{
  "slug": "restaurants",
  "label": "Restaurants",
  "publisher": "Level",
  "publisher_url": "https://levelcfo.com",
  "dataset": "The Level Index, Restaurants benchmarks",
  "methodology": "Aggregated from public industry and government sources plus the Level founding team's contractor analysis. Percentile distributions where available, otherwise category anchors. No individual company is identified.",
  "sources": [
    "National Restaurant Association, Restaurant Operations Data Abstract 2024",
    "Black Box Intelligence, monthly industry trends + workforce reports",
    "Technomic, Top 500 Chain Restaurant Report",
    "BLS, QCEW + Business Employment Dynamics",
    "FRED, Census Service Annual Survey (NAICS 722)",
    "Public chain 10-Ks (cash conversion, DPO, DSO)",
    "Level Index, the founding team's analysis of 2,200+ contractors ($13.25B revenue) across operating, private-equity, and CFO roles, extended with restaurant operator observations"
  ],
  "last_updated": "2026-Q3",
  "metrics": [
    {
      "key": "labor_cost_of_sales_2024_nra_median",
      "label": "Labor Cost % of Sales (2024 NRA Median)",
      "unit": "%",
      "lower_is_better": true,
      "categories": [
        {
          "name": "Limited-Service profit",
          "value": 30
        },
        {
          "name": "Limited-Service all",
          "value": 31.7
        },
        {
          "name": "Limited-Service loss",
          "value": 34.1
        },
        {
          "name": "Full-Service profit",
          "value": 34.2
        },
        {
          "name": "Full-Service loss",
          "value": 42.9
        }
      ],
      "sample": "NRA Restaurant Operations Data Abstract 2024",
      "source": "National Restaurant Association, labor commentary 2025"
    },
    {
      "key": "prime_cost_food_labor_of_sales",
      "label": "Prime Cost (Food + Labor) % of Sales",
      "unit": "%",
      "lower_is_better": true,
      "categories": [
        {
          "name": "Healthy (LSR med)",
          "value": 64
        },
        {
          "name": "Healthy (FSR med)",
          "value": 68
        },
        {
          "name": "Watch",
          "value": 70
        },
        {
          "name": "Distress",
          "value": 75
        },
        {
          "name": "Failing",
          "value": 80
        }
      ],
      "sample": "Derived from NRA 2024 medians (food + labor)",
      "source": "NRA 2024 + operator playbooks"
    },
    {
      "key": "food_non_alcoholic_beverage_cost_2024_median",
      "label": "Food + Non-Alcoholic Beverage Cost % (2024 Median)",
      "unit": "%",
      "lower_is_better": true,
      "percentiles": {
        "p90": 27
      },
      "sample": "NRA Restaurant Operations Data Abstract 2024",
      "source": "NRA, 2024 food cost commentary"
    },
    {
      "key": "cash_buffer_days_median_by_industry",
      "label": "Cash Buffer Days (median, by industry)",
      "unit": "d",
      "lower_is_better": false,
      "categories": [
        {
          "name": "Restaurants",
          "value": 16
        },
        {
          "name": "All small business",
          "value": 27
        },
        {
          "name": "Resilient target",
          "value": 30
        },
        {
          "name": "Strong operators",
          "value": 60
        }
      ],
      "sample": "JPMorgan Chase Institute, Cash Flows/Balances/Buffer Days (~597K small-business accounts)",
      "source": "JPMorgan Chase Institute, Cash Flows, Balances, and Buffer Days"
    },
    {
      "key": "total_occupancy_cost_of_sales_2024",
      "label": "Total Occupancy Cost % of Sales (2024)",
      "unit": "%",
      "lower_is_better": true,
      "categories": [
        {
          "name": "Rural LSR",
          "value": 3.2
        },
        {
          "name": "Suburban LSR",
          "value": 5
        },
        {
          "name": "LSR overall",
          "value": 5.2
        },
        {
          "name": "FSR overall",
          "value": 5.7
        },
        {
          "name": "Urban",
          "value": 6
        }
      ],
      "sample": "NRA 2024 occupancy commentary",
      "source": "National Restaurant Association, 2024 occupancy commentary"
    },
    {
      "key": "what_a_100_order_actually_keeps_by_channel",
