The headline: of the 3,147 counties we track, only 122 (4%) publish a dollar figure for the annual food-establishment permit — the other ~88% direct you to call the health department. Among those that do publish, the fee runs from $35 to $2,026 — a 58× spread in the published annual food-establishment fee, with a median of $233. Fee structures aren’t identical, though — counties classify establishments by size, risk category, gross sales or seat count, and charge differently for initial vs renewal and state- vs county-administered programs, so treat this as a spread in published prices, not a strict apples-to-apples comparison.
| County | Restaurant permit fee |
|---|---|
| Benton County, AR | $35 |
| Craighead County, AR | $35 |
| Pulaski County, AR | $35 |
| Sebastian County, AR | $35 |
| Washington County, AR | $35 |
| Arlington County, VA | $40 |
| Chesterfield County, VA | $40 |
| Henrico County, VA | $40 |
| County | Restaurant permit fee |
|---|---|
| Lane County, OR | $1,040 |
| Deschutes County, OR | $1,071 |
| Placer County, CA | $1,192 |
| San Mateo County, CA | $1,460 |
| Sonoma County, CA | $1,488 |
| Monterey County, CA | $1,495 |
| Mesa County, CO | $2,026 |
| Bell County, TX | $2,026 |
Methodology & coverage. FoodServiceNerd tracks local permitting requirements for 3,147 U.S. counties; this study analyzes the 383-county subset for which we collected a published annual fee schedule (a nationwide spread of large metros and smaller counties), so the percentages below describe that sample, not all counties. Fees are the published annual food-establishment / restaurant permit fee from each county or state health department, collected in our requirements database. We only count a county when it publishes an actual dollar amount; “call for pricing” counties are excluded (and counted separately above). Temporary-event and mobile fees are not mixed in. Fees change — always confirm with your local authority. Look up your county →