Groundwork

Food and drink · Small-town market · Minnesota

Bakeries and dessert shops in the Fergus Falls, MN area

The bakeries and dessert shops in the Fergus Falls, MN area, the household spending behind them and how the market ranks against other small-town markets.

Groundwork market score · out of 100

Score 68 out of 100: Upper middle

Ranked #70 of 507 scored small-town markets
#10 of 15 scored small-town markets based in Minnesota

Listings
20
2 chain locations (10%)
Official establishments
10
All snack bars and retail bakeries
Household spending a year
$95.2M
On food away from home · $3,783 a household
Spending per listing
$4.8M
15% above the U.S.
Listings per 10k households
8.0
18% below the U.S.
Population, 2025
61,041
+1.6% since 2020

See the bakeries and dessert shops around any address in the Fergus Falls 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 Fergus Falls 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

Households in the Fergus Falls area spend about $95.2M a year on food away from home, or $3,783 per household, 7% below the U.S. average. That works out to $4.8M per shop, 15% above the U.S. figure of $4.1M. The spending figure covers all food away from home, not only bakeries and dessert shops.

The Fergus Falls area has 20 bakeries and dessert shops on map listings as of September 2026. Of those, 2 are chain locations, or 10%, against 35% across the U.S. Per 10,000 households, that is 8.0, 18% below the U.S. rate of 9.8.

In 2023, official counts showed 10 businesses with payroll in the Fergus Falls area classed as snack bars and retail bakeries. That is one for every 2,516 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. Another 9 one-person businesses have no payroll, by official counts. Since fiscal 2022, 2 SBA-backed loans worth $56K have gone to businesses classed as snack bars and retail bakeries in the Fergus Falls area.

Between 2020 and 2025, the population of the Fergus Falls area grew 1.6%, slower than the U.S. (+3.1%). The Fergus Falls area scores 68 (upper middle) on the Groundwork market score for bakeries and dessert shops, ranking #70 of 507 scored small-town markets and #10 of 15 scored small-town markets based in Minnesota. That puts it in the top quarter of small-town markets.

How the Fergus Falls area compares

The same measures for Minnesota 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 Fergus Falls, MN area compared with Minnesota and the U.S.
MeasureFergus Falls areaMinnesotaU.S.
Listings per 10k households8.06.39.8
Spending per listing$4.8M$6.8M$4.1M
Households per official establishment (all snack bars and retail bakeries)2,5161,8931,369
Official establishment growth, 2019–2023n/a+18.7%+24.6%
Population growth, 2020–2025+1.6%+2.1%+3.1%
Spending per household on food away from home$3,783$4,330$4,070
Median household income$72,255$89,062$80,734
Groundwork market score6880

Official counts and lending

Businesses

Official establishments, 2019 to 2023
10All snack bars and retail bakeries
Employees, 2023
66
Annual payroll, 2023
$1.2M
One-person businesses, 2023
9All snack bars and retail bakeries with no payroll
Map listings, September 2026
202 chain locations
Listings at the U.S. rate for this spending
23The U.S. ratio of listings to household spending, applied here

SBA-backed loans since fiscal 2022

Loans
2
Amount
$56K

SBA-backed loans to businesses classed as snack bars and retail bakeries in the Fergus Falls 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 Fergus Falls area

Population, 2025 estimate
61,041+1.6% since 2020
Households
25,157
Median age
45.9
Homes lived in by their owners
79%
Vehicles per household
2.1
Land area
1,972 sq. mi.
People per square mile
31
Median household income
$72,255+23.1% vs. 2015–2019, before inflation
Average household income
$92,523
Median home value
$273,000
Jobs located here
23,068
Daytime population
55,886Residents who don’t work, plus everyone whose job is here

Looking at a specific site in the Fergus Falls 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 Fergus Falls 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 Minnesota

Every Minnesota market ranked →

The highest-scoring small-town markets in Minnesota for bakeries and dessert shops, numbered among those based in Minnesota (a market based in another state is listed without a number), with the Fergus Falls area marked.

Top small-town markets in Minnesota

Small-town markets in Minnesota ranked for bakeries and dessert shops by Groundwork market score
MarketScoreListingsPer 10k householdsSpending per listingPopulation growthU.S. rank
1Faribault-Northfield, MN85146.0$6.8M+4.2%#6 of 507
2Hutchinson, MN8374.6$8.6M−0.3%#7 of 507
3Bemidji, MN8195.0$7.5M+1.8%#9 of 507
4Winona, MN7994.4$8.4M+1.8%#15 of 507
5Grand Rapids, MN7852.7$13.5M+0.9%#18 of 507
6Marshall, MN7676.9$5.5M+1.0%#27 of 507
7Brainerd, MN75255.9$6.4M+4.3%#31 of 507
8Detroit Lakes, MN7496.2$6.1M+0.9%#35 of 507
9Alexandria, MN7174.0$9.9M+2.6%#47 of 507
Wahpeton, ND-MN6955.3$7.3M0.0%#62 of 507
10Fergus Falls, MN68208.0$4.8M+1.6%#70 of 507

Other business types in the Fergus Falls 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 Fergus Falls, MN area?

Map listings as of September 2026 show 20 bakeries and dessert shops in the Fergus Falls area. 2 of them (10%) are chain locations. The listings count bakeries, ice cream, donut and dessert shops, candy stores. Official counts show 10 businesses with payroll classed as snack bars and retail bakeries in 2023. 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 9 one-person businesses without payroll.

How much do households in the Fergus Falls, MN area spend on food away from home?

About $95.2M a year, or $3,783 per household. That is 7% below the U.S. average (an index of 93, where 100 is the U.S. average). Spread across the 20 bakeries and dessert shops on map listings, it comes to $4.8M 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 25,157 households in the Fergus Falls area and national spending patterns by income.

How does the Fergus Falls, MN area compare with the U.S. for bakeries and dessert shops?

The Fergus Falls area has 8.0 bakeries and dessert shops per 10,000 households, 18% below the U.S. rate of 9.8. Spending per shop is $4.8M, 15% above the U.S. figure of $4.1M. At the U.S. ratio of bakeries and dessert shops to household spending, the Fergus Falls area would have about 23, against 20 on map listings. There is one business with payroll in the industry for every 2,516 households, against one for every 1,369 across the U.S.

How fast is the Fergus Falls, MN area growing?

Population estimates put the Fergus Falls area at 61,041 people in 2025, up 1.6% since 2020, slower than the U.S. (+3.1%). It has 25,157 households. The median household income in the Fergus Falls area is $72,255 a year, 11% below the U.S. median of $80,734. That rose 23.1% 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 Fergus Falls area scores 68 for bakeries and dessert shops (upper middle), #70 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 Fergus Falls 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 Fergus Falls area

Screening a site or an acquisition in the Fergus Falls 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 Fergus Falls 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.