      "label": "What a $100 order actually keeps, by channel",
      "unit": "%",
      "lower_is_better": false,
      "categories": [
        {
          "name": "Dine-in",
          "value": 68
        },
        {
          "name": "1st-party pickup",
          "value": 66
        },
        {
          "name": "3rd-party delivery (25% fee)",
          "value": 43
        },
        {
          "name": "3rd-party delivery (30% fee)",
          "value": 38
        }
      ],
      "sample": "Gross margin (~68%) less DoorDash published commission tiers (15/25/30%)",
      "source": "DoorDash published merchant commission tiers (15/25/30%); NRA 2024 off-premise traffic mix"
    },
    {
      "key": "hourly_turnover_annualized_rolling_12_mo",
      "label": "Hourly Turnover (Annualized, Rolling 12-mo)",
      "unit": "%",
      "lower_is_better": true,
      "categories": [
        {
          "name": "FSR 2025 (Q1-Q3)",
          "value": 92
        },
        {
          "name": "FSR 2024 (Q3)",
          "value": 96
        },
        {
          "name": "LSR 2025 (Q3)",
          "value": 110
        },
        {
          "name": "LSR 2024 (Q3)",
          "value": 135
        }
      ],
      "sample": "Black Box Intelligence, Workforce Report 2025",
      "source": "Black Box Intelligence, Workforce Trends Q3 2025"
    }
  ],
  "benchmark_table": [
    {
      "metric": "Prime Cost (Food + Labor)",
      "bottom_quartile": "> 70%",
      "median": "60-65%",
      "top_quartile": "< 55%",
      "note": "The single most important number, manage weekly"
    },
    {
      "metric": "Net Profit Margin (FSR)",
      "bottom_quartile": "< 0%",
      "median": "~3%",
      "top_quartile": "> 8%",
      "note": "NRA 2025: full-service pre-tax income median 2.8% of sales"
    },
    {
      "metric": "Net Profit Margin (LSR)",
      "bottom_quartile": "< 2%",
      "median": "~4%",
      "top_quartile": "> 10%",
      "note": "NRA 2025: limited-service pre-tax income median 4.0% of sales"
    },
    {
      "metric": "Gross Margin (after food + bev COGS)",
      "bottom_quartile": "< 62%",
      "median": "65-70%",
      "top_quartile": "> 72%",
      "note": "Complement of food+beverage cost; before labor"
    },
    {
      "metric": "Days Cash on Hand",
      "bottom_quartile": "< 10 days",
      "median": "~16 days",
      "top_quartile": "> 30 days",
      "note": "JPMorgan Chase Institute: restaurants lowest of any small-business sector"
    },
    {
      "metric": "Food Cost % (LSR)",
      "bottom_quartile": "> 38%",
      "median": "32.4%",
      "top_quartile": "< 27%",
      "note": "NRA Abstract 2024"
    },
    {
      "metric": "Food Cost % (FSR)",
      "bottom_quartile": "> 38%",
      "median": "32.0%",
      "top_quartile": "< 27%",
      "note": "NRA Abstract 2024"
    },
    {
      "metric": "Beverage Cost % (bev sales)",
      "bottom_quartile": "> 30%",
      "median": "20-24%",
      "top_quartile": "< 18%",
      "note": "Operator rule of thumb; wine-heavy programs run higher"
    },
    {
      "metric": "Occupancy Cost % (FSR)",
      "bottom_quartile": "> 8%",
      "median": "5.7%",
      "top_quartile": "< 4%",
      "note": "NRA 2024 full-service; urban ~6.0%, rural lower (rural LSR runs ~3.2%)"
    },
    {
      "metric": "Sales per Labor Hour (FSR)",
      "bottom_quartile": "< $50",
      "median": "$65-$90",
      "top_quartile": "> $100",
      "note": "Operator rule of thumb; QSR runs $85-$150+"
    },
    {
      "metric": "Hourly Turnover (FSR)",
      "bottom_quartile": "> 130%",
      "median": "92%",
      "top_quartile": "< 70%",
      "note": "Black Box 2025, replacement cost $2,706"
    },
    {
      "metric": "Off-Premise Mix (FSR)",
      "bottom_quartile": "< 20%",
      "median": "30%",
      "top_quartile": "> 45%",
      "note": "NRA 2024, was 19% pre-pandemic"
    },
    {
      "metric": "Marketing % of Sales",
      "bottom_quartile": "< 1%",
      "median": "3-6%",
      "top_quartile": "5-8%",
      "note": "Operator rule of thumb; lower can mean under-investing"
    },
    {
      "metric": "5-Year Survival Rate",
      "bottom_quartile": "-",
      "median": "~51%",
      "top_quartile": "-",
      "note": "BLS BDM, myth of 90% failure is overstated"
    }
  ]
}