Restaurants and food trucks.
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 Yuma County Public Health Services District, Environmental Health Services Division issues the health permit.
What the local foodservice landscape looks like — useful whether you’re opening here or sizing up the competition.
▼ 0.3% change in establishments since 2022 (319 → 318).
The average foodservice wage here is $2,821 below the Arizona average ($25,212); Arizona has about 13,666 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.
Each operator/applicant must also have food workers obtain a Yuma County food worker certificate; Application forms carry a blank 'Permit Fee' office-use field with no printed amount
No A/B/C grade; Yuma posts ratings of Excellent/Satisfactory/Needs Improvement/Unacceptable (E/S/N/U) online.
Separate application packets exist for Mobile Food Unit Type I, II and III (English and Spanish)
Fees/payment and forms are on the department site; application steps vary by concept — see the checklist below.
U.S. Census 2023 population; County Business Patterns 2022 (NAICS 722).
food establishments here must control fats, oils & grease (FOG) with a grease interceptor or trap, and typically register with the local sewer/wastewater authority. A grease interceptor sized to the locally adopted plumbing code is required, with a municipal sewer-authority FOG discharge permit.
Size the interceptor with our grease-trap sizing calculator, compare units in the grease-trap catalog, and confirm the local FOG permit with Yuma County Public Health Services District, Environmental Health Services Division (contact above).
Hood fire suppression: commercial cooking under a Type I hood needs a wet-chemical suppression system to NFPA 96, permitted and inspected by the local fire marshal. Type I hood fire suppression must meet NFPA 96 and the fire code adopted by the local fire authority. See do I need a hood? and the hood CFM calculator.
Backflow prevention: An approved backflow preventer with a certified annual test is required by the local water purveyor. A certified backflow assembly (often an RPZ) on the water service, tested annually, is standard — confirm with your water utility.
| Category | Annual fee | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Pushcart / mobile vending | Yuma classifies mobile food units as Type I, II or III, but the fee amounts are set by Public Health Services District Board resolution and are not published in any web-accessible document; contact (928) 317-4584 | Separate Type I / II / III mobile food unit application packets exist (English and Spanish) |
| Temporary / seasonal event | itinerant / temporary event food permit fee is not published online (set by Board resolution); an Itinerant application and guide are posted but carry no fee amount | Yuma uses an 'Itinerant' permit class for temporary/mobile-type operations |
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 Yuma County with its neighbors.
This is a typical sequence — confirm the exact sequence with your authority having jurisdiction.
Official plan-check requirements: plan-check guide →