Market rankings · Food and drink
Top markets for bakeries and dessert shops
Every U.S. metro area, small-town market and county, ranked by the Groundwork market score for bakeries and dessert shops. The score weighs household spending per shop, households per business, population growth and spending power.
- Listings in the U.S.
- 126,921
- 44,891 chain locations (35%)
- Official establishments
- 94,359
- All snack bars and retail bakeries · +24.6% since 2019
- Household spending a year
- $525.9B
- On food away from home
- Listings per 10k households
- 9.8
- Spending per listing: $4.1M
A site report maps the bakeries and dessert shops on map listings around the address by name and distance, and the spending within reach.
Free10 actions over 3 days, no cardSurvey estimates 2020–2024 · population estimates 2025 · official business counts 2023 · map listings September 2026 · Data credits · How we measure
What this means
Map listings as of September 2026 show 126,921 bakeries and dessert shops in the U.S. Of those, 44,891 are chain locations, or 35%. That is 9.8 per 10,000 households.
At $4,070 per household, households in the U.S. spend about $525.9B a year on food away from home. Spread across 126,921 bakeries and dessert shops, that is $4.1M per shop. That spending covers all food away from home, which bakeries and dessert shops share with other businesses in the trade.
In 2023, official counts showed 94,359 businesses with payroll in the U.S. classed as snack bars and retail bakeries, up 24.6% from 2019. The official count takes in all snack bars and retail bakeries, not only bakeries and dessert shops: coffee shops and cafes are counted too. They employ 1,073,130 people, with $23.3B in annual payroll. Official counts also show 18,429 one-person businesses without payroll.
The Wildwood-The Villages, FL metro area has the highest market score for bakeries and dessert shops among 387 scored metro areas, at 89. In the 10 highest-scoring metro areas, the median spending per shop is 64% above the U.S. figure, and the median rate of listings per household is 33% below the U.S. rate.
Top markets
These tables (CSV)Ranked by the Groundwork market score, which weighs household spending per competitor, households per business with payroll, population growth and spending power against every other market of the same kind. How the score works.
Top metro areas of 1 million people or more
| Market | Score | Listings | Per 10k households | Spending per listing | Population growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3Richmond, VA | 84 | 399 | 7.5 | $5.6M | +5.5% |
| 9Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI | 77 | 969 | 6.6 | $7M | +2.6% |
| 17Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV | 75 | 2,192 | 9.2 | $5.6M | +3.3% |
| 20Columbus, OH | 74 | 683 | 7.9 | $5.3M | +4.7% |
| 25Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN | 73 | 687 | 8.2 | $5M | +5.4% |
| 38Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO | 70 | 1,027 | 8.4 | $5.6M | +4.1% |
| 47Kansas City, MO-KS | 69 | 746 | 8.3 | $5M | +3.4% |
| 49Raleigh-Cary, NC | 69 | 546 | 9.5 | $4.7M | +12.6% |
| 56Tucson, AZ | 67 | 266 | 6.1 | $6.1M | +2.8% |
| 61Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ | 67 | 1,643 | 8.7 | $4.8M | +7.3% |
| 64Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA | 66 | 1,242 | 7.7 | $6.4M | +3.3% |
| 66St. Louis, MO-IL | 66 | 911 | 7.9 | $5.2M | −0.2% |
