pricing page.
- Our own arithmetic: DoorDash's 2025 order count (sum of four quarters), its revenue as a share of order value, and the worked example. Everything else is as published.
- Updates: we recheck after each Census monthly release, each BLS CPI release and each DoorDash and Uber quarterly report, and update the date at the top. Spotted a newer figure? Tell us via the contact page.
Frequently asked questions
How big is the US restaurant industry in 2026?
The National Restaurant Association projects $1.55 trillion in restaurant and foodservice sales in 2026. In July 2026 it cut its growth forecast to 4.3% before inflation and 0.8% after inflation.
How much do Americans spend on food away from home?
$1.41 trillion in 2025, out of $2.51 trillion in total food spending, in inflation-adjusted dollars, according to USDA's Economic Research Service. That was 4.9% of disposable income.
How many orders does DoorDash deliver a year?
DoorDash completed 903 million orders in the fourth quarter of 2025. Its four quarterly figures for 2025 add up to about 3.17 billion orders, including grocery and international orders.
How much commission do delivery apps charge restaurants in the US?
On delivery orders, DoorDash charges 15%, 25% or 30%, Uber Eats 20%, 25% or 30%, and Grubhub a 5% to 20% marketing commission plus a delivery fee from 10% and card processing.
How fast are restaurant prices rising?
The Bureau of Labor Statistics says food-away-from-home prices rose 3.5% in the 12 months to September 2026. USDA forecasts a 3.5% rise for 2026 as a whole.
Is there official data on how many restaurant orders are delivered?
No. The Census Bureau reports restaurant sales as a whole, not delivery separately. Delivery figures come from the apps' own reports or from private estimates.
Sources (15)
- National Restaurant Association, "Persistent Cost Increases and Enduring Demand Will Shape the Restaurant Industry in 2026" (12 Feb 2026): https://restaurant.org/research-and-media/media/press-releases/persistent-cost-increases-and-enduring-demand-will-shape-the-restaurant-industry-in-2026/ (read 20 Oct 2026): "$1.55 trillion"; "15.8 million jobs in 2026"; "Last year, 42 percent of operators reported their restaurant was not profitable."
- National Restaurant Association, "Restaurants remain resilient despite challenging business conditions" (22 Jul 2026): https://www.restaurant.org/research-and-media/research/restaurant-economic-insights/analysis-commentary/restaurants-remain-resilient-despite-challenging-business-conditions/ (read 20 Oct 2026): 4.3% nominal / 0.8% real (from 4.8% / 1.3%); 33% unprofitable in H1 2026; food and labor ~33 cents each; hourly earnings +41% and wholesale food +35% since Feb 2020.
- US Census Bureau, Advance Monthly Sales for Retail and Food Services, September 2026 (CB26-165, 15 Oct 2026): https://www.census.gov/retail/marts/www/marts_current.pdf (read 20 Oct 2026): NAICS 722, Table 1: Sep 2026 adjusted $92,906M; Sep 2025 $86,837M; Jan–Sep 2026 not adjusted $807,271M, +4.4%; Table 2: +1.1% from Aug 2026, +7.0% from Sep 2025.
- USDA ERS, "Total food spending reached $2.51 trillion in 2025" (1 Jun 2026): https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/chart-gallery/58364 (read 20 Oct 2026): food away from home $1.41T, food at home $1.10T, inflation-adjusted series.
- USDA ERS, "U.S. consumers spent 9.7 percent of their disposable personal income on food in 2025" (1 Jun 2026): https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/chart-gallery/76967 (read 20 Oct 2026): FAFH 4.9%, FAH 4.8%.
- USDA ERS, Food Price Outlook, Summary Findings (25 Sep 2026): https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/food-price-outlook/summary-findings (read 20 Oct 2026): FAFH +4.1% (2024), +3.8% (2025); 2026 forecast +3.5% (3.3–3.8%).
- Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Price Index news release, September 2026 (14 Oct 2026): https://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm (read 20 Oct 2026): food away from home +3.5% over the year; full service meals +3.8%; limited service meals +3.2%.
- DoorDash, "DoorDash Releases Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2025 Financial Results" (18 Feb 2026): https://s22.q4cdn.com/280253921/files/doc_financials/2025/q4/Q4-2025-Earnings-Press-Release.pdf (read 20 Oct 2026): quarterly Total Orders 732/761/776/903M; Marketplace GOV $23,076/$24,244/$25,015/$29,683M; full-year revenue $13,717M; GOV +27% (23% ex-Deliveroo); Q4 orders +32% (20% ex-Deliveroo); 56M MAUs; 35M members; "over 40 countries"; U.S. restaurant category GOV growth "second-highest level in the last fifteen quarters".
- DoorDash, Form 10-K for 2025: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1792789/000179278926000013/dash-20251231.htm (read 20 Oct 2026): "In 2025, over 9 million people dashed … earning a total of over $20 billion."
- Uber, "Uber Announces Results for Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2025": https://investor.uber.com/news-events/news/press-release-details/2026/Uber-Announces-Results-for-Fourth-Quarter-and-Full-Year-2025/default.aspx (read 20 Oct 2026): Delivery Gross Bookings $25,431M (+26%); Delivery revenue $4,892M; MAPCs 202M.
- DoorDash Drive On-Demand: https://merchants.doordash.com/en-us/products/drive-on-demand; Uber Direct: https://merchants.ubereats.com/us/en/services/uber-direct/ (both read 20 Oct 2026 by the Wave 1 delivery agent; see
wave1/pages/en-in-house-delivery-for-restaurants.md). - City fee caps: see
wave2/pages/en-delivery-app-commission-fee-caps.md(each city's code, read 20 Oct 2026). - Pew Research Center, Social Media Fact Sheet (19 Oct 2026; n = 5,511, 30 Jan–18 Jun 2026): https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/fact-sheet/social-media/ (read 20 Oct 2026 by the Wave 1 WhatsApp agent).
- Meta pricing (US$0.0034 North America utility; no marketing templates to US numbers): see
wave2/pages/en-reports-whatsapp-cost-per-order-index.md. - Stripe US standard card rate 2.9% + 30¢ (Stripe US support/pricing pages; Wave 1 note: stripe.com geo-redirects from this machine).