Market rankings · Clothing and laundry
Top markets for clothing and shoe stores
Every U.S. metro area, small-town market and county, ranked by the Groundwork market score for clothing and shoe stores. The score weighs household spending per store, households per business, population growth and spending power.
- Listings in the U.S.
- 208,996
- 91,142 chain locations (44%)
- Official establishments
- 101,464
- −12.2% since 2019
- Household spending a year
- $265.5B
- On clothing, shoes and related services
- Listings per 10k households
- 16.2
- Spending per listing: $1.3M
A site report maps the clothing and shoe stores on map listings around the address by name and distance, and the spending within reach.
Free10 actions over 3 days, no cardSurvey estimates 2020–2024 · population estimates 2025 · official business counts 2023 · map listings September 2026 · Data credits · How we measure
What this means
The U.S. has 208,996 clothing and shoe stores on map listings as of September 2026. 91,142 of them (44%) are chain locations. That is 16.2 per 10,000 households.
At $2,055 per household, households in the U.S. spend about $265.5B a year on clothing, shoes and related services. That works out to $1.3M per store. The spending figure covers all clothing, shoes and related services, not only clothing and shoe stores.
Official counts show 101,464 businesses with payroll classed as clothing and shoe stores in the U.S. in 2023, down 12.2% from 2019. They employ 1,393,111 people, with $33B in annual payroll. Official counts list 248,842 one-person businesses without payroll.
The Amherst Town-Northampton, MA metro area has the highest market score for clothing and shoe stores among 387 scored metro areas, at 93. In the 10 highest-scoring metro areas, the median spending per store is 2.2 times the U.S. figure, and the median rate of listings per household is 49% below the U.S. rate.
Top markets
These tables (CSV)Ranked by the Groundwork market score, which weighs household spending per competitor, households per business with payroll, population growth and spending power against every other market of the same kind. How the score works.
Top metro areas of 1 million people or more
| Market | Score | Listings | Per 10k households | Spending per listing | Population growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA | 80 | 1,845 | 11.5 | $2M | +3.3% |
| 32Columbus, OH | 76 | 1,150 | 13.3 | $1.6M | +4.7% |
| 41Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV | 74 | 3,301 | 13.9 | $1.8M | +3.3% |
| 46Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA | 73 | 1,031 | 11.7 | $1.7M | +3.2% |
| 47Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN | 73 | 1,159 | 13.8 | $1.5M | +5.4% |
| 48Raleigh-Cary, NC | 73 | 885 | 15.4 | $1.4M | +12.6% |
| 50Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI | 72 | 2,062 | 14.0 | $1.7M | +2.6% |
| 53Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT | 71 | 711 | 15.3 | $1.7M | +3.0% |
| 56Richmond, VA | 71 | 751 | 14.1 | $1.5M | +5.5% |
| 58Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX | 71 | 1,562 | 15.8 | $1.4M | +14.0% |
| 60Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA | 70 | 1,224 | 12.1 | $1.7M | +1.0% |
| 68Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ | 69 | 2,439 | 12.9 | $1.5M | +7.3% |
| 71Providence-Warwick, RI-MA | 68 | 1,015 | 15.0 | $1.6M | +2.1% |
| 79Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO | 67 | 1,736 | 14.2 | $1.5M | +4.1% |
| 82Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH | 66 | 3,281 | 16.9 | $1.7M | +2.3% |
Top 50 metro areas
| Market | Score | Listings | Per 10k households | Spending per listing | Population growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1Amherst Town-Northampton, MA | 93 | 52 | 8.4 | $2.9M | +10.4% |
| 2Worcester, MA | 90 | 314 | 9.4 | $2.7M | +3.7% |
| 3Lewiston-Auburn, ME | 89 | 27 | 5.8 | $3.5M | +4.8% |
| 4Waterbury-Shelton, CT | 89 | 159 | 8.8 | $2.7M | +3.2% |
| 5Greeley, CO | 89 | 102 | 8.2 | $2.4M | +14.2% |
| 6Wildwood-The Villages, FL | 88 | 36 | 5.1 | $3.6M | +21.1% |
| 7Lexington Park, MD | 88 | 53 | 7.0 | $3.6M | +2.1% |
| 8Lebanon, PA | 87 | 25 | 4.4 | $5M | +2.2% |
| 9Chambersburg, PA | 87 | 52 | 8.2 | $2.6M | +3.0% |
| 10York-Hanover, PA | 87 | 180 | 9.9 | $2.3M | +3.6% |