| 76Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX | 65 | 978 | 9.9 | $4.6M | +14.0% |
| 81Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN | 64 | 443 | 7.9 | $4.8M | +2.9% |
| 82Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN | 64 | 781 | 8.6 | $4.8M | +2.7% |
Top 50 metro areas
| Market | Score | Listings | Per 10k households | Spending per listing | Population growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1Wildwood-The Villages, FL | 89 | 24 | 3.4 | $11M | +21.1% |
| 2Lexington Park, MD | 84 | 54 | 7.1 | $7.1M | +2.1% |
| 3Richmond, VA | 84 | 399 | 7.5 | $5.6M | +5.5% |
| 4Huntsville, AL | 83 | 147 | 7.1 | $5.8M | +12.5% |
| 5Greeley, CO | 82 | 65 | 5.2 | $8.3M | +14.2% |
| 6Hinesville, GA | 79 | 13 | 4.3 | $7.6M | +12.6% |
| 7Punta Gorda, FL | 79 | 59 | 6.5 | $5.5M | +15.5% |
| 8Durham-Chapel Hill, NC | 79 | 192 | 7.7 | $5.4M | +7.5% |
| 9Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI | 77 | 969 | 6.6 | $7M | +2.6% |
| 10Monroe, MI | 77 | 38 | 6.0 | $6.6M | +0.7% |
| 11Homosassa Springs, FL | 77 | 38 | 5.3 | $6.1M | +11.1% |
| 12Ocala, FL | 77 | 95 | 5.8 | $5.8M | +17.3% |
| 13Spartanburg, SC | 76 | 86 | 6.0 | $5.8M | +14.3% |
| 14Lakeland-Winter Haven, FL | 76 | 196 | 6.8 | $5.2M | +19.8% |
| 15Fargo, ND-MN | 75 | 63 | 5.7 | $6.9M | +7.7% |
| 16Jefferson City, MO | 75 | 36 | 6.1 | $6.1M | +2.2% |
| 17Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV | 75 | 2,192 | 9.2 | $5.6M | +3.3% |
| 18Oshkosh-Neenah, WI | 74 | 38 | 5.2 | $7.3M | +1.4% |
| 19Bloomington, IL | 74 | 39 | 5.6 | $7.3M | +0.1% |
| 20Columbus, OH | 74 | 683 | 7.9 | $5.3M | +4.7% |
| 21Naples-Marco Island, FL | 74 | 139 | 8.4 | $5.2M | +10.6% |
| 22St. Cloud, MN | 73 | 49 | 6.3 | $6.2M | +3.0% |
| 23Yuba City, CA | 73 | 40 | 6.5 | $6M | +3.3% |
| 24Columbia, SC | 73 | 240 | 7.1 | $5.1M | +6.0% |
| 25Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN | 73 | 687 | 8.2 | $5M | +5.4% |
| 26Sebastian-Vero Beach-West Vero Corridor, FL | 73 | 56 | 7.9 | $4.8M | +7.7% |
| 27Fond du Lac, WI | 72 | 23 | 5.3 | $7.2M | +0.5% |
| 28Lake Havasu City-Kingman, AZ | 72 | 50 | 4.9 | $6.7M | +6.5% |
| 29Bismarck, ND | 71 | 31 | 5.5 | $7.5M | +4.5% |
| 30Janesville-Beloit, WI | 71 | 47 | 7.0 | $5.4M | +1.7% |
| 31Omaha, NE-IA | 71 | 304 | 7.8 | $5.4M | +4.2% |
| 32Greenville-Anderson-Greer, SC | 71 | 290 | 7.6 | $4.9M | +9.0% |
| 33Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent, FL | 71 | 161 | 8.0 | $4.8M | +6.5% |
| 34Columbus, IN | 71 | 29 | 8.7 | $4.6M | +4.3% |
| 35Tuscaloosa, AL | 70 | 52 | 4.9 | $7M | +2.9% |
| 36Helena, MT | 70 | 23 | 5.9 | $6.7M | +7.7% |
| 37Rochester, MN | 70 | 65 | 7.0 | $6.3M | +2.0% |
| 38Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO | 70 | 1,027 | 8.4 | $5.6M | +4.1% |
| 39Staunton-Stuarts Draft, VA | 70 | 34 | 6.5 | $5.6M | +3.2% |
| 40Augusta-Richmond County, GA-SC | 70 | 164 | 7.1 | $5.2M | +4.7% |
| 41Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA | 70 | 249 | 8.4 | $5M | +6.7% |
| 42Florence-Muscle Shoals, AL | 69 | 35 | 5.5 | $6.2M | +3.5% |
| 43Sioux Falls, SD-MN | 69 | 91 | 7.4 | $5.5M | +9.5% |
| 44Madison, WI | 69 | 244 | 8.1 | $5.3M | +4.1% |
| 45Knoxville, TN | 69 | 265 | 7.0 | $5.3M | +6.9% |
| 46Sebring, FL | 69 | 29 | 6.2 | $5.1M | +9.7% |
| 47Kansas City, MO-KS | 69 | 746 | 8.3 | $5M | +3.4% |
| 48Chambersburg, PA | 69 | 51 | 8.0 | $4.8M | +3.0% |
