Groundwork

Food and drink · Metro area · Missouri

Bakeries and dessert shops in the St. Joseph, MO-KS metro area

How the St. Joseph, 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 34 out of 100: Lower middle

Ranked #316 of 387 scored metro areas
#8 of 8 scored metro areas based in Missouri

Listings
45
16 chain locations (36%)
Official establishments
23
All snack bars and retail bakeries
Household spending a year
$165.2M
On food away from home · $3,524 a household
Spending per listing
$3.7M
11% below the U.S.
Listings per 10k households
9.6
2% below the U.S.
Population, 2025
119,170
−2.0% since 2020

See the bakeries and dessert shops around any address in the St. Joseph 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 St. Joseph 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

For bakeries and dessert shops, the St. Joseph metro area has a Groundwork market score of 34 (lower middle): #316 of 387 scored metro areas and #8 of 8 scored metro areas based in Missouri. That puts it in the bottom quarter of metro areas.

Households in the St. Joseph metro area spend about $165.2M a year on food away from home, or $3,524 per household, 13% below the U.S. average. Spread across 45 bakeries and dessert shops, that is $3.7M per shop, 11% 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 45 bakeries and dessert shops on map listings in the St. Joseph metro area as of September 2026. 16 of them (36%) are chain locations, against 35% across the U.S. That is 9.6 per 10,000 households, 2% below the U.S. rate of 9.8.

The official count of businesses with payroll classed as snack bars and retail bakeries in the St. Joseph metro area was 23 in 2023. That is one for every 2,038 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, 4 SBA-backed loans worth $6.2M have gone to businesses classed as snack bars and retail bakeries in the St. Joseph metro area. Between 2020 and 2025, the population of the St. Joseph metro area declined 2.0%, against +3.1% for the U.S.

How the St. Joseph 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 St. Joseph, MO-KS metro area compared with Missouri and the U.S.
MeasureSt. Joseph metro areaMissouriU.S.
Listings per 10k households9.68.19.8
Spending per listing$3.7M$4.7M$4.1M
Households per official establishment (all snack bars and retail bakeries)2,0381,9131,369
Official establishment growth, 2019–2023n/a+43.3%+24.6%
Population growth, 2020–2025−2.0%+1.9%+3.1%
Spending per household on food away from home$3,524$3,799$4,070
Median household income$65,005$70,702$80,734
Groundwork market score3456

Official counts and lending

Businesses

Official establishments, 2019 to 2023
23All snack bars and retail bakeries
Employees, 2023
263
Annual payroll, 2023
$4.2M
One-person businesses, 2023
3All snack bars and retail bakeries with no payroll
Map listings, September 2026
4516 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
4
Amount
$6.2M

SBA-backed loans to businesses classed as snack bars and retail bakeries in the St. Joseph 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 St. Joseph metro area

Population, 2025 estimate
119,170−2.0% since 2020
Households
46,883
Median age
40.8
Homes lived in by their owners
69%
Vehicles per household
1.9
Land area
1,656 sq. mi.
People per square mile
72
Median household income
$65,005+23.1% vs. 2015–2019, before inflation
Average household income
$84,665
Median home value
$171,300
Jobs located here
53,778
Daytime population
120,693Residents who don’t work, plus everyone whose job is here

Looking at a specific site in the St. Joseph 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 St. Joseph 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 St. Joseph 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 St. Joseph 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 St. Joseph, MO-KS metro area?

As of September 2026, map listings count 45 bakeries and dessert shops in the St. Joseph metro area. 16 of them (36%) are chain locations. The listings count bakeries, ice cream, donut and dessert shops, candy stores. Official counts show 23 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. Another 3 one-person businesses have no payroll, by official counts.

How much do households in the St. Joseph, MO-KS metro area spend on food away from home?

About $165.2M a year, or $3,524 per household. That is 13% below the U.S. average (an index of 87, where 100 is the U.S. average). Spread across the 45 bakeries and dessert shops on map listings, it comes to $3.7M 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 46,883 households in the St. Joseph metro area and national spending patterns by income.

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

The St. Joseph metro area has 9.6 bakeries and dessert shops per 10,000 households, 2% below the U.S. rate of 9.8. Spending per shop is $3.7M, 11% below the U.S. figure of $4.1M. At the U.S. ratio of bakeries and dessert shops to household spending, the St. Joseph metro area would have about 40, against 45 on map listings. There is one business with payroll in the industry for every 2,038 households, against one for every 1,369 across the U.S.

How fast is the St. Joseph, MO-KS metro area growing?

Population estimates put the St. Joseph metro area at 119,170 people in 2025, down 2.0% since 2020, against +3.1% for the U.S. It has 46,883 households. The median household income in the St. Joseph metro area is $65,005 a year, 19% 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. 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 St. Joseph metro area scores 34 for bakeries and dessert shops (lower middle), #316 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 St. Joseph 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 St. Joseph metro area

Screening a site or an acquisition in the St. Joseph 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 St. Joseph 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.