Coffeehouses sit at the intersection of daily habits, retail employment, global agriculture, and community life. In Spring 2024, 67% of American adults had coffee in the past day, while the U.S. branded coffee shop market later reached an estimated $58.5 billion and more than 45,200 outlets. The figures below describe the market and the people, supply chains, and operating programs behind it.
Contents
- Coffee consumption in the United States
- The size of the coffeehouse market
- Jobs, wages, and coffeehouse training
- Where U.S. coffee comes from
- Farmer support and ethical sourcing
- Community and inclusion measures
- Waste, energy, and reusable cups
Coffee consumption in the United States
The National Coffee Association’s Spring 2024 National Coffee Data Trends report found that 67% of American adults had coffee in the past day. The weekly reach was higher: 75% had coffee in the past week. These are population measures for the United States, and they describe reported consumption rather than the number of cups consumed.
Specialty coffee was also a substantial part of the market. The National Coffee Association’s June 2024 specialty coffee report found that 45% of Americans had specialty coffee in the past day. In the Fall 2024 National Coffee Data Trends report, 21% of Americans had drunk cold brew in the past week.
The Fall 2024 report shows how coffee occasions divide between home and out-of-home settings. Among past-day coffee drinkers, 81% had coffee at home and 36% had coffee out of home. Because these groups can overlap, the figures should not be added as a single total.
Preparation methods were similarly mixed. In Fall 2024, 36% of past-day coffee drinkers used drip coffee makers, 24% used single-cup brewers, and 18% drank ready-to-drink coffee. The same report found that 51% of Americans believed coffee was good for their health, 66% believed coffee improves mental focus, and 46% believed it improves physical endurance. These figures measure beliefs, not clinical outcomes.
The size of the coffeehouse market
The U.S. coffeehouse economy can be viewed through several different measures. The U.S. Census Bureau counted 85,140 employer establishments in NAICS 722515, snack and nonalcoholic beverage bars, a category that includes coffee shops. This classification is broader than coffeehouses alone, so it should not be treated as a dedicated coffeehouse count.
World Coffee Portal’s Project Café USA 2025 estimated the U.S. branded coffee shop market at $54 billion, with more than 42,700 outlets and 500 unique brands. Its later Project Café USA 2026 estimate put the market at $58.5 billion, more than 45,200 outlets, and 588 unique brands. The 2026 estimate also reported 4.2% growth over the prior year and 6.6% year-on-year sales growth.
| U.S. branded coffee shop market measure | Project Café USA 2025 | Project Café USA 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Market value | $54 billion | $58.5 billion |
| Outlets | More than 42,700 | More than 45,200 |
| Unique brands | 500 | 588 |
| Reported growth | Not supplied | 4.2% market growth; 6.6% sales growth |
These estimates use different report editions and measurement periods. They are best read as successive market snapshots, not as a precisely calculated change in every underlying business.
The National Coffee Association said the coffee industry supports 2.2 million U.S. jobs and contributes nearly $350 billion to the U.S. economy annually. It also said its member companies are responsible for 90% of U.S. coffee commerce. Those figures describe the wider coffee economy, which includes more than retail coffeehouses.
Jobs, wages, and coffeehouse training
Starbucks’ FY24 Global Impact Report data tables provide a detailed view of workforce activity at one major coffeehouse company. Starbucks hired 80,865 baristas in the United States during FY24. In the same reporting period, 63% of U.S. retail leadership roles were filled from internal partners, while total employee turnover in the United States and Canada was 49%.
The company reported an average hourly wage of $18.73 for U.S. hourly partners in FY24. It reported average total compensation of $30 per hour for those partners. The compensation figure is a package measure and should not be read as hourly cash wages alone.
Training was another major operating measure. Starbucks said its Barista First 30 training averaged 40 hours per barista in FY24. Starbucks Global Academy recorded 4,574 Coffee Masters course enrollments and 4,375 completions. It also recorded 1,754 Community Champions enrollments and 64,087 To Be Welcoming enrollments.
Education benefits reached thousands of partners. The Starbucks College Achievement Plan helped 2,699 partners graduate with a college degree during FY24. Since the plan began, 14,116 partners had graduated with a college degree by FY24 year-end, and 26,273 partners were participating at that point.
Partner participation extended beyond formal courses. Starbucks reported that 80% of U.S. store partners completed the Partner Experience Survey in FY24. The company had 39 partner networks globally and 127 active U.S. regional partner-network chapters. It also reported that 26,392 people used its civic engagement resources.
