At a time when the restaurant industry is losing both large chains and small concepts, a new report reveals that Texas is leading the way for the most closures around the country so far this year.
RestaurantData released a report of restaurant closures in the U.S. and Canada with analysis by state, city, county, metropolitan market, ownership structure, service format, cuisine and operating profile. According to the database’s report, about 8,171 restaurants closed from January through June 2026. This included 4,253 chain-affiliated locations and 3,918 independent restaurants with no known affiliation.
On the state level, Texas held the largest number of closures, above New York, California and Illinois. The report indicates that an estimated 1,039 restaurant closures were recorded across the state, accounting for 12.7 percent of the combined U.S. and Canadian estimate. And even at the city, county and metropolitan level, Texas came out among the top.
“Houston led the city-level file, narrowly ahead of New York” with 119 estimated closures, the report states. Harris County was also at the top with 172 estimated closures. Several other large Texas counties rounded out the top 25, including Tarrant, Dallas, Bexar, Travis and El Paso.
By metropolitan area, RestaurantData analyzed group activity across adjoining cities and suburbs. New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island had the highest estimated closures count, followed by Dallas-Fort Worth and Greater Houston at No. 3 and 4. The San Antonio and Austin metros were also in the top 25.
According to RestaurantData’s report, quick-service restaurants accounted for most of the closures above casual and family dining. Sandwich concepts, specifically, were the largest cuisine category of closures, followed by bar food, American, bakeries/cafés, pizza and Mexican/Latin restaurants.
The analysis did not provide detail on how these figures compared to the number of estimated restaurants that have opened.
In RestaurantData’s first-half 2026 restaurant opening cross-tab analysis, it states that Texas recorded 357 filings, representing 30 percent of the national total, with Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston-Galveston, and the Austin/San Antonio corridor making up most of the state’s volume.