| 49Raleigh-Cary, NC | 69 | 546 | 9.5 | $4.7M | +12.6% |
| 50Colorado Springs, CO | 68 | 218 | 7.2 | $5.9M | +3.1% |
Top 25 small-town markets
| Market | Score | Listings | Per 10k households | Spending per listing | Population growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1Lake of the Woods, VA | 93 | 9 | 6.1 | $7.1M | +10.1% |
| 2Anderson Creek, NC | 90 | 25 | 5.0 | $7.2M | +12.3% |
| 3Hemlock Farms, PA | 89 | 11 | 4.5 | $8.8M | +7.2% |
| 4Greencastle, IN | 88 | 6 | 4.2 | $8.9M | +3.2% |
| 5Seneca, SC | 87 | 11 | 3.2 | $11M | +6.3% |
| 6Faribault-Northfield, MN | 85 | 14 | 6.0 | $6.8M | +4.2% |
| 7Hutchinson, MN | 83 | 7 | 4.6 | $8.6M | −0.3% |
| 8Richmond-Berea, KY | 82 | 24 | 4.8 | $6.9M | +7.0% |
| 9Bemidji, MN | 81 | 9 | 5.0 | $7.5M | +1.8% |
| 10Brookings, SD | 81 | 8 | 5.8 | $6.5M | +9.6% |
| 11Jefferson, GA | 81 | 23 | 8.1 | $5.1M | +29.3% |
| 12Greensburg, IN | 80 | 5 | 4.7 | $8.1M | +0.4% |
| 13Fallon, NV | 80 | 5 | 5.3 | $7.2M | +1.1% |
| 14Rochelle, IL | 80 | 12 | 5.8 | $6.8M | −0.7% |
| 15Winona, MN | 79 | 9 | 4.4 | $8.4M | +1.8% |
| 16Wilmington, OH | 79 | 8 | 4.8 | $7.7M | +0.6% |
| 17Scottsboro, AL | 78 | 5 | 2.3 | $13.6M | +3.3% |
| 18Grand Rapids, MN | 78 | 5 | 2.7 | $13.5M | +0.9% |
| 19Pahrump, NV | 78 | 12 | 5.4 | $6.4M | +10.3% |
| 20Calhoun, GA | 78 | 12 | 5.6 | $6.3M | +6.9% |
| 21Bedford, IN | 78 | 11 | 5.7 | $6.2M | +1.2% |
| 22Palatka, FL | 77 | 11 | 3.5 | $8.6M | +5.9% |
| 23Holland, MI | 77 | 34 | 7.5 | $5.4M | +2.1% |
| 24Shelbyville, TN | 77 | 13 | 6.7 | $5.2M | +9.7% |
| 25Newberry, SC | 76 | 8 | 5.2 | $6.2M | +4.8% |
Top 25 counties
| Market | Score | Listings | Per 10k households | Spending per listing | Population growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1Chatham County, NC | 96 | 16 | 4.8 | $9.2M | +11.0% |
| 2Paulding County, GA | 94 | 24 | 4.0 | $10.8M | +12.7% |
| 3New Kent County, VA | 94 | 5 | 5.4 | $8.9M | +21.2% |
| 4Stafford County, VA | 94 | 34 | 6.5 | $8.2M | +8.3% |
| 5Fayette County, TN | 93 | 5 | 2.9 | $13.8M | +7.7% |
| 6Lincoln County, MO | 93 | 7 | 3.1 | $13.2M | +11.4% |
| 7Harris County, GA | 93 | 5 | 3.8 | $11.4M | +6.8% |
| 8Limestone County, AL | 93 | 15 | 3.7 | $11M | +18.0% |
| 9Wright County, MN | 93 | 28 | 5.2 | $9M | +11.1% |
| 10Sherburne County, MN | 92 | 13 | 3.7 | $12.7M | +6.8% |
| 11Sumter County, FL | 91 | 24 | 3.4 | $11M | +21.1% |
| 12Orange County, VA | 91 | 9 | 6.1 | $7.1M | +10.1% |
| 13Franklin County, NC | 90 | 10 | 3.5 | $10.4M | +18.8% |
| 14Isle of Wight County, VA | 90 | 9 | 5.7 | $7.4M | +6.7% |
| 15Monroe County, GA | 90 | 6 | 5.7 | $7.1M | +14.1% |
| 16Chesterfield County, VA | 90 | 90 | 6.4 | $7M | +8.7% |
| 17Waller County, TX | 90 | 12 | 6.5 | $6.3M | +21.9% |
| 18Scott County, MN | 89 | 25 | 4.5 | $11.3M | +5.1% |
| 19Pinal County, AZ | 89 | 72 | 4.4 | $8.7M | +25.4% |
| 20Miami County, KS | 89 | 7 | 5.1 | $8.3M | +5.9% |
| 21Effingham County, GA | 89 | 12 | 4.9 | $8.3M | +14.1% |
| 22Park County, CO | 89 | 5 | 5.6 | $8M | +5.1% |
| 23Louisa County, VA | 89 | 9 | 5.8 | $7M | +13.6% |
| 24Spotsylvania County, VA | 89 | 37 | 7.1 | $6.7M | +10.5% |
| 25Yuba County, CA | 88 | 9 | 3.1 | $12.1M | +8.2% |
Scored: 387 metro areas, 507 small-town markets and 1,889 counties, each with at least 5 bakeries and dessert shops on map listings (counties: 10,000 people or more). Spending per listing is all household spending on food away from home over the listings: demand for each competitor, not revenue. Each market has its own page, reached from its state below.
