Restaurant Inspection Scores: How Health Grades and Letter Grades Work

There is no national restaurant inspection score. Each health department chooses its own system. New York City adds up violation points, so 0 to 13 points is an A. Los Angeles County deducts from 100, so 90 to 100 is an A. Sacramento County skips numbers and posts a green, yellow or red placard. Read any score against its local scale.

That is why so much of what people believe about health grades is wrong. A "B" in one city and a "B" in another can come from completely different arithmetic. A restaurant with a 95 might be excellent in one county and the score might not exist at all in the next one over. And in every system, the grade on the door is a summary of one visit, not a certificate of how the kitchen runs the rest of the year.

Who sets restaurant inspection scores?

Your local regulatory authority. In the United States, restaurant inspection is carried out by state, county and city health departments, not by a federal agency. The FDA writes the model Food Code and a model inspection report form, but it does not grade restaurants, and it does not require any jurisdiction to publish letter grades.

The FDA model inspection form, Form 3-A in Annex 7 of the Food Code, records violations by category rather than producing a letter. The Food Code also classifies provisions as Priority, Priority foundation and Core items, which reflects how directly each one affects the risk of foodborne illness. Whether those findings then become a number, a letter, a colored placard or a simple pass is a local decision layered on top. Our hub on regulatory inspections covers what happens during the visit itself.

How the main scoring systems compare

Most jurisdictions fall into one of three patterns: points that count up, points that count down, or a placard with no number. The table shows one well-documented example of each.

The same idea, rewarding fewer and less serious violations, sits under all three. The arithmetic runs in opposite directions, though, which is the single most common source of confusion when someone compares cities.

How New York City's letter grades work

New York City scores an inspection by assigning points to the violations found. The more serious the violation, the more points it carries. According to NYC Health, an inspection score of 0 to 13 is an A, 14 to 27 points is a B, and 28 or more points is a C.

So in New York, a low number is good news. A restaurant with a score of 10 has had a better inspection than one with a score of 20, even though 20 sounds like more. When people ask what a B means at a New York restaurant, the honest answer is that the inspector found enough violations on that inspection to push the score past 13 points, and nothing more specific than that. The posted letter does not tell you which violations they were. The full inspection record, which the city publishes, does.

How Los Angeles County's letter grades work

Los Angeles County runs the scale the other way. Its grading and posting guidance sets 90 to 100 points as an A, 80 to 89 as a B and 70 to 79 as a C. A facility that scores below 70 receives a card showing the actual score rather than a letter grade.

Two details on the county's guidance matter more than the letter. First, a facility can be closed for a serious violation regardless of its score, so a high number does not protect an operation that has an imminent health hazard. Second, the county ties consequences to repeat poor scores, not just to a single bad day. The letter is the visible part; the enforcement sits behind it.

How pass/fail placard systems work

Sacramento County's Green, Yellow, Red placard program is a good example of the no-number approach. The county requires a placard to be posted near the main entrance and states that its online inspection result reflects the placard color issued.

In broad terms, green means the facility passed, yellow means a conditional pass where major violations were found and must be corrected with a follow-up visit, and red means the facility is closed because of an imminent health hazard until a reinspection shows it has been fixed. The county's own pages describe the exact thresholds and reinspection timing, and those are the version to rely on.

Placard systems are blunter than points, and that is partly the point. A customer cannot misread green, and an operator cannot spin a yellow.

What a restaurant inspection score does not tell you

A score is a snapshot of one inspection. Inspections are usually unannounced, which helps, but the result still reflects what the inspector saw on that day, in that time window, at that stage of service.

It also compresses very different problems into one number. A point-based score can be pushed up by several minor structural issues, such as a worn floor surface, while a single serious practice violation might carry similar weight. That is why the full inspection report is more informative than the grade. Most health departments that publish scores also publish the violation list behind them, and that list is what an operator, a job candidate or a diner should actually read.

