Food and drink · Small-town market · California
Bakeries and dessert shops in the Eureka-Arcata, CA area
How the Eureka-Arcata, CA area compares with other small-town markets and the U.S. for bakeries and dessert shops: competitors, household spending, official counts and growth.
Groundwork market score · out of 100
Score 28 out of 100: Lower middle
Ranked #460 of 507 scored small-town markets
#8 of 8 scored small-town markets based in California
- Listings
- 51
- 11 chain locations (22%)
- Official establishments
- 52
- All snack bars and retail bakeries · +4.0% since 2019
- Household spending a year
- $192.4M
- On food away from home · $3,504 a household
- Spending per listing
- $3.8M
- 9% below the U.S.
- Listings per 10k households
- 9.3
- 5% below the U.S.
- Population, 2025
- 131,647
- −3.4% since 2020
See the bakeries and dessert shops around any address in the Eureka-Arcata 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 Eureka-Arcata area. Signed out, you see a blurred preview; on an account, each report is one action.
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
For bakeries and dessert shops, the Eureka-Arcata area has a Groundwork market score of 28 (lower middle): #460 of 507 scored small-town markets and #8 of 8 scored small-town markets based in California. That puts it in the bottom quarter of small-town markets.
Household spending on food away from home in the Eureka-Arcata area comes to about $192.4M a year: $3,504 per household, 14% below the U.S. average. That works out to $3.8M per shop, 9% below the U.S. figure of $4.1M. The spending figure covers all food away from home, not only bakeries and dessert shops.
There are 51 bakeries and dessert shops on map listings in the Eureka-Arcata area as of September 2026. Chain locations make up 22% of them, against 35% across the U.S. That is 9.3 per 10,000 households, 5% below the U.S. rate of 9.8.
Official counts show 52 businesses with payroll classed as snack bars and retail bakeries in the Eureka-Arcata area in 2023, up 4.0% from 2019. That is one for every 1,056 households, against one for every 1,369 across the U.S. That count covers all snack bars and retail bakeries (coffee shops and cafes included), not only bakeries and dessert shops. Since fiscal 2022, 2 SBA-backed loans worth $3.1M have gone to businesses classed as snack bars and retail bakeries in the Eureka-Arcata area. Between 2020 and 2025, the population of the Eureka-Arcata area declined 3.4%, against +3.1% for the U.S.
How the Eureka-Arcata area compares
The same measures for California 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.
| Measure | Eureka-Arcata area | California | U.S. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Listings per 10k households | 9.3 | 11.7 | 9.8 |
| Spending per listing | $3.8M | $3.9M | $4.1M |
| Households per official establishment (all snack bars and retail bakeries) | 1,056 | 916 | 1,369 |
| Official establishment growth, 2019–2023 | +4.0% | +14.4% | +24.6% |
| Population growth, 2020–2025 | −3.4% | −0.4% | +3.1% |
| Spending per household on food away from home | $3,504 | $4,559 | $4,070 |
| Median household income | $61,160 | $99,122 | $80,734 |
| Groundwork market score | 28 | 33 |
Official counts and lending
Businesses
- Official establishments, 2019 to 2023
- 52All snack bars and retail bakeries · +4.0% over the period
- Employees, 2023
- 606
- Annual payroll, 2023
- $16M
- One-person businesses, 2023
- 6All snack bars and retail bakeries with no payroll
- Map listings, September 2026
- 5111 chain locations
- Listings at the U.S. rate for this spending
- 46The U.S. ratio of listings to household spending, applied here
SBA-backed loans since fiscal 2022
- Loans
- 2
- Amount
- $3.1M
SBA-backed loans to businesses classed as snack bars and retail bakeries in the Eureka-Arcata 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 Eureka-Arcata area
- Population, 2025 estimate
- 131,647−3.4% since 2020
- Households
- 54,922
- Median age
- 40.4
- Homes lived in by their owners
- 57%
- Vehicles per household
- 1.9
- Land area
- 3,568 sq. mi.
- People per square mile
- 38
- Median household income
- $61,160+27.3% vs. 2015–2019, before inflation
- Average household income
- $86,194
- Median home value
- $446,900
- Jobs located here
- 48,178
- Daytime population
- 133,286Residents who don’t work, plus everyone whose job is here
Looking at a specific site in the Eureka-Arcata area?
These figures cover the whole small-town market. 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.