Excel · free with an account
Every market in one Excel file
Bakeries and dessert shops figures for all 387 metro areas, 538 small-town markets, 3,144 counties and 51 states: the Groundwork market score and rank, map listings and chains, household spending, businesses with payroll, employees and payroll, one-person businesses, SBA-backed loans, population, income and home value, each linked to its page. Sorted, filterable and ready to screen.
Bakeries and dessert shops by state
Every market in each state ranked, with the state’s highest-scoring metro area.
- AlabamaTop metro area: Huntsville metro area · 83
- AlaskaTop metro area: Anchorage metro area · 54
- ArizonaTop metro area: Lake Havasu City-Kingman metro area · 72
- ArkansasTop metro area: Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers metro area · 51
- CaliforniaTop metro area: Yuba City metro area · 73
- ColoradoTop metro area: Greeley metro area · 82
- ConnecticutTop metro area: Waterbury-Shelton metro area · 60
- DelawareTop metro area: Dover metro area · 63
- District of ColumbiaTop metro area: Washington-Arlington-Alexandria metro area · 75
- FloridaTop metro area: Wildwood-The Villages metro area · 89
- GeorgiaTop metro area: Hinesville metro area · 79
- HawaiiTop metro area: Urban Honolulu metro area · 26
- IdahoTop metro area: Boise City metro area · 61
- IllinoisTop metro area: Bloomington metro area · 74
- IndianaTop metro area: Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood metro area · 73
- IowaTop metro area: Des Moines-West Des Moines metro area · 70
- KansasTop metro area: Topeka metro area · 58
- KentuckyTop metro area: Louisville/Jefferson County metro area · 64
- LouisianaTop metro area: Baton Rouge metro area · 42
- MaineTop metro area: Bangor metro area · 39
- MarylandTop metro area: Lexington Park metro area · 84
- MassachusettsTop metro area: Worcester metro area · 49
- MichiganTop metro area: Monroe metro area · 77
- MinnesotaTop metro area: Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington metro area · 77
- MississippiTop metro area: Gulfport-Biloxi metro area · 35
- MissouriTop metro area: Jefferson City metro area · 75
- MontanaTop metro area: Helena metro area · 70
- NebraskaTop metro area: Omaha metro area · 71
- NevadaTop metro area: Reno metro area · 66
- New HampshireTop metro area: Manchester-Nashua metro area · 44
- New JerseyTop metro area: Trenton-Princeton metro area · 46
- New MexicoTop metro area: Las Cruces metro area · 56
- New YorkTop metro area: Albany-Schenectady-Troy metro area · 56
- North CarolinaTop metro area: Durham-Chapel Hill metro area · 79
- North DakotaTop metro area: Fargo metro area · 75
- OhioTop metro area: Columbus metro area · 74
- OklahomaTop metro area: Enid metro area · 64
- OregonTop metro area: Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro metro area · 57
- PennsylvaniaTop metro area: Chambersburg metro area · 69
- Rhode IslandTop metro area: Providence-Warwick metro area · 31
- South CarolinaTop metro area: Spartanburg metro area · 76
- South DakotaTop metro area: Sioux Falls metro area · 69
- TennesseeTop metro area: Knoxville metro area · 69
- TexasTop metro area: Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos metro area · 65
- UtahTop metro area: Ogden metro area · 57
- VermontTop metro area: Burlington-South Burlington metro area · 29
