Chain stores in California
California has locations of 357 of the chains on our maps. The most common is Starbucks, with 2,997 locations, followed by Subway (1,749). The chains most typical of California, compared with the rest of the country, are ampm, El Pollo Loco and Round Table Pizza.
Most California chains
Chains with far more locations per person in California than in the country as a whole.
| Chain | Locations here | Per 100,000 people | vs. national rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| ampm | 802 | 2.0 | 6.6× |
| El Pollo Loco | 393 | 1.0 | 6.6× |
| Round Table Pizza | 310 | 0.8 | 7.2× |
| The Habit Burger Grill | 277 | 0.7 | 6.1× |
| Mountain Mike's Pizza | 268 | 0.7 | 7.0× |
| Vons | 255 | 0.6 | 8.2× |
| Smart & Final | 238 | 0.6 | 8.1× |
| Peet's Coffee | 195 | 0.5 | 6.8× |
| See's Candies | 193 | 0.5 | 6.3× |
| WaBa Grill | 187 | 0.5 | 8.3× |
| Ralphs | 182 | 0.5 | 8.6× |
| Yogurtland | 165 | 0.4 | 6.7× |
| TOGO'S | 129 | 0.3 | 8.1× |
| The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf | 128 | 0.3 | 6.5× |
| Yoshinoya | 100 | 0.3 | 8.6× |
Most common chains in California
| Chain | Category | Locations | Per 100,000 people |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starbucks | Coffee | 2,997 | 7.6 |
| Subway | Sandwiches & subs | 1,749 | 4.4 |
| 7-Eleven | Convenience & gas | 1,369 | 3.5 |
| Chevron | Gas brand | 1,317 | 3.3 |
| McDonald's | Burgers | 1,229 | 3.1 |
| Shell | Gas brand | 1,100 | 2.8 |
| Boys & Girls Clubs | Services | 953 | 2.4 |
| CVS Pharmacy | Pharmacy | 928 | 2.4 |
| Jack in the Box | Burgers | 906 | 2.3 |
| Taco Bell | Mexican | 870 | 2.2 |
| 76 | Gas brand | 819 | 2.1 |
| Dollar Tree | Discount store | 817 | 2.1 |
| ampm | Convenience & gas | 802 | 2.0 |
| ARCO | Gas brand | 798 | 2.0 |
| Wells Fargo | Bank | 750 | 1.9 |
| Chase | Bank | 726 | 1.8 |
| Metro by T-Mobile | Electronics & phones | 710 | 1.8 |
| H&R Block | Services | 682 | 1.7 |
| Bank of America | Bank | 674 | 1.7 |
| AutoZone | Auto parts | 671 | 1.7 |
| O'Reilly Auto Parts | Auto parts | 636 | 1.6 |
| T-Mobile | Electronics & phones | 611 | 1.5 |
| Domino's | Pizza | 610 | 1.5 |
| Panda Express | Asian | 596 | 1.5 |
| Carl's Jr. | Burgers | 591 | 1.5 |
Big chains with no California location
These chains are in at least 30 states but have no California location in our data: Advance Auto Parts, Conoco, Hardee's, Cato, Scooter's Coffee, McAlister's Deli and Ollie's Bargain Outlet.
Store locations from All the Places (data from September 2026), for the 357 chains in Guess the Chain with a location here. Population: 39,431,263 (Census Bureau estimate for 2024). Counts can be a little off as stores open and close.