In-N-Out Is Coming to Your State: Everything We Know About the 2026 Expansion

In-N-Out Burger is currently expanding into Tennessee, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Colorado, and Utah in 2026, with New Mexico confirmed for 2027 and up to 35 total Tennessee locations planned as the chain builds its first eastern headquarters in Franklin.

In-N-Out opened its first Tennessee locations in December 2025, ahead of schedule, and the expansion has not slowed since. With six more openings listed as “coming soon” on the company’s website, a $125.5 million eastern headquarters under construction, and CEO Lynsi Snyder-Ellingson personally relocating from California to Tennessee, this is the most aggressive eastward push in the chain’s 77-year history.

I have been tracking every confirmed location, the ones still marked “opening soon,” and the states leadership has explicitly ruled out. This is everything that is verified as of April 2026.

Key Takeaways

• In-N-Out opened four Tennessee locations between December 2025 and February 2026, ahead of its original timeline
• Six locations across five states are currently listed as “opening soon” on the company’s official website
• New Mexico is confirmed as the chain’s 11th state, with Albuquerque locations targeted for 2027
• A $125.5 million Eastern Territory Office is under construction in Franklin, Tennessee, signaling a long-term commitment to the region
• CEO Lynsi Snyder-Ellingson has explicitly ruled out Florida and the East Coast for the foreseeable future

Tennessee Came First, and the Response Was Massive

The first three Tennessee locations opened on December 10 and 12, 2025, in Lebanon, Antioch, and Murfreesboro. A fourth followed in Franklin on February 25, 2026. All four were originally expected to open in early 2026, so the December debut caught a lot of people off guard.

The response was unlike anything the chain had seen in a new market in years. People started lining up the night before. Metro police deployed traffic control. One group drove ten hours from Florida. A Facebook group called “In-N-Out fans of Tennessee” had grown to 33,800 members before a single store opened. The wait times got so bad that a local developer launched a crowdsourced app to track real-time lines at all three December locations.

The Franklin opening in February brought the same energy. The first customer in line had flown back from Orlando specifically to be first through the door.

Tennessee is not a one-off market for In-N-Out. The company has stated plans for up to 35 total locations in the state. Confirmed or likely future Tennessee cities include Madison, Knoxville, Memphis, Chattanooga, Clarksville, and Hendersonville, among others. A fifth location in Madison was described as “probably three to four months away” as of early 2026, which would put it on track for a summer 2026 opening.

The Six Locations Listed as Opening Soon Right Now

As of April 2026, these are the confirmed upcoming openings listed on In-N-Out’s official website. No specific dates have been announced for most of them.

Madison, Tennessee (1900 Gallatin Pike North) is the fifth Tennessee location and the most imminent of the group. It is already under construction.

Las Vegas Strip, Nevada (3747 S. Las Vegas Blvd) is the flashiest of the batch. This is a three-story, 10,520-square-foot restaurant inside a 400,000-square-foot development called The BLVD. It has no drive-thru, which is unusual for the chain, but it will include outdoor seating, a company merchandise store, and custom Las Vegas-style neon signage. It will be the second-largest In-N-Out location ever built by seating capacity.

Hillsboro, Oregon (11170 NE Evergreen Parkway) is the first Portland-area location. All permits were issued in February 2026 and construction is actively underway. This one has been a long time coming for Pacific Northwest fans.

Vancouver, Washington (13511 SE 3rd Way) is Washington state’s second location overall, following the Ridgefield opening in August 2025.

Timnath, Colorado (4911 Cima Vista Drive) is a new Colorado infill location.

St. George, Utah (4643 S. Pioneer Road) will be Utah’s sixth location.

On top of these six, a Buckeye, Arizona location at 1050 N. Verrado Way opened on April 3, 2026 as Store #435.

New Mexico Is the Next New State

In-N-Out has officially confirmed it is coming to New Mexico, with Albuquerque targeted for 2027.

At least two locations are planned: one near the University of New Mexico’s South Campus and a second near Cottonwood Mall. Mike Abbate, the company’s VP of Store Development, confirmed preliminary planning is underway, though he cautioned that specific opening dates are still too early to announce.

CEO Lynsi Snyder-Ellingson framed New Mexico as part of a broader Four Corners strategy, saying the chain will “be fully in the Four Corners by 2027.” These locations will be supplied by the Colorado Springs distribution center, which already services In-N-Out’s existing Colorado and Utah restaurants.

Why In-N-Out Expands So Slowly

In-N-Out currently operates around 435 locations in 10 states. For comparison, Five Guys has over 1,700 and Shake Shack is approaching 700. The gap is intentional.

Every In-N-Out is 100% company-owned. The chain has never franchised a single location in its 77-year history and Snyder-Ellingson has repeatedly said selling is “just not an option.” That means every expansion requires full corporate investment in land, construction, and staffing. More importantly, In-N-Out only promotes managers from within, so the chain can only grow as fast as it can develop qualified leaders.