Or open the report at the center of the Eureka-Arcata area. Signed out, you see a blurred preview; on an account, each report is one action.
Free10 actions over 3 days, no cardBakeries and dessert shops across California
Every California market ranked →The highest-scoring small-town markets in California for bakeries and dessert shops, numbered among those based in California (a market based in another state is listed without a number), with the Eureka-Arcata area marked.
Top small-town markets in California
| Market | Score | Listings | Per 10k households | Spending per listing | Population growth | U.S. rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gardnerville Ranchos, NV-CA | 71 | 13 | 6.0 | $7.2M | +0.9% | #49 of 507 |
| 1Clearlake, CA | 59 | 12 | 4.5 | $7.9M | −0.6% | #154 of 507 |
| 2Red Bluff, CA | 56 | 10 | 4.0 | $8.7M | −1.7% | #181 of 507 |
| 3Crescent City, CA | 56 | 5 | 5.3 | $6.8M | −4.4% | #182 of 507 |
| 4Truckee-Grass Valley, CA | 51 | 39 | 9.1 | $4.7M | −0.4% | #244 of 507 |
| 5Bishop, CA | 32 | 8 | 10.0 | $3.8M | −4.4% | #432 of 507 |
| 6Ukiah, CA | 30 | 36 | 10.3 | $3.6M | −3.5% | #445 of 507 |
| 7Sonora, CA | 30 | 26 | 11.5 | $3.4M | −4.0% | #447 of 507 |
| 8Eureka-Arcata, CA | 28 | 51 | 9.3 | $3.8M | −3.4% | #460 of 507 |
Other business types in the Eureka-Arcata area
Each with its Groundwork market score here, out of 100, where it has one.
Food and drink
- Restaurants and cafes24
- Sit-down restaurants25
- Fast food and sandwich shops60
- Pizza46
- Coffee shops and cafes21
- Bakeries and dessert shops28
Groceries and convenience
Auto
Beauty and personal care
Fitness and classes
Health care
Child care
Clothing and laundry
Home services
Real estate
Funeral services
Questions
How many bakeries and dessert shops are in the Eureka-Arcata, CA area?
As of September 2026, map listings count 51 bakeries and dessert shops in the Eureka-Arcata area. 11 of them (22%) are chain locations. The listings count bakeries, ice cream, donut and dessert shops, candy stores. Official counts show 52 businesses with payroll classed as snack bars and retail bakeries in 2023, up 4.0% 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. Official counts list 6 one-person businesses without payroll.
How much do households in the Eureka-Arcata, CA area spend on food away from home?
About $192.4M a year, or $3,504 per household. That is 14% below the U.S. average (an index of 86, where 100 is the U.S. average). Spread across the 51 bakeries and dessert shops on map listings, it comes to $3.8M per shop. That spending covers all food away from home, which bakeries and dessert shops share with other businesses in the trade. It is estimated from the incomes of the 54,922 households in the Eureka-Arcata area and national spending patterns by income.
How does the Eureka-Arcata, CA area compare with the U.S. for bakeries and dessert shops?
The Eureka-Arcata area has 9.3 bakeries and dessert shops per 10,000 households, 5% below the U.S. rate of 9.8. Spending per shop is $3.8M, 9% below the U.S. figure of $4.1M. At the U.S. ratio of bakeries and dessert shops to household spending, the Eureka-Arcata area would have about 46, against 51 on map listings. There is one business with payroll in the industry for every 1,056 households, against one for every 1,369 across the U.S. The official count rose 4.0% from 2019 to 2023, against +24.6% for the U.S.
How fast is the Eureka-Arcata, CA area growing?
Population estimates put the Eureka-Arcata area at 131,647 people in 2025, down 3.4% since 2020, against +3.1% for the U.S. It has 54,922 households. The median household income in the Eureka-Arcata area is $61,160 a year, 24% below the U.S. median of $80,734. That rose 27.3% from the 2015–2019 survey, 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. A small-town market is a town of 10,000 to 50,000 people and the county or counties tied to it by commuting. 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 Eureka-Arcata area scores 28 for bakeries and dessert shops (lower middle), #460 of 507 scored small-town markets.
How can I see the market around a specific site?
Run a Groundwork site report on an address in the Eureka-Arcata 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 Eureka-Arcata area
Screening a site or an acquisition in the Eureka-Arcata 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 Eureka-Arcata 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.