NAICS 722511 · California overview

Full-Service Restaurants in San Joaquin County

San Joaquin County had 403 Restaurants establishments in 2023, ranking 17 of 58 California counties and accounting for 1.3% of the statewide total.

Establishments (2023)
403
Rank 17 of 58 counties
Employees
6,774
Mid-March employment
Annual payroll
$189M
All establishments
Per 10k residents
4.9
823,815 residents

More recent reading

BLS QCEW, 2026Q1

The figures above are County Business Patterns, which carries the size distribution but runs about two years behind. The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes quarterly, so this is the same industry roughly 3 years later. The two count different universes, Census counts establishments with paid employees in the March pay period and BLS counts worksites covered by unemployment insurance during the quarter, so the numbers are not directly comparable and either can be the larger.

Establishments
377
2026Q1
Employment
6,404
Quarter-end level
Average weekly wage
$604
Per covered worker
Quarterly trend
+5.3%
2025Q2 to 2026Q1
Concentration vs the national averageBLS, 2026Q1

0.65 location quotient. Restaurants employment in San Joaquin County is about 1.5 times less concentrated than in the United States as a whole.

Computed by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, not derived here. Above 1.0 means the industry is a larger share of local employment than of national employment.

Establishments by size

Employee-count distribution for Restaurants in San Joaquin County. 204 of 403 establishments (51%) employ 10 or more people, the practical floor for most acquisition financing.

EmployeesEstablishmentsShareDistribution
1-411829.3%
5-98120.1%
10-199323.1%
20-497919.6%
50-99286.9%
100-24941.0%

Establishment trend

Year-over-year establishment counts, County Business Patterns. Net growth of 0.8% since 2020.

YearEstablishmentsChange
2020400n/a
2021391-9
2022400+9
2023403+3

How this market compares

San Joaquin County against every other county in California on the same measure. The median excludes places under 2,000 residents, where per-capita figures are arithmetically true but analytically useless.

Below average4.9 per 10,000 residents, against a state median of 7.7

Fewer businesses per resident than the typical California market. Often an underserved market, though it can also mean residents buy this service in a neighbouring town.

Vs state median
-36%
Businesses per resident
Rank by count
#17
of 58 counties
Rank by density
#49
of 57 ranked
Since 2020
+1%
Change in establishments

Density compares full-service restaurants provision per resident. It does not measure revenue, profitability or whether a market is worth entering.

Business size mix

San Joaquin tracks the California size distribution closely.

Share of establishmentsSan JoaquinCaliforniaDifference
Under 5 employeesOwner-operated, often no management layer29.3%24.7%+4.6%
5 to 49 employeesThe range most individual buyers target62.8%65.7%-2.9%
10 or more employeesPractical floor for acquisition financing50.6%56.7%-6.1%

What acquirers look at

The highest-turnover category in the index and the weakest lending profile. Lease terms and liquor license transfer usually matter more than the P&L.

Cities in San Joaquin

The figures above cover the county as a whole. These are the places within it.

Other industries in San Joaquin

Sources

  1. U.S. Census Bureau, 2023 County Business Patterns. Establishment counts, employment and annual payroll by NAICS. Retrieved 2026-09-08.
  2. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (2026Q1). Quarterly establishment counts and employment for employers covered by unemployment insurance. Retrieved 2026-09-08.