- VirginiaTop metro area: Richmond metro area · 84
- WashingtonTop metro area: Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue metro area · 66
- West VirginiaTop metro area: Beckley metro area · 52
- WisconsinTop metro area: Oshkosh-Neenah metro area · 74
- WyomingTop metro area: Cheyenne metro area · 57
Related business types
- Restaurants and cafes1,418,317 listings
- Sit-down restaurants792,466 listings
- Fast food and sandwich shops172,373 listings
- Pizza103,490 listings
- Coffee shops and cafes142,001 listings
Questions
Which metro areas have the highest market score for bakeries and dessert shops?
The top 5 are Wildwood-The Villages, FL (89); Lexington Park, MD (84); Richmond, VA (84); Huntsville, AL (83); and Greeley, CO (82). The score compares each of 387 scored metro areas with the others for bakeries and dessert shops.
How many bakeries and dessert shops are in the U.S.?
There are 126,921 bakeries and dessert shops on map listings in the U.S. as of September 2026. 44,891 of them (35%) are chain locations. The listings count bakeries, ice cream, donut and dessert shops, candy stores. Official counts show 94,359 businesses with payroll classed as snack bars and retail bakeries in 2023, up 24.6% from 2019. That count covers all snack bars and retail bakeries (coffee shops and cafes included), not only bakeries and dessert shops. Another 18,429 one-person businesses have no payroll, by official counts.
How much do U.S. households spend on food away from home?
About $525.9B a year, or $4,070 per household. Spread across the 126,921 bakeries and dessert shops on map listings, it comes to $4.1M per shop. The spending figure covers all food away from home, not only bakeries and dessert shops. It is estimated from the incomes of the 129,209,336 households in the U.S. and national spending patterns by income.
What is the Groundwork market score?
The Groundwork market score runs from 0 to 100 and compares a market with others of its kind for one business type: states with states, metro areas with metro areas, small-town markets and counties with their own. It weighs household spending per competitor (35%), households per business with payroll (25%), population growth (20%) and spending power (20%), each ranked against those peers. A higher score means that, taken together, the market has more household spending and more households for each business already there, faster population growth and more spending per household than similar markets. It describes a market, not any one site or deal. Markets with fewer than 5 map listings of the type, and counties under 10,000 people, aren’t scored, since a few businesses can swing their figures.
How can I see the market around a specific site?
Run a Groundwork site report on an address anywhere in the U.S. It maps the bakeries and dessert shops on map listings near the site and sizes the households and spending within the distance you choose. New accounts get 10 actions over 3 days, no card.
All business types and every U.S. market · How we measure
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A site report maps the competitors on map listings near an address and sizes the households and spending around it.
This product uses the Census Bureau Data API but is not endorsed or certified by the Census Bureau.
Figures are estimates for research only. Not investment or real estate advice.