Chick-fil-A Below the Local Rate in 4 of 4 Charted Places

FastFoodFact's tally for Chick-fil-A through the 2026-10-02 snapshots reads: below the local rate in 4 of the 4 places where it can be charted, overlapping in none, and above in none. The site covers 10 places in all. This guide explains why only four can be charted, what each place counts, and what a figure of 0.0% in Louisville does and does not say.

Why only four of ten places

FastFoodFact charts a chain in a place only when the place's file holds at least 100 counted routine inspections of that chain. Chick-fil-A clears that bar in Florida, New York State outside New York City, Suffolk and Erie, Louisville, and Raleigh and Wake County. In the other six places the chain appears in the file with too few counted inspections, so it is listed as not charted rather than given a range too wide to read. The counts there are: New York City 52, Chicago 56, Austin 51, Seattle and King County 40, Las Vegas and Clark County 52, and Sacramento County 30. Those six counts are shown one place at a time and are not added together.

What each of the four places counts

Each health department writes down a different result, so "the rate" means something different in each place.

• Florida counts routine inspections that recorded at least one high-priority violation. Florida's Division of Hotels and Restaurants words a high-priority violation as one that "could contribute directly to a foodborne illness or injury". See What a High-Priority Violation Means in Florida.
• New York State counts routine inspections that recorded at least one critical (red) violation. The state's file excludes New York City, Suffolk and Erie. The state says red violations "relate directly to factors that could lead to foodborne illness". See New York State's Red Violations, and Why They Are Not a Grade.
• Louisville counts regular inspections that ended in a C grade, meaning the restaurant failed the inspection and a follow-up visit was required. See A Score of 95 and a Grade of C: How Louisville Inspections Work.
• Raleigh and Wake County counts routine inspections that marked at least one item out of compliance in the section of the state form on foodborne illness risk factors. The form defines risk factors as "Contributing factors that increase the chance of developing foodborne illness." See An A on the Door and a Risk Factor on the Report.

What the records show for Chick-fil-A

Each row is a separate comparison against the local rate for the same place.

Place	What is counted	Chick-fil-A	95% range	Local rate	Position
Florida	At least one high-priority violation	34.0% (461 of 1,354 routine inspections)	31.6% to 36.6%	58.2% of 270,924 routine inspections	Below the local rate
New York State (outside New York City, Suffolk and Erie)	At least one critical (red) violation	12.1% (14 of 116 routine inspections)	7.3% to 19.2%	25.1% of 116,738 routine inspections	Below the local rate
Louisville	A C grade	0.0% (0 of 114 routine inspections)	0.0% to 3.3%	5.0% of 19,122 routine inspections	Below the local rate
Raleigh and Wake County	At least one foodborne illness risk factor out of compliance	65.2% (122 of 187 routine inspections)	58.2% to 71.7%	83.1% of 21,497 routine inspections	Below the local rate

The periods are:

• Florida: routine inspections recorded 2023-07-01 through 2026-10-01, pulled 2026-10-02.
• New York State: routine inspections recorded 2023-01-01 through 2026-09-25, pulled 2026-10-02.
• Louisville: routine inspections recorded 2021-09-27 through 2026-09-24, pulled 2026-10-02.
• Raleigh and Wake County: routine inspections recorded 2021-10-01 through 2026-10-01, pulled 2026-10-02.

"Below" means the whole 95% range for Chick-fil-A sits under that place's own local rate.

A worked example: 0 of 114 in Louisville

In Louisville, none of the 114 routine inspections counted for Chick-fil-A in the period 2021-09-27 through 2026-09-24 ended in a C grade. The figure is 0.0%, with a 95% range of 0.0% to 3.3%. The local rate is 5.0% across 19,122 routine inspections, so the whole range sits under it.

A count of zero is still a measurement with a margin. With 114 inspections behind it, the records are consistent with a true rate anywhere up to 3.3%, and the range says so. It also covers only C grades. It does not say the inspections were free of violations, because a restaurant can record violations and still avoid a C.

Why the tally is not a score

• Four of four is not 100% of anything. The four positions come from four different events: a violation tier, a red violation, a failing grade and a risk-factor item. The count of places is the only thing they share.
• Four places is a narrow base. The tally describes the four places where the chain has enough inspections on record. It says nothing about the six where it does not.
• Below does not mean good. "Below" only says the range sits under that place's own rate. Louisville's local rate is 5.0% and Wake County's is 83.1%. Those numbers describe two different counts and say nothing about which county has the more careful kitchens.

What these figures do not show

• Not one restaurant. A figure describes the Chick-fil-A locations that appear in that place's file during that period. It says nothing about any single restaurant and nothing about the brand as a whole.
• Not management quality alone. Chains differ in food-handling risk, so the bands do not measure management quality alone.
• Routine inspections only. Re-inspections, callbacks, follow-ups and complaint-driven visits are left out of every count above, except that Wake County does not type complaint visits separately, so any it recorded as an inspection are counted.
• Name matching. FastFoodFact assigns restaurants to a chain by a published matching table, and a location the table does not match is not counted.
• No national figure. The four places are not combined, averaged or ranked, because their inspection systems differ.

Where to see the full record

The Chick-fil-A page lays out the chain's band in each charted place beside the local rate, with the number of inspections behind each one. To set Chick-fil-A beside another chain in a single place, read How to Compare Two Fast Food Chains Without Fooling Yourself first.

Notices

• New York State: The analyses, interpretations and conclusions drawn from New York State data on this site were reached by FastFoodFact and not by the New York State Department of Health. The department states that this data was not collected for use as a restaurant grading system and does not support or endorse such a use; the figures here describe groups of inspections and are not a grade of any restaurant.
• Raleigh and Wake County: Contains data from Wake County Government's open data portal, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0). FastFoodFact grouped the county's inspection records by chain and counted them; the county did not make or review these figures. Wake County states that it shall not be held liable for any errors in these data, and that primary sources must be consulted for verification.

This guide is informational only, not professional advice. Last reviewed: November 2026.

— Eric, FastFoodFact founder

Informational only. This is a reading of public inspection records, not food-safety, legal or dining advice, and no figure here is a grade of any individual restaurant. A figure describes what inspectors recorded across a set of visits in one place over one period — not a brand, and not the location near you.

Last reviewed: November 2026 · Against the sources listed above.