THE STATE OF LOCAL RESTAURANTS 2018
California
We analyzed transactions for every day of the 2017 calendar year at 26,000 small, independent restaurants across America. The result is a comprehensive look at when restaurants earn the most money, when they seat the most guests, and which states make the most dough from patrons who #eatlocal.
What we learned about California
California is the 4th-ranked state for restaurants. For the most part, restaurants in The Golden State follow the national trends and averages, the biggest exceptions being significantly higher-than-average ticket size and high daily sales revenue.
Understanding this report
To understand the average day for restaurants in America, we took a multidimensional look at their performance. We specifically looked at:
- Transactions: How many individual payments restaurants process.
- Ticket Size: How much patrons spend on average per transaction.
- Daily Sales Revenue: How much revenue restaurants make per day.
THE AVERAGE DAY FOR CALIFORNIA RESTAURANTS
Restaurants in California rank 5th for the average number of transactions each day, 4th for average ticket size, and 4th for average daily revenues. All told, this makes The Golden State the 4th-ranked state for restaurants.
| Transactions | Ticket Size | Sales Revenue |
| 56 | $41 | $2,343 |
| National Rank: 5 | National Rank: 4 | National Rank: 4 |
CALIFORNIA WEEKDAYS COMPARED TO WEEKENDS
Like most states, restaurants in California see more revenue, more transactions, and higher average ticket sizes on the weekend.
CALIFORNIA’S AVERAGE WEEK
Here we see a day-by-day look at the average daily sales revenue in California compared to the national averages. California mostly follows the national trend with the exception of slightly lower sales on Friday and higher-than-average Sundays in terms of percentage of weekly sales.
THE AVERAGE YEAR FOR CALIFORNIA RESTAURANTS
On a national level, sales revenues only have a subtle variation from month to month. That holds true for California.
TOP 5 DAYS FOR CALIFORNIA RESTAURANTS
Here are the top revenue-generating days for restaurants in California. Like many states, Mother’s Day weekend and Father’s Day are among the best.
| #1 | #2 | #3 | #4 | #5 |
| MAY 14Mother’s Day | MAY 13Mother’s Day Weekend | MAR 11 | JUN 18Father’s Day | MAR 25 |
| SUNDAY | SATURDAY | SATURDAY | SUNDAY | SATURDAY |
CALIFORNIA RESTAURANTS ON PROMINENT DAYS
Restaurants put a lot of focus and work into big events and holidays, but how do the most prominent days rank compared to the rest of the year and the average day?
| Day | Rank/365 | Daily Sales | Change in sales | Number of transactions | Change in Transaction Volume | Avg Ticket Size | Change in Avg Ticket |
| Super Bowl | 269 | $1,865 | -20.42% | 46 | -18.39% | $40.53 | -1.61% |
| Valentines Day | 88 | $2,841 | 21.23% | 59 | 4.39% | $48.27 | 17.18% |
| St. Patrick’s | 78 | $2,894 | 23.53% | 72 | 27.78% | $40.18 | -2.45% |
| Cinco De Mayo | 79 | $2,889 | 23.32% | 70 | 24.75% | $41.09 | -0.26% |
| Mother’s Day | 1 | $3,998 | 70.65% | 69 | 22.06% | $58.11 | 41.07% |
| Father’s Day | 4 | $3,446 | 47.06% | 65 | 14.94% | $53.18 | 29.10% |
| July 4th | 328 | $1,649 | -29.61% | 39 | -31.24% | $42.55 | 3.29% |
| Day before T-giving | 153 | $2,464 | 5.14% | 57 | 1.89% | $42.89 | 4.12% |
| Thanksgiving | 364 | $1,314 | -43.93% | 21 | -63.05% | $63.07 | 53.10% |
| Christmas Eve | 164 | $2,299 | -1.87% | 39 | -31.07% | $59.17 | 43.64% |
| Christmas | 365 | $1,040 | -55.63% | 17 | -70.56% | $62.65 | 52.08% |
| New Year’s Eve | 50 | $3,109 | 32.69% | 55 | -1.65% | $56.07 | 36.12% |
Methodology
Womply analyzed daily revenue for 25,893 restaurants in all 50 states and the District of Columbia for all 365 days of the 2017 calendar year. Restaurants were only qualified for the analysis if Womply had a full year of transaction history and the business recorded multiple transactions per day, on average. Category and overall state rankings are based on a composite score of each state’s transactions, average ticket sizes, and overall daily revenue.
About Womply
Womply is a software-as-a-service (SaaS) provider to small businesses and one of the fastest growing software companies in America. Our mission is to help small businesses thrive in a digital world. Every day we serve more than 100,000 small businesses across 400+ business verticals, in every corner of America. To learn more, visit https://www.womply.com or email info@womply.com.
