Groundwork

Food and drink · Metro area · Alabama

Bakeries and dessert shops in the Florence-Muscle Shoals, AL metro area

Competitor counts, household spending and official business counts for bakeries and dessert shops in the Florence-Muscle Shoals, AL metro area, set against other metro areas and the U.S.

Groundwork market score · out of 100

Score 69 out of 100: Upper middle

Ranked #42 of 387 scored metro areas
#3 of 12 scored metro areas based in Alabama

Listings
35
15 chain locations (43%)
Official establishments
27
All snack bars and retail bakeries
Household spending a year
$215.4M
On food away from home · $3,389 a household
Spending per listing
$6.2M
49% above the U.S.
Listings per 10k households
5.5
44% below the U.S.
Population, 2025
156,609
+3.5% since 2020

See the bakeries and dessert shops around any address in the Florence-Muscle Shoals metro area

The site report maps the bakeries and dessert shops on map listings near the address, by name and distance, and sizes the households and spending around it. Or open the report at the center of the Florence-Muscle Shoals metro area. Signed out, you see a blurred preview; on an account, each report is one action.

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Survey 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 35 bakeries and dessert shops in the Florence-Muscle Shoals metro area. Of those, 15 are chain locations, or 43%, against 35% across the U.S. That comes to 5.5 for every 10,000 households, 44% below the U.S. rate of 9.8.

Household spending on food away from home in the Florence-Muscle Shoals metro area comes to about $215.4M a year: $3,389 per household, 17% below the U.S. average. That works out to $6.2M per shop, 49% above the U.S. figure of $4.1M. 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 27 businesses with payroll in the Florence-Muscle Shoals metro area classed as snack bars and retail bakeries. That is one for every 2,354 households, against one for every 1,369 across the U.S. The official count takes in all snack bars and retail bakeries, not only bakeries and dessert shops: coffee shops and cafes are counted too. Official counts list 14 one-person businesses without payroll. Since fiscal 2022, 3 SBA-backed loans worth $2.2M have gone to businesses classed as snack bars and retail bakeries in the Florence-Muscle Shoals metro area.

Population estimates put the population change in the Florence-Muscle Shoals metro area from 2020 to 2025 at +3.5%, in step with the U.S. (+3.1%). The Groundwork market score for bakeries and dessert shops in the Florence-Muscle Shoals metro area is 69 (upper middle), #42 of 387 scored metro areas and #3 of 12 scored metro areas based in Alabama. That puts it in the top quarter of metro areas.

How the Florence-Muscle Shoals metro area compares

The same measures for Alabama and the whole U.S. Spending per listing divides a year of household spending on all food away from home by the bakeries and dessert shops counted, so it measures the demand for each competitor, not any business’s revenue. Households per establishment does the same with the official count.

Bakeries and dessert shops in Florence-Muscle Shoals, AL metro area compared with Alabama and the U.S.
MeasureFlorence-Muscle Shoals metro areaAlabamaU.S.
Listings per 10k households5.56.79.8
Spending per listing$6.2M$5.2M$4.1M
Households per official establishment (all snack bars and retail bakeries)2,3542,2671,369
Official establishment growth, 2019–2023n/a+60.2%+24.6%
Population growth, 2020–2025+3.5%+3.2%+3.1%
Spending per household on food away from home$3,389$3,519$4,070
Median household income$61,891$63,999$80,734
Groundwork market score6970

Official counts and lending

Businesses

Official establishments, 2019 to 2023
27All snack bars and retail bakeries
Employees, 2023
184
Annual payroll, 2023
$4M
One-person businesses, 2023
14All snack bars and retail bakeries with no payroll
Map listings, September 2026
3515 chain locations
Listings at the U.S. rate for this spending
52The U.S. ratio of listings to household spending, applied here

SBA-backed loans since fiscal 2022

Loans
3
Amount
$2.2M

SBA-backed loans to businesses classed as snack bars and retail bakeries in the Florence-Muscle Shoals metro area, through June 2026, placed by the borrower’s ZIP code. Official establishments are businesses with payroll; the official counts leave out places with fewer than 3. These official figures cover all snack bars and retail bakeries, not only bakeries and dessert shops.

