KFC Closed 7% Of US Locations In The Last Year — Here Are The Changes You Can Expect To See By 2028

If you've noticed that it's a little harder to get your KFC fix lately, you're not alone. More than 7% of KFC restaurants in the United States have permanently closed over the past year. That's a total of 312 from July 2025 to July 2026, according to Local Falcon. It's not a huge surprise as the chain has been struggling financially for a while. Some areas were hit harder than others. Delaware, for example, lost four of its 13 KFC restaurants. In Kansas, KFC shuttered eight of its 38 locations, and in Louisiana, five of its 31 locations. Even California, which is home to the most KFC restaurants of any state, now has 44 fewer locations. There doesn't seem to be a clear rhyme or reason as to why some states were hit harder by the closures than others.

Although KFC has closed a significant amount of locations in the U.S. since last July, the chain continues to grow globally. According to a company press release, a new KFC restaurant opens somewhere in the world every three and a half hours. That's added up to a total of 660 new gross restaurants spanning 55 countries since 2025, per Yum! Brands' 2026 second quarter earnings report. We can't be sure exactly why the chain seems to be scaling down its operations in the U.S. while scaling up restaurant openings abroad, but we have a few ideas, especially in light of KFC's announced changes that will roll out at locations around the world by the end of 2027.

While Yum! Brands reports positive growth at KFC restaurants from 2025 to 2026, the chain may have loftier goals, whether in regards to revenue or public perception. According to Google ratings, KFC is the lowest-rated major chicken chain in the U.S., coming in far behind Chick-fil-A, Raising Cane's, and Zaxby's. (Maybe that has something to do with common customer complaints about KFC.) This doesn't necessarily mean that KFC is on its way out, but it does speak to the fact that people are choosing — and enjoying — other chicken chains.

Perhaps in an attempt to draw the attention of more potential customers, KFC announced a rebrand in June 2026. While we can't say for sure, it's possible that closing certain locations (and opening others) could be a part of the company's rebranding strategy. For instance, certain locations may be in areas that better meet the target demographic for menu items included in the rebrand. The changes are first rolling out in the U.K. and Ireland, and are heavily focused on boneless, dunkable chicken tenders alongside new sauces tailored to local markets (similar to the way the McDonald's menu changes in different countries). KFC is also rolling out a beverage line called KWENCH that's already being tested in Australia and Canada, which will offer iced coffee, boba refreshers, and sparkling lemonades. While it may take some time to see these changes fully implemented at a location near you, the chicken chain should be a bit different by 2028.