Groundwork

Food and drink · Metro area · Missouri

Bakeries and dessert shops in the Kansas City, MO-KS metro area

How the Kansas City, MO-KS 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 69 out of 100: Upper middle

Ranked #47 of 387 scored metro areas
#2 of 8 scored metro areas based in Missouri

Listings
746
266 chain locations (36%)
Official establishments
512
All snack bars and retail bakeries · +43.9% since 2019
Household spending a year
$3.7B
On food away from home · $4,174 a household
Spending per listing
$5M
21% above the U.S.
Listings per 10k households
8.3
15% below the U.S.
Population, 2025
2,270,682
+3.4% since 2020

See the bakeries and dessert shops around any address in the Kansas City 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 Kansas City 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 746 bakeries and dessert shops in the Kansas City metro area. Chain locations make up 36% of them, against 35% across the U.S. That comes to 8.3 for every 10,000 households, 15% below the U.S. rate of 9.8.

At $4,174 per household (3% above the U.S. average), households in the Kansas City metro area spend about $3.7B a year on food away from home. That is about $5M of household spending for each shop on map listings, 21% 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.

Official counts show 512 businesses with payroll classed as snack bars and retail bakeries in the Kansas City metro area in 2023, up 43.9% from 2019. That is one for every 1,749 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. Another 100 one-person businesses have no payroll, by official counts. Since fiscal 2022, 44 SBA-backed loans worth $19.8M have gone to businesses classed as snack bars and retail bakeries in the Kansas City metro area.

Population estimates show the Kansas City metro area grew 3.4% from 2020 to 2025, in step with the U.S. (+3.1%). The Kansas City metro area scores 69 (upper middle) on the Groundwork market score for bakeries and dessert shops, ranking #47 of 387 scored metro areas and #2 of 8 scored metro areas based in Missouri. That puts it in the top quarter of metro areas.

How the Kansas City metro area compares

The same measures for Missouri 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 Kansas City, MO-KS metro area compared with Missouri and the U.S.
MeasureKansas City metro areaMissouriU.S.
Listings per 10k households8.38.19.8
Spending per listing$5M$4.7M$4.1M
Households per official establishment (all snack bars and retail bakeries)1,7491,9131,369
Official establishment growth, 2019–2023+43.9%+43.3%+24.6%
Population growth, 2020–2025+3.4%+1.9%+3.1%
Spending per household on food away from home$4,174$3,799$4,070
Median household income$83,460$70,702$80,734
Groundwork market score6956

Official counts and lending

Businesses

Official establishments, 2019 to 2023
512All snack bars and retail bakeries · +43.9% over the period
Employees, 2023
6,304
Annual payroll, 2023
$129.4M
One-person businesses, 2023
100All snack bars and retail bakeries with no payroll
Map listings, September 2026
746266 chain locations
Listings at the U.S. rate for this spending
902The U.S. ratio of listings to household spending, applied here

SBA-backed loans since fiscal 2022

Loans
44
Amount
$19.8M

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

Population, 2025 estimate
2,270,682+3.4% since 2020
Households
895,368
Median age
39.1
Homes lived in by their owners
66%
Vehicles per household
1.8
Land area
7,257 sq. mi.
People per square mile
306
Median household income
$83,460+25.3% vs. 2015–2019, before inflation
Average household income
$111,261
Median home value
$287,300
Jobs located here
1,123,972
Daytime population
2,247,861Residents who don’t work, plus everyone whose job is here

Looking at a specific site in the Kansas City 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 Kansas City 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 Missouri

Every Missouri market ranked →

The highest-scoring metro areas in Missouri for bakeries and dessert shops, numbered among those based in Missouri, with the Kansas City metro area marked.

Top metro areas in Missouri

Metro areas in Missouri ranked for bakeries and dessert shops by Groundwork market score
MarketScoreListingsPer 10k householdsSpending per listingPopulation growthU.S. rank
1Jefferson City, MO75366.1$6.1M+2.2%#16 of 387
2Kansas City, MO-KS697468.3$5M+3.4%#47 of 387
3St. Louis, MO-IL669117.9$5.2M−0.2%#66 of 387
4Columbia, MO58718.2$4.7M+3.9%#133 of 387
5Springfield, MO531577.9$4.5M+5.1%#173 of 387
6Cape Girardeau, MO-IL48338.6$4.2M+1.7%#215 of 387
7Joplin, MO-KS378410.6$3.2M+3.9%#297 of 387
8St. Joseph, MO-KS34459.6$3.7M−2.0%#316 of 387

Other business types in the Kansas City 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 Kansas City, MO-KS metro area?

There are 746 bakeries and dessert shops on map listings in the Kansas City metro area as of September 2026. 266 of them (36%) are chain locations. The listings count bakeries, ice cream, donut and dessert shops, candy stores. Official counts show 512 businesses with payroll classed as snack bars and retail bakeries in 2023, up 43.9% from 2019. That count covers all snack bars and retail bakeries (coffee shops and cafes included), not only bakeries and dessert shops. Official counts list 100 one-person businesses without payroll.

How much do households in the Kansas City, MO-KS metro area spend on food away from home?

About $3.7B a year, or $4,174 per household. That is 3% above the U.S. average (an index of 103, where 100 is the U.S. average). Spread across the 746 bakeries and dessert shops on map listings, it comes to $5M 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 895,368 households in the Kansas City metro area and national spending patterns by income.

How does the Kansas City, MO-KS metro area compare with the U.S. for bakeries and dessert shops?

The Kansas City metro area has 8.3 bakeries and dessert shops per 10,000 households, 15% below the U.S. rate of 9.8. Spending per shop is $5M, 21% above the U.S. figure of $4.1M. At the national ratio of bakeries and dessert shops to household spending, the Kansas City metro area would have about 902, against 746 on map listings. There is one business with payroll in the industry for every 1,749 households, against one for every 1,369 across the U.S. The official count rose 43.9% from 2019 to 2023, against +24.6% for the U.S.

How fast is the Kansas City, MO-KS metro area growing?

Population estimates put the Kansas City metro area at 2,270,682 people in 2025, up 3.4% since 2020, in step with the U.S. (+3.1%). It has 895,368 households. Median household income in the Kansas City metro area is $83,460, 3% above the U.S. median of $80,734. Against the 2015–2019 survey, the median rose 25.3%, 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 Kansas City metro area scores 69 for bakeries and dessert shops (upper middle), #47 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 Kansas City 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 Kansas City metro area

Screening a site or an acquisition in the Kansas City 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 Kansas City 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.