The other constraint is the supply chain. Every In-N-Out receives daily deliveries of fresh, never-frozen ingredients via company-owned refrigerated trucks. No location can operate more than roughly a one-day drive from one of the company’s four patty-making and distribution facilities in California, Texas, and Colorado. Before In-N-Out can open in a new region, it has to build or acquire the infrastructure to supply it.

The Oregon and Washington expansion is backed by a 71,600-square-foot industrial building In-N-Out purchased in Gresham, Oregon in October 2025. That facility is widely viewed as a Pacific Northwest distribution hub and a signal that further expansion north toward Seattle is in the works.

Tennessee is supplied by the Lancaster, Texas facility via delivery routes through Arkansas, a state that has no In-N-Out locations yet. That routing pattern is one of the reasons industry analysts expect Arkansas to be a future target.

The $125.5 Million Eastern Headquarters

The most significant signal of In-N-Out’s long-term commitment to the East is a 100,000-square-foot Eastern Territory Office currently under construction in Franklin, Tennessee. The company is investing $125.5 million in the facility and creating 277 corporate jobs with an average salary of roughly $90,000. It is expected to be completed in late 2026.

This is not a regional satellite office. Snyder-Ellingson announced she is personally relocating her family from California to Tennessee to be near the new headquarters. “We’re building an office in Franklin, so I’m actually moving out there,” she said in July 2025. She was on-site at the Franklin restaurant opening in February 2026.

The Franklin office will handle operations management, HR, IT, and support functions for all eastern expansion. In-N-Out is simultaneously moving its West Coast headquarters back to Baldwin Park, California, the town where Harry and Esther Snyder opened the original location in 1948. By 2030 the chain will run two headquarters: one in Baldwin Park for the western operation and one in Franklin for everything east of it.

Tennessee Governor Bill Lee’s administration committed $2.75 million in economic development grants to support the investment.

What States Are Actually Next

Based on supply chain geography and public statements from leadership, the most likely candidates for expansion in the 2027 to 2030 window are states along the Dallas-to-Nashville delivery corridor: Arkansas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and Mississippi. Snyder-Ellingson has hinted at this directly, saying of the Tennessee expansion route: “There’s a path there that might cross a few other states. So don’t worry, there are others that will be included in this plan eventually.”

The Pacific Northwest trajectory points toward greater Seattle. In-N-Out already has multiple Washington locations and the Gresham warehouse positions Portland as a regional hub. A three-hour drive from Portland to Seattle is well within the chain’s delivery range.

Kentucky and Alabama are also plausible medium-term targets given the Tennessee footprint, though no announcements have been made.

What States Are Off the Table

Florida has asked. Loudly. The answer remains no.

In a July 2025 podcast appearance, Snyder-Ellingson was direct: “Florida has begged us, and we’re still saying no.

The East Coast states, we’re still saying no.” Without a distribution facility within range of the Southeast or the mid-Atlantic, the chain physically cannot serve those markets at its quality standards. No infrastructure investment has been announced for those regions.

This also means no New York, no Georgia, no Virginia, no Carolinas, and no Midwest states like Illinois or Michigan in the foreseeable future.

What This Means for Competitors

The Tennessee debut coincided with Whataburger announcing the closure of four Middle Tennessee restaurants the same week. Whataburger called the closures a routine business review. The timing was widely noticed.

In-N-Out generates the highest average unit volume of any burger chain in America at roughly $5.8 million per location. That is above Whataburger, Shake Shack, Culver’s, and Wendy’s.

The chain achieves those numbers on a menu with no chicken, no breakfast, and no salads, at price points well below premium competitors. A Double-Double combo runs about $11 compared to $20-plus at Shake Shack.

When In-N-Out opens in a new market, the opening-week demand is closer to a product launch than a restaurant opening.

The company spends less than one percent of revenue on advertising because the scarcity premium does the work for them. The same dynamic that brought people from ten states to Tennessee in December 2025 will repeat in every new market.

For a closer look at how In-N-Out stacks up in the overall fast food landscape, my fast food tier list covers every major chain ranked. And if you want a direct comparison on quality and value, the Five Guys vs. In-N-Out breakdown covers the premium burger debate with real pricing data.

The Bottom Line

In-N-Out is now in 10 states with a clear path to 12 or 13 by 2028. The company is building permanent eastern infrastructure, relocating leadership, and opening new markets at a pace it has not maintained in decades. It is still not going to Florida or the East Coast anytime soon. But for anyone in the Tennessee, Southeast, or Pacific Northwest corridor who has been waiting, the timeline just got a lot more concrete.

If you are in one of the confirmed states, check the official In-N-Out website for the most current opening updates. The chain does not typically announce specific dates far in advance, but the “opening soon” listings are a reliable signal of what is coming in the next few months.

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