Illinois Among Top 5 States That Lost the Most Subway Locations

A recent study examined trends in Subway restaurant closures across the United States over the past three years, identifying the top five states with the highest number of shutdowns. Among these, Illinois stood out with a particularly high rate of closures, surpassing other Midwestern states. This decline may reflect broader shifts in consumer preferences, increased competition in the fast-food industry, or changing economic conditions within the region.

The findings highlight ongoing challenges faced by legacy fast-food chains in adapting to a rapidly evolving marketplace. Cheapism went on to say,

Because the closed locations are franchised, there could be many reasons why they closed, including money problems for the owners, declining sales, or even road construction making it difficult to get to a location. Subway has the most locations in the U.S. of any fast food chain though, which is why you’re likely to find locations not far from each other. A Subway franchise also has relatively low start-up costs compared to other chains, leading to lots of stores — and the potential for lots of closures.

States with a large number of closings that didn't crack the top ten are as follows.

6. New York: 89
7. Ohio: 78
8. North Carolina: 67
9. Washington: 62
10. Georgia: 49

Now let's take a look at the top 10 states with the most Subway closures over the years according to Cheapism.

These are the 10 states that have lost the most Subway locations since 2022, ranked by the amount of stores lost.

1. California: 226
2. Florida: 125
3. Texas: 98
4. Pennsylvania: 94

In at number five is... obviously Illinois.

Illinois came in at number five with 91 locations closed since 2022. You can see the full list here. You can see every state with the number of closures with that list. Some of the least amount of closures happened in Alaska, Delaware, and Kansas with 0 locations closing.