Finally, a grade can lag. Some jurisdictions let an operator contest a result before a final grade is posted, and in Los Angeles County a posted card stays up until the next routine inspection. The card on the door is not always today's picture.

How managers keep the score high

The scoring method changes from city to city. What earns the points does not. Inspectors are looking at the same risk factors everywhere: holding temperatures, cooling, cross-contamination, personal hygiene, and whether the person in charge actually knows the operation's food safety controls. The 2026 Food Code adds documentation to that list, renaming one item on the model inspection form "Illness Documentation."

The managers who keep strong scores are not the ones who scramble the day before. They run their own inspections on a schedule, fix the cause of a recurring violation rather than the symptom, and train staff so correct practice holds when the manager is off the floor. That is active managerial control in practice, and it is the subject of our guide on how to prepare your kitchen for a health inspection.

What this means for you

If you run a kitchen, find out exactly which system your health department uses and read its published scoring guide once, start to finish. Knowing whether you are counted up or down, which violations carry the most weight, and when a grade card can be contested is basic operating knowledge, and many managers never look it up.

If you are moving between cities, do not carry your old scale with you. A manager used to a 100-point county can misjudge how a New York inspection went, and the reverse. Translate the score before you react to it.

If you are interviewing for a kitchen job, look up the restaurant's inspection history before you go. A pattern of the same violation, inspection after inspection, tells you more about the management than any single grade.

Frequently asked questions

What does a B mean at a restaurant?

It depends on the city. In New York City, a B means the inspection scored 14 to 27 violation points. In Los Angeles County, a B means a score of 80 to 89 out of 100. In both cases it signals more violations than an A inspection, but the posted letter does not say which ones. Check the published report.

Is a higher restaurant inspection score better?

Only in systems that deduct from 100, such as Los Angeles County, where 90 to 100 is an A. In systems that add violation points, such as New York City, lower is better and 0 to 13 is an A. Always check which way the local scale runs before comparing two numbers.

Can you see food inspection reports online?

In many jurisdictions, yes. Health departments in New York City, Los Angeles County and Sacramento County all publish inspection results, and many other counties offer searchable databases. Search your local health department's website for restaurant or food facility inspections. The full report shows the individual violations behind the grade.

Does the FDA grade restaurants?

No. The FDA writes the model Food Code and a model inspection report form, but inspections are carried out by state, county and city health departments. Each of those agencies decides whether to publish scores, letter grades, colored placards or simple pass results, which is why the systems vary so widely.

What happens if a restaurant fails a health inspection?

Consequences are set locally. Common outcomes include a follow-up inspection, a conditional or lower grade, and in serious cases an immediate closure until an imminent health hazard is corrected. Los Angeles County, for example, states that a facility can be closed for a serious violation regardless of its score.

What do health inspectors look for most?

The same core risk factors appear everywhere: improper holding temperatures, inadequate cooking and cooling, contaminated equipment, poor personal hygiene, and food from unsafe sources. Inspectors also check that the person in charge can demonstrate food safety knowledge, which is one reason many jurisdictions require a certified food protection manager.

Want to test the knowledge an inspector expects the person in charge to have? Try the free ServSafe Manager practice test.

Sources

• FDA: Food Code 2022 — the model code, its Priority, Priority foundation and Core classifications, and the Annex 7 model inspection report form
• FDA: Summary of Changes in the 2026 FDA Food Code — the Annex 7 Form 3-A change renaming Item 5 "Illness Documentation"
• FDA: Voluntary National Retail Food Regulatory Program Standards — the FDA framework for state and local retail food inspection programs
• CDC: Outbreaks and Certified Managers — CDC findings on certified kitchen managers and restaurant outbreaks
• NYC Health: Letter Grading for Restaurants — the 0 to 13, 14 to 27 and 28 or more point bands
• Los Angeles County Public Health: Grading and Posting Requirements for Retail Food Facilities — the 90 to 100, 80 to 89 and 70 to 79 bands and the score card below 70
• Sacramento County EMD: Green, Yellow, Red Placard Program — the placard system and posting rule