Population and households in the Florence-Muscle Shoals metro area

Population, 2025 estimate
156,609+3.5% since 2020
Households
63,559
Median age
41.7
Homes lived in by their owners
70%
Vehicles per household
2.0
Land area
1,261 sq. mi.
People per square mile
122
Median household income
$61,891+28.7% vs. 2015–2019, before inflation
Average household income
$81,683
Median home value
$187,400
Jobs located here
54,714
Daytime population
149,641Residents who don’t work, plus everyone whose job is here

Looking at a specific site in the Florence-Muscle Shoals metro area?

These figures cover the whole metro area. A site report draws rings around one address and counts what’s inside them: households, spending, jobs, and the bakeries and dessert shops on map listings by name and distance.

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Bakeries and dessert shops across Alabama

Every Alabama market ranked →

The highest-scoring metro areas in Alabama for bakeries and dessert shops, numbered among those based in Alabama (a market based in another state is listed without a number), with the Florence-Muscle Shoals metro area marked.

Top metro areas in Alabama

Metro areas in Alabama ranked for bakeries and dessert shops by Groundwork market score
MarketScoreListingsPer 10k householdsSpending per listingPopulation growthU.S. rank
1Huntsville, AL831477.1$5.8M+12.5%#4 of 387
2Tuscaloosa, AL70524.9$7M+2.9%#35 of 387
3Florence-Muscle Shoals, AL69355.5$6.2M+3.5%#42 of 387
4Montgomery, AL64875.7$6.1M+0.9%#79 of 387
5Auburn-Opelika, AL62496.4$5.5M+7.1%#96 of 387
6Birmingham, AL623537.6$4.9M+1.4%#98 of 387
7Decatur, AL60487.7$4.7M+2.5%#118 of 387
Columbus, GA-AL57745.8$5.8M−1.3%#136 of 387
8Mobile, AL551056.5$5.2M−0.7%#153 of 387
9Anniston-Oxford, AL52286.2$5.1M−0.3%#180 of 387

Other business types in the Florence-Muscle Shoals metro area

Each with its Groundwork market score here, out of 100, where it has one.

Questions

How many bakeries and dessert shops are in the Florence-Muscle Shoals, AL metro area?

There are 35 bakeries and dessert shops on map listings in the Florence-Muscle Shoals metro area as of September 2026. 15 of them (43%) are chain locations. The listings count bakeries, ice cream, donut and dessert shops, candy stores. Official counts show 27 businesses with payroll classed as snack bars and retail bakeries in 2023. That count covers all snack bars and retail bakeries (coffee shops and cafes included), not only bakeries and dessert shops. Official counts also show 14 one-person businesses without payroll.

How much do households in the Florence-Muscle Shoals, AL metro area spend on food away from home?

About $215.4M a year, or $3,389 per household. That is 17% below the U.S. average (an index of 83, where 100 is the U.S. average). Spread across the 35 bakeries and dessert shops on map listings, it comes to $6.2M 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 63,559 households in the Florence-Muscle Shoals metro area and national spending patterns by income.

How does the Florence-Muscle Shoals, AL metro area compare with the U.S. for bakeries and dessert shops?

The Florence-Muscle Shoals metro area has 5.5 bakeries and dessert shops per 10,000 households, 44% below the U.S. rate of 9.8. Spending per shop is $6.2M, 49% above the U.S. figure of $4.1M. At the national ratio of bakeries and dessert shops to household spending, the Florence-Muscle Shoals metro area would have about 52, against 35 on map listings. There is one business with payroll in the industry for every 2,354 households, against one for every 1,369 across the U.S.

How fast is the Florence-Muscle Shoals, AL metro area growing?

Population estimates put the Florence-Muscle Shoals metro area at 156,609 people in 2025, up 3.5% since 2020, in step with the U.S. (+3.1%). It has 63,559 households. Median household income in the Florence-Muscle Shoals metro area is $61,891, 23% below the U.S. median of $80,734. Against the 2015–2019 survey, the median rose 28.7%, before inflation.

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. The Florence-Muscle Shoals metro area scores 69 for bakeries and dessert shops (upper middle), #42 of 387 scored metro areas.

How can I see the market around a specific site?

Run a Groundwork site report on an address in the Florence-Muscle Shoals metro area. 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.

How the score works · Top markets for bakeries and dessert shops · All 56 business types in the Florence-Muscle Shoals metro area

Screening a site or an acquisition in the Florence-Muscle Shoals metro area?

A site report maps the competitors on map listings near an address and sizes the households and spending around it.

The button opens the report at the center of the Florence-Muscle Shoals metro area. Signed out, you see a blurred preview; on an account, each report is one action.

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.