In-N-Out Burger, a classic family-owned California company, is gradually relocating its corporate offices to Tennessee. It’s doing that even though there are no In-N-Out restaurants in Tennessee. California’s anti-business climate has given In-N-Out such a powerful incentive to move its headquarters that it is moving management operations there before any In-N-Out restaurants open in Tennessee, which won’t happen until 2026 or later. In-N-Out Burger’s original corporate headquarters remains in Baldwin Park, California, but it is gradually being downsized. California has a higher corporate tax rate than Tennessee. Tennessee has no income tax for individuals, unlike in California, where the state income tax is as high as 12.3%, depending on your income.
In-N-Out Burger is following in the footsteps of another iconic California burger chain, Carl’s Jr. In 2016, the parent company of Carl’s Jr., which was founded in Anaheim, California 70 years ago, relocated its headquarters to Nashville, Tennessee. In 2010, Northrop Grumman Corp. moved its headquarters out of California, leaving the state that gave birth to the aerospace industry without a single major military contractor based there. In 2017, Nestlé USA, the maker of Häagen-Dazs and Lean Cuisine, moved its headquarters out of California.
There are 280 In-N-Out restaurants in California and more than 400 in America, but none in Tennessee, although In-N-Out plans to open 30 restaurants in Tennessee between 2026 and 2028. The first locations will be in Nashville in 2026, and then in Chattanooga and Knoxville, reports Local 3 News
WMC Memphis reports that In-N-Out Burger plans to open restaurants in the following places in Tennessee between 2026-2028:
- Nashville: 10 to 15 stores
- Chattanooga: 2 to 3 stores
- Knoxville: 3 to 5 stores
- Clarksville: one store
- Cookeville: one store
- Memphis: 4 to 5 stores
- Tri-Cities: 2 to 3 stores
- Morristown: one store
- Jackson: one store
In-N-Out broke ground on its Tennessee headquarters in Franklin last September. It is off Interstate 65, near Berry Farms. The 100,000 square-foot building will be finished in early 2026.
Meanwhile, In-N-Out is closing its corporate office in Orange County, California, where much of In-N-Out’s management has worked since 1994. It is keeping open a corporate office in Los Angeles’s County’s Baldwin Park, where In-N-Out opened its first restaurant in the 1940s. Some employees in the Orange County office will move to Tennessee, while some others will move to Baldwin Park for the time being.
Some multi-state businesses have closed their facilities in California, despite having plenty of customers, after experiencing pointless harassment due to California’s oppressive regulatory regime, or the threat of meritless lawsuits.
