Groundwork

Food and drink · Metro area · Maine

Bakeries and dessert shops in the Lewiston-Auburn, ME metro area

How the Lewiston-Auburn, ME metro area compares with other metro areas and the U.S. for bakeries and dessert shops: competitors, household spending, official counts and growth.

Groundwork market score · out of 100

Score 35 out of 100: Lower middle

Ranked #310 of 387 scored metro areas
#2 of 3 scored metro areas based in Maine

Listings
46
16 chain locations (35%)
Official establishments
39
All snack bars and retail bakeries · +18.2% since 2019
Household spending a year
$166.8M
On food away from home · $3,552 a household
Spending per listing
$3.6M
12% below the U.S.
Listings per 10k households
9.8
In line with the U.S.
Population, 2025
116,487
+4.8% since 2020

See the bakeries and dessert shops around any address in the Lewiston-Auburn 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 Lewiston-Auburn 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

The Groundwork market score for bakeries and dessert shops in the Lewiston-Auburn metro area is 35 (lower middle), #310 of 387 scored metro areas and #2 of 3 scored metro areas based in Maine. That puts it in the bottom quarter of metro areas.

Household spending on food away from home in the Lewiston-Auburn metro area comes to about $166.8M a year: $3,552 per household, 13% below the U.S. average. That is about $3.6M of household spending for each shop on map listings, 12% below the U.S. figure of $4.1M. The spending figure covers all food away from home, not only bakeries and dessert shops.

The Lewiston-Auburn metro area has 46 bakeries and dessert shops on map listings as of September 2026. Chain locations make up 35% of them, against 35% across the U.S. That comes to 9.8 for every 10,000 households, in line with the U.S. rate of 9.8.

In 2023, official counts showed 39 businesses with payroll in the Lewiston-Auburn metro area classed as snack bars and retail bakeries, up 18.2% from 2019. That is one for every 1,204 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, 7 SBA-backed loans worth $1.3M have gone to businesses classed as snack bars and retail bakeries in the Lewiston-Auburn metro area. Population estimates show the Lewiston-Auburn metro area grew 4.8% from 2020 to 2025, faster than the U.S. (+3.1%).

How the Lewiston-Auburn metro area compares

The same measures for Maine 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 Lewiston-Auburn, ME metro area compared with Maine and the U.S.
MeasureLewiston-Auburn metro areaMaineU.S.
Listings per 10k households9.813.49.8
Spending per listing$3.6M$2.9M$4.1M
Households per official establishment (all snack bars and retail bakeries)1,2049631,369
Official establishment growth, 2019–2023+18.2%+19.2%+24.6%
Population growth, 2020–2025+4.8%+3.7%+3.1%
Spending per household on food away from home$3,552$3,835$4,070
Median household income$67,873$74,733$80,734
Groundwork market score3526

Official counts and lending

Businesses

Official establishments, 2019 to 2023
39All snack bars and retail bakeries · +18.2% over the period
Employees, 2023
436
Annual payroll, 2023
$8.2M
One-person businesses, 2023
8All snack bars and retail bakeries with no payroll
Map listings, September 2026
4616 chain locations
Listings at the U.S. rate for this spending
40The U.S. ratio of listings to household spending, applied here

SBA-backed loans since fiscal 2022

Loans
7
Amount
$1.3M

SBA-backed loans to businesses classed as snack bars and retail bakeries in the Lewiston-Auburn 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 Lewiston-Auburn metro area

Population, 2025 estimate
116,487+4.8% since 2020
Households
46,953
Median age
41.6
Homes lived in by their owners
68%
Vehicles per household
1.7
Land area
468 sq. mi.
People per square mile
242
Median household income
$67,873+26.8% vs. 2015–2019, before inflation
Average household income
$86,271
Median home value
$252,800
Jobs located here
50,802
Daytime population
111,740Residents who don’t work, plus everyone whose job is here

Looking at a specific site in the Lewiston-Auburn 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.

Or open the report at the center of the Lewiston-Auburn metro area. Signed out, you see a blurred preview; on an account, each report is one action.

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Bakeries and dessert shops across Maine

Every Maine market ranked →

The highest-scoring metro areas in Maine for bakeries and dessert shops, numbered among those based in Maine, with the Lewiston-Auburn metro area marked.

Top metro areas in Maine

Metro areas in Maine ranked for bakeries and dessert shops by Groundwork market score
MarketScoreListingsPer 10k householdsSpending per listingPopulation growthU.S. rank
1Bangor, ME39578.7$4.1M+3.8%#286 of 387
2Lewiston-Auburn, ME35469.8$3.6M+4.8%#310 of 387
3Portland-South Portland, ME3535915.0$2.9M+4.5%#313 of 387

Other business types in the Lewiston-Auburn 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 Lewiston-Auburn, ME metro area?

Map listings as of September 2026 show 46 bakeries and dessert shops in the Lewiston-Auburn metro area. 16 of them (35%) are chain locations. The listings count bakeries, ice cream, donut and dessert shops, candy stores. Official counts show 39 businesses with payroll classed as snack bars and retail bakeries in 2023, up 18.2% 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 8 one-person businesses without payroll.

How much do households in the Lewiston-Auburn, ME metro area spend on food away from home?

About $166.8M a year, or $3,552 per household. That is 13% below the U.S. average (an index of 87, where 100 is the U.S. average). Spread across the 46 bakeries and dessert shops on map listings, it comes to $3.6M 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 46,953 households in the Lewiston-Auburn metro area and national spending patterns by income.

How does the Lewiston-Auburn, ME metro area compare with the U.S. for bakeries and dessert shops?

The Lewiston-Auburn metro area has 9.8 bakeries and dessert shops per 10,000 households, in line with the U.S. rate of 9.8. Spending per shop is $3.6M, 12% below the U.S. figure of $4.1M. At the U.S. ratio of bakeries and dessert shops to household spending, the Lewiston-Auburn metro area would have about 40, against 46 on map listings. There is one business with payroll in the industry for every 1,204 households, against one for every 1,369 across the U.S. The official count rose 18.2% from 2019 to 2023, against +24.6% for the U.S.

How fast is the Lewiston-Auburn, ME metro area growing?

Population estimates put the Lewiston-Auburn metro area at 116,487 people in 2025, up 4.8% since 2020, faster than the U.S. (+3.1%). It has 46,953 households. The median household income in the Lewiston-Auburn metro area is $67,873 a year, 16% below the U.S. median of $80,734. That rose 26.8% 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. 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 Lewiston-Auburn metro area scores 35 for bakeries and dessert shops (lower middle), #310 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 Lewiston-Auburn 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 Lewiston-Auburn metro area

Screening a site or an acquisition in the Lewiston-Auburn 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 Lewiston-Auburn 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.