Restaurants and food trucks.
Daviess County food-facility health permits run about $200–$340 annually, depending on size or sales volume. Confirm the exact amount with Green River District Health Department before you budget.
Confirm the authority for your exact address. Some cities run their own health division, and building, planning, fire, sewer/grease and business-license approvals are separate even when Green River District Health Department issues the health permit.
What the local foodservice landscape looks like — useful whether you’re opening here or sizing up the competition.
▼ 3.8% change in establishments since 2022 (185 → 178).
The average foodservice wage here is $17 below the Kentucky average ($20,515); Kentucky has about 7,854 food & drink establishments statewide.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2023 (NAICS 722, food services & drinking places) — establishments with paid employees. Some small-county payroll figures are withheld by Census for confidentiality.
Green River District (Daviess, Hancock, Henderson, McLean, Ohio, Union, Webster) operates under Kentucky state code 902 KAR 45:110: $125 base + seating fee (1-25 $75 => $200; 26-50 $125 => $250; 51-100 $155 => $280; 101-200 $185 => $310; 201+ $215 => $340); Add-ons: drive-through $155, catering $135. District links a 'Facility Equipment Guidelines/Fee Schedule' PDF but amounts follow state code
Statewide mobile food unit permit $200/yr; mobile retail food store $60/yr (902 KAR 45:110)
Fees/payment and forms are on the department site; application steps vary by concept — see the checklist below.
The government permit & plan-review fees below total roughly $400–$540 for Daviess County:
That’s the paperwork only. Add buildout, equipment, deposits and licenses with the cost-to-open calculator. Fees change — confirm current amounts with the department.
Comparison uses the lowest published annual restaurant-permit figure in each county; confirm your exact tier with the department.
U.S. Census 2023 population; County Business Patterns 2022 (NAICS 722).
Plus building, fire, and business-license fees that vary locally — use the cost calculators and the checklist below to budget the full stack.
Under 2020 Kentucky State Plumbing Code (815 KAR Chapter 20), food establishments here must control fats, oils & grease (FOG) with a grease interceptor or trap, and typically register with the local sewer/wastewater authority. Restaurants must install an approved grease trap or interceptor under the state plumbing code, with discharge governed by the local sewer authority's FOG program.
Size the interceptor with our grease-trap sizing calculator, compare units in the grease-trap catalog, and confirm the local FOG permit with Green River District Health Department (contact above).
Hood fire suppression (NFPA 101 (2018 Life Safety Code) / Kentucky Building Code): commercial cooking under a Type I hood needs a wet-chemical suppression system to NFPA 96, permitted and inspected by the local fire marshal. Commercial kitchen hood suppression must meet NFPA 96 and the state-adopted fire/life-safety code, enforced by the State Fire Marshal and local fire officials. See do I need a hood? and the hood CFM calculator.
Backflow prevention: Backflow prevention assemblies (typically an RPZ) require annual testing by a certified tester through the local water utility's cross-connection control program. A certified backflow assembly (often an RPZ) on the water service, tested annually, is standard — confirm with your water utility.
Health-department plan review looks for specific, code-compliant fixtures. Compare spec-filtered options, then confirm counts and sizes with your local requirements. See the full list in what equipment a commercial kitchen requires.
Permit costs and rules change at the county line — compare Daviess County with its neighbors.
This is a typical sequence — confirm the exact sequence with your authority having jurisdiction.