Groundwork

Food and drink · Metro area · Ohio

Bakeries and dessert shops in the Cleveland, OH metro area

How the Cleveland, OH 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 47 out of 100: Lower middle

Ranked #223 of 387 scored metro areas
#7 of 12 scored metro areas based in Ohio

Listings
818
261 chain locations (32%)
Official establishments
529
All snack bars and retail bakeries · +24.5% since 2019
Household spending a year
$3.6B
On food away from home · $3,852 a household
Spending per listing
$4.4M
6% above the U.S.
Listings per 10k households
8.8
10% below the U.S.
Population, 2025
2,165,775
−0.8% since 2020

See the bakeries and dessert shops around any address in the Cleveland 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 Cleveland 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 818 bakeries and dessert shops in the Cleveland metro area. Of those, 261 are chain locations, or 32%, against 35% across the U.S. That is 8.8 per 10,000 households, 10% below the U.S. rate of 9.8.

Household spending on food away from home in the Cleveland metro area comes to about $3.6B a year: $3,852 per household, 5% below the U.S. average. That works out to $4.4M per shop, 6% 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.

In 2023, official counts showed 529 businesses with payroll in the Cleveland metro area classed as snack bars and retail bakeries, up 24.5% from 2019. That is one for every 1,761 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. Official counts also show 65 one-person businesses without payroll. Since fiscal 2022, 75 SBA-backed loans worth $19.6M have gone to businesses classed as snack bars and retail bakeries in the Cleveland metro area.

Population estimates put the population change in the Cleveland metro area from 2020 to 2025 at −0.8%, against +3.1% for the U.S. The Groundwork market score for bakeries and dessert shops in the Cleveland metro area is 47 (lower middle), #223 of 387 scored metro areas and #7 of 12 scored metro areas based in Ohio.

How the Cleveland metro area compares

The same measures for Ohio 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 Cleveland, OH metro area compared with Ohio and the U.S.
MeasureCleveland metro areaOhioU.S.
Listings per 10k households8.88.39.8
Spending per listing$4.4M$4.6M$4.1M
Households per official establishment (all snack bars and retail bakeries)1,7611,7991,369
Official establishment growth, 2019–2023+24.5%+27.8%+24.6%
Population growth, 2020–2025−0.8%+0.9%+3.1%
Spending per household on food away from home$3,852$3,829$4,070
Median household income$70,678$71,389$80,734
Groundwork market score4752

Official counts and lending

Businesses

Official establishments, 2019 to 2023
529All snack bars and retail bakeries · +24.5% over the period
Employees, 2023
6,505
Annual payroll, 2023
$128.1M
One-person businesses, 2023
65All snack bars and retail bakeries with no payroll
Map listings, September 2026
818261 chain locations
Listings at the U.S. rate for this spending
866The U.S. ratio of listings to household spending, applied here

SBA-backed loans since fiscal 2022

Loans
75
Amount
$19.6M

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

Population, 2025 estimate
2,165,775−0.8% since 2020
Households
931,377
Median age
42.3
Homes lived in by their owners
67%
Vehicles per household
1.6
Land area
2,702 sq. mi.
People per square mile
804
Median household income
$70,678
Average household income
$98,881
Median home value
$215,400
Jobs located here
1,071,853
Daytime population
2,231,827Residents who don’t work, plus everyone whose job is here

Looking at a specific site in the Cleveland 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 Cleveland 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 Ohio

Every Ohio market ranked →

The highest-scoring metro areas in Ohio for bakeries and dessert shops, numbered among those based in Ohio (a market based in another state is listed without a number), with the Cleveland metro area marked.

Top metro areas in Ohio

Metro areas in Ohio ranked for bakeries and dessert shops by Groundwork market score
MarketScoreListingsPer 10k householdsSpending per listingPopulation growthU.S. rank
1Columbus, OH746837.9$5.3M+4.7%#20 of 387
2Springfield, OH65285.0$7M−0.4%#70 of 387
3Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN647818.6$4.8M+2.7%#82 of 387
4Dayton-Kettering-Beavercreek, OH592717.9$4.8M+1.5%#129 of 387
5Akron, OH542408.1$4.8M0.0%#161 of 387
Huntington-Ashland, WV-KY-OH521026.7$5M−2.6%#181 of 387
Weirton-Steubenville, WV-OH51336.6$5M−3.6%#188 of 387
6Toledo, OH481977.7$4.7M−1.0%#209 of 387
7Cleveland, OH478188.8$4.4M−0.8%#223 of 387
8Canton-Massillon, OH381498.9$4.1M−0.2%#293 of 387

Other business types in the Cleveland 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 Cleveland, OH metro area?

There are 818 bakeries and dessert shops on map listings in the Cleveland metro area as of September 2026. 261 of them (32%) are chain locations. The listings count bakeries, ice cream, donut and dessert shops, candy stores. Official counts show 529 businesses with payroll classed as snack bars and retail bakeries in 2023, up 24.5% from 2019. That count covers all snack bars and retail bakeries (coffee shops and cafes included), not only bakeries and dessert shops. Another 65 one-person businesses have no payroll, by official counts.

How much do households in the Cleveland, OH metro area spend on food away from home?

About $3.6B a year, or $3,852 per household. That is 5% below the U.S. average (an index of 95, where 100 is the U.S. average). Spread across the 818 bakeries and dessert shops on map listings, it comes to $4.4M 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 931,377 households in the Cleveland metro area and national spending patterns by income.

How does the Cleveland, OH metro area compare with the U.S. for bakeries and dessert shops?

The Cleveland metro area has 8.8 bakeries and dessert shops per 10,000 households, 10% below the U.S. rate of 9.8. Spending per shop is $4.4M, 6% above the U.S. figure of $4.1M. At the national ratio of bakeries and dessert shops to household spending, the Cleveland metro area would have about 866, against 818 on map listings. There is one business with payroll in the industry for every 1,761 households, against one for every 1,369 across the U.S. The official count rose 24.5% from 2019 to 2023, against +24.6% for the U.S.

How fast is the Cleveland, OH metro area growing?

Population estimates put the Cleveland metro area at 2,165,775 people in 2025, down 0.8% since 2020, against +3.1% for the U.S. It has 931,377 households. Median household income in the Cleveland metro area is $70,678, 12% below the U.S. median of $80,734.

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 Cleveland metro area scores 47 for bakeries and dessert shops (lower middle), #223 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 Cleveland 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 Cleveland metro area

Screening a site or an acquisition in the Cleveland 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 Cleveland 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.