Kentucky Fried Chicken, most commonly known as KFC, is one of the most well-known fast food chain stores in the world. Due to the cooking method that KFC uses for its delicious fried chicken, along with a much broader menu that includes wings, nuggets, wraps, and sweet treats, the brand exists in pretty much every country you can think of. With over 30,000 stores globally and annual sales in the U.S. alone reaching the billions, this chicken brand with humble beginnings has certainly left a major footprint. So, one must wonder, which U.S. state is home to the most KFC locations? You’d think Kentucky, but then you’d be wrong.
Although Kentucky is the namesake of KFC, it’s California that boasts the most locations across America. According to KFC’s website, the Golden State is home to over 430 individual restaurants statewide. This accounts for about 11% of all American KFC outlets, per ScrapeHero. California’s hefty lead is followed (by quite a distance) by Texas, which has around 320 locations, and Florida, with just over 280 stores. With the highest population in the United States, nearing 40 million people, that’s more than a few additional stores. By comparison, KFC’s home state of Kentucky has approximately 112 restaurants total.
California may be king, but Kentucky will always be KFC’s home
Of course, KFC’s humble beginnings trace back to 1930, when “Colonel” Harland David Sanders bought a roadside motel in Corbin, Kentucky, where he served his secret-recipe chicken of 11 herbs and spices. The recipe was perfected in less than a decade, and in 1952 the first KFC franchise opened in Salt Lake City, Utah, strangely enough. Some items from the original 1952 KFC menu are still available today. However, what Kentucky has that other states don’t is the Sanders Café and Museum in Corbin, which has been carefully restored to its original glory as it appeared in the 1940s. You can almost feel Colonel Sanders puttering in the kitchen with his herbs and spices, working on the perfect combination that became his world-famous (and still secret) KFC flavoring.
Interestingly, Sanders didn’t start off in the chicken business. Before he began selling chicken from a roadside restaurant in Corbin, Sanders dropped out of school in his teenage years and left home. An interest in railroads started him off emptying ash pans from train engines, and he worked his way up to becoming a steam engine stoker. After that he dabbled in insurance as a salesman and, in 1927, headed up the Standard Oil gas station in Nicholasville, Kentucky. In his second year at the station, he started selling his homemade fried chicken to truck drivers for some extra moola — and the rest, as they say, is history.
