Hot Dog Consumption in America

We’re getting so close to the three-day weekend — a.k.a, the unofficial start of summer — that we can basically smell the hot dogs on the grill.

And to add a dash of fun to the mix, the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council, a very real organization based in Washington, D.C., has crunched the numbers and is kicking off summer with some (occasionally eyebrow-raising) info about our nationwide love affair with these ‘dogs. 

For starters, the council reveals that Americans devour a staggering 7 billion-with-a-B hot dogs during hot dog season, which it says spans from Memorial Day through Labor Day. If you do the math, that’s a mind-boggling 818 hot dogs every second during that three-month period. Not even Joey Chestnut can match those numbers. 

The grandest day for hot dog eating is July 4, when Americans wolf down 150 million hot dogs. According to the Council, that’s enough hot dogs to stretch from Washington D.C. to Los Angeles five times. (Note to the Council: We’re eagerly waiting for the day you’ll be putting these transcontinental hot dog chains together. We’d love to be part of it.) 

July is the biggest sales month for hot dogs — and it’s also National Hot Dog Month, which means there’s probably some kind of cause-and-effect happening there. A full 10% of annual hot dog sales happen in July.

Speaking of Los Angeles, the West Coast city consumes more hot dogs than any other spot in America, out-eating New York, Dallas, Chicago, and Boston. But on a per-capita basis, even L.A. can’t keep up with Paducah, Kentucky. When it comes to the cities with the biggest hot dog consumption based on population, Paducah takes the top…bun, followed by Greensboro, North Carolina; Charlotte, North Carolina; Buffalo, New York; and Knoxville, Tennessee. 

And if you’re currently in Terminal 3 at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, you might notice a line of customers at Gold Coast Dogs, or one of the other restaurants that serves up ‘dogs to travelers. O’Hare is the country’s top hot dog-eating airport, selling six times more hot dogs than Los Angeles’ LAX and New York’s LaGuardia airports combined. Abe Froman lives forever! 

Hot dogs are still a popular concession at Major League Baseball stadiums. In 2019, the Los Angeles Dodgers shifted the most hot dogs, as Dodgers fans ate a whopping 2.7 million hot dogs that season. With 81 regular-season home games and three more in the National League Division series, that averages out to around 32,140 hot dogs per game. (No, we will not be showing our work.) 

However, you kick off this unofficial season, grill safely. And remember: Friends don’t let friends put ketchup anywhere near their hot dogs.