For the tenth year running, Subway has failed to stop the bleeding.
The chain that once seemed to be everywhere — tucked into strip malls, gas stations, and college campuses from coast to coast — shed a net 729 United States locations in 2025, leaving it with 18,773 restaurants still standing on American soil.
Every one of those locations is franchisee-owned.
That number also marks the first time in 20 years that Subway has dipped below the 20,000-store threshold in the United States — a milestone that would have been unthinkable at the chain’s peak.
That peak came in 2015, when Subway operated more than 27,000 domestic restaurants. Since then, it has lost a net total of 8,345 locations — enough shuttered storefronts to constitute one of the top five largest restaurant chains in the country all by themselves.
The 2025 decline was also the sharpest single-year drop since 2021, when the chain’s net store count fell by more than 1,000 locations in a single calendar year.
Subway still holds the title of the largest fast food chain in the country by store count, outpacing Starbucks, which operates 16,860 locations, and McDonald’s, which runs 13,706.
Franchise disclosure documents filed by the company reveal plans to open roughly 100 new American locations in 2026. What the documents do not reveal is how many closures are coming — though industry observers expect the number will again reach into the hundreds.
In response to questions about the ongoing domestic pullback, Subway issued a statement: “In the US, Subway is focused on ensuring restaurants are in the right locations, with the real estate, visibility and operations that set franchisees up to succeed long-term.”
The company added that internal performance evaluations and customer Google reviews have both reached their highest marks in two years.
To win back American diners, Subway has introduced a value menu featuring 15 items, each priced at $4.99 or below — a direct play for customers feeling squeezed at the register.
Subway is not alone in that strategy. McDonald’s rolled out its “Under $3 Menu” on April 21, giving customers access to its lowest-priced items in a newly structured format.
Breakfast options include a $1.50 Sausage McMuffin. Lunch and dinner options span a McChicken, McDouble, 4-piece Chicken McNuggets, a small order of fries, and a small drink — all priced under three dollars.
A McDonald’s press release stated the revamped menu “offers more choice, more flexibility and more ways to build a meal that fits their day and budget.”
The new structure — referred to internally as “McValue 2.0” — retired the chain’s previous buy-one-get-one-for-$1 deal, though bundled Meal Deals pairing a McChicken or McDouble with nuggets, fries, and a drink continue to be offered.
While the domestic picture remains grim for Subway, the company’s international operations are running in the opposite direction entirely.
The chain opened more than 1,000 new locations worldwide in 2025 and has more than 30 master franchise agreements in place that are slated to produce an additional 12,000 restaurants in the years ahead.
Expansion deals have been inked across Europe, the Middle East, and Asia, with countries including Sweden, Spain, South Korea, and Qatar among those targeted for growth.
Panama and Taiwan have also signed agreements in 2025. Subway’s total global footprint now exceeds 35,000 restaurants.
On the domestic side, company executives report that delivery orders placed through third-party platforms are climbing, and the chain has been modernizing its store interiors through a program called “Fresh Forward,” aimed at giving locations a more current look and feel.
Subway has also signaled plans to expand its menu lineup and pursue beverage partnerships as part of a push to grow both customer traffic and franchisee earnings.
The company itself has gone through its own transformation off the floor. Fred DeLuca co-founded Subway in 1965 at age 17 alongside Dr. Peter Buck, and the company stayed under family control for the better part of six decades.
That changed in 2024, when private equity firm Roark Capital finalized its acquisition of the brand for a reported $9.6 billion.
Shortly after the sale closed, Subway appointed Jonathan Fitzpatrick — a veteran of Burger King’s executive ranks — as its incoming chief executive officer, signaling a new era of outside leadership for a company long defined by its founding family.