Where U.S. coffee comes from
The USDA Economic Research Service reported that about 80% of U.S. unroasted coffee imports came from Latin America in 2023. Those Latin American imports were valued at $4.8 billion. Brazil supplied 35% of U.S. unroasted coffee imports, while Colombia supplied 27%.
The USDA also reported that U.S. unroasted coffee import volumes from Latin America grew 1.5% annually during 2003–23. This is a long-run annual growth measure, not a forecast for future imports.
Origin concentration is visible in the country shares. Brazil and Colombia together accounted for 62% of U.S. unroasted coffee imports in 2023 according to the supplied USDA figures. That combined figure is a direct addition of the two reported shares, while the remaining share came from other origins. The data does not identify every other supplier in the same statement.
Farmer support and ethical sourcing
Starbucks’ FY24 Global Impact Report data tables describe extensive programs connected with coffee production. Starbucks operated 10 Farmer Support Centers and trained 36,628 people in advanced agronomy techniques during FY24. It distributed 9,973,696 climate-tolerant coffee trees and 6,271,613 climate-tolerant coffee seeds during the year. By FY24 year-end, it had provided 56,810,680 coffee seedlings to farmers cumulatively.
Financial and traceability measures added another layer. Starbucks had deployed $88.3 million in Global Farmer Fund loans cumulatively by FY24 year-end. During FY24, its online traceability tool traced 238,872 bags of coffee and recorded 101,946 unique visitors. Starbucks also operated 13 childcare centers for farming families.
The company reported that 99.75% of its coffee was ethically sourced and verified through C.A.F.E. Practices in FY24. The program covered an average of 441,761 farms. Starbucks had processed 43,929 soil samples cumulatively by FY24 year-end and had contracted 1,643 eco-wet mills cumulatively.
Environmental activity at origin included protecting 298 hectares of forests during FY24 and restoring 517 hectares. Global Farmer Support Centers distributed 313,306 native trees. These are reported program outputs; they do not represent the total forest or tree landscape connected with coffee production.
The same Starbucks data tables reported that 99.95% of tea sourced by its global tea sourcing team came from Rainforest Alliance Certified gardens in FY24. Starbucks sourced 25,593 metric tons of Rainforest Alliance Certified and segregated cocoa beans during the year. For manufactured goods and services, it conducted 357 responsible-sourcing facility assessments, had 1,468 suppliers in the program, and reported 95% transparency into facilities assessed.
Community and inclusion measures
Starbucks reported 100% gender pay equity in the United States for similar work in FY24. In its U.S. retail workforce, 35% self-identified as LGBTQIA2+ and 14% self-identified with a disability. The company hired 2,500 veterans and military spouses in the United States during FY24.
The Starbucks Foundation awarded $21.4 million in total grants in FY24, including more than $4.2 million in disaster-philanthropy grants. By FY24 year-end, Starbucks said more than 800,000 youth had been impacted cumulatively by its youth grants, and more than 600,000 women and girls in origin communities had been positively impacted cumulatively. Origin grants reached 8 countries during FY24.
Local grant activity was also quantified. Starbucks had awarded more than 13,000 hyperlocal Neighborhood Grants cumulatively by FY24 year-end and received more than 33,000 partner nominations for neighborhood grants in FY24.
Store formats connected to community investment included 8 Community Stores opened in the United States during FY24 and 46 opened cumulatively in the country by year-end. Starbucks opened 14 Community Stores in international markets and 105 Military Family Stores during FY24.
Waste, energy, and reusable cups
The FY24 Starbucks data tables reported 11.9 million pounds of food diverted from waste streams in the United States. Through FoodShare, Starbucks donated 9.9 million meals in the United States. These measures concern food recovery and donation activity during FY24.
Reusable-cup use was smaller than total beverage volume: 2.6% of beverages sold in global company-operated stores were sold in reusable cups in FY24. Starbucks also reported 9,396 verified Greener Stores globally and said 72% of company-owned facilities worldwide were powered by renewable electricity.
Total energy consumption in Starbucks’ direct operations reached 2,914,476 MWh in FY24. This is an energy-use measure, while the renewable-electricity percentage describes the share of company-owned facilities powered by renewable electricity. The two figures use different units and should not be combined into a single efficiency calculation without additional data.