| 11Gainesville, GA | 86 | 66 | 9.0 | $2.2M | +11.4% |
| 12Reading, PA | 85 | 161 | 9.9 | $2.3M | +2.7% |
| 13Bangor, ME | 84 | 68 | 10.4 | $2M | +3.8% |
| 14Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ | 83 | 363 | 10.7 | $2.2M | +3.0% |
| 15Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard, WA | 81 | 93 | 8.6 | $2.4M | +2.7% |
| 16Punta Gorda, FL | 81 | 71 | 7.8 | $2.3M | +15.5% |
| 17Homosassa Springs, FL | 80 | 39 | 5.5 | $3.1M | +11.1% |
| 18Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA | 80 | 1,845 | 11.5 | $2M | +3.3% |
| 19Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, FL | 80 | 262 | 10.2 | $1.9M | +9.1% |
| 20Helena, MT | 80 | 38 | 9.7 | $1.9M | +7.7% |
| 21Madison, WI | 80 | 360 | 11.9 | $1.8M | +4.1% |
| 22Durham-Chapel Hill, NC | 80 | 295 | 11.9 | $1.8M | +7.5% |
| 23Monroe, MI | 79 | 37 | 5.9 | $3.4M | +0.7% |
| 24Lakeland-Winter Haven, FL | 79 | 274 | 9.5 | $1.9M | +19.8% |
| 25Ithaca, NY | 77 | 44 | 10.2 | $2.2M | −1.4% |
| 26Midland, MI | 77 | 39 | 11.1 | $1.8M | +0.3% |
| 27Stockton-Lodi, CA | 77 | 272 | 11.1 | $1.8M | +5.5% |
| 28Staunton-Stuarts Draft, VA | 76 | 40 | 7.7 | $2.3M | +3.2% |
| 29Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater, WA | 76 | 102 | 8.6 | $2.2M | +2.8% |
| 30Corvallis, OR | 76 | 32 | 8.3 | $2.2M | +4.4% |
| 31Racine-Mount Pleasant, WI | 76 | 82 | 10.2 | $2M | +0.4% |
| 32Columbus, OH | 76 | 1,150 | 13.3 | $1.6M | +4.7% |
| 33Sheboygan, WI | 75 | 39 | 7.8 | $2.5M | 0.0% |
| 34Fond du Lac, WI | 75 | 36 | 8.3 | $2.3M | +0.5% |
| 35Yuba City, CA | 75 | 48 | 7.8 | $2.3M | +3.3% |
| 36Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY | 75 | 465 | 12.1 | $2M | +1.9% |
| 37Ocala, FL | 75 | 152 | 9.2 | $1.8M | +17.3% |
| 38Coeur d’Alene, ID | 75 | 73 | 10.3 | $1.7M | +11.0% |
| 39Boise City, ID | 75 | 344 | 11.3 | $1.6M | +12.2% |
| 40Kingston, NY | 75 | 115 | 15.5 | $1.5M | +1.1% |
| 41Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV | 74 | 3,301 | 13.9 | $1.8M | +3.3% |
| 42Harrisburg-Carlisle, PA | 74 | 329 | 13.4 | $1.7M | +4.2% |
| 43Lake Havasu City-Kingman, AZ | 73 | 76 | 7.5 | $2.1M | +6.5% |
| 44Longview-Kelso, WA | 73 | 37 | 8.4 | $2M | +3.5% |
| 45State College, PA | 73 | 74 | 12.5 | $1.8M | −0.4% |
| 46Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA | 73 | 1,031 | 11.7 | $1.7M | +3.2% |
| 47Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN | 73 | 1,159 | 13.8 | $1.5M | +5.4% |
| 48Raleigh-Cary, NC | 73 | 885 | 15.4 | $1.4M | +12.6% |
| 49Lawrence, KS | 72 | 55 | 10.9 | $1.8M | +1.8% |
| 50Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI | 72 | 2,062 | 14.0 | $1.7M | +2.6% |
Top 25 small-town markets
| Market | Score | Listings | Per 10k households | Spending per listing | Population growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1Lake of the Woods, VA | 98 | 6 | 4.0 | $5.2M | +10.1% |
| 2Hemlock Farms, PA | 97 | 11 | 4.5 | $5M | +7.2% |
| 3Putnam, CT | 95 | 16 | 4.1 | $5.9M | +3.0% |
| 4Monticello, NY | 93 | 20 | 6.4 | $3.5M | +2.7% |
| 5Torrington, CT | 90 | 33 | 6.9 | $3.6M | +2.2% |
| 6Shelton, WA | 89 | 5 | 1.9 | $9.4M | +7.8% |
| 7Pottsville, PA | 89 | 32 | 5.5 | $3.7M | +1.5% |
| 8Anderson Creek, NC | 89 | 31 | 6.2 | $2.9M | +12.3% |
| 9Amsterdam, NY | 87 | 12 | 6.1 | $3.3M | +1.1% |
| 10Brigham City, UT-ID | 86 | 11 | 5.1 | $3.4M | +12.6% |
| 11Greenfield, MA | 85 | 14 | 4.4 | $4.9M | −0.3% |
| 12Augusta-Waterville, ME | 85 | 45 | 8.3 | $2.5M | +3.5% |
| 13Concord, NH | 84 | 49 | 8.0 | $3.1M | +2.6% |
| 14Bloomsburg-Berwick, PA | 84 | 18 | 6.8 | $2.9M | +2.3% |
| 15Austin, MN | 84 | 12 | 7.6 | $2.5M | +2.3% |
| 16Ellensburg, WA | 83 | 12 | 6.0 | $3M | +4.2% |
| 17Stevens Point-Plover, WI | 83 | 29 | 9.8 | $2M | +2.2% |
| 18Blackfoot, ID | 82 | 8 | 5.0 | $3.5M | +6.4% |
| 19Manitowoc, WI | 82 | 21 | 6.0 | $3.1M | +0.4% |
| 20Mount Vernon, OH | 82 | 17 | 7.2 | $2.7M | +1.9% |
| 21Oneonta, NY | 82 | 26 | 11.2 | $1.8M | +3.8% |
| 22Faribault-Northfield, MN | 82 | 29 | 12.3 | $1.7M | +4.2% |
| 23Sunbury, PA | 81 | 25 | 5.5 | $3.7M | −1.7% |
| 24Platteville, WI | 81 | 13 | 6.5 | $2.8M | +0.9% |
| 25Kingsland, GA | 81 | 25 | 11.5 | $1.6M | +9.5% |
Top 25 counties
| Market | Score | Listings | Per 10k households | Spending per listing | Population growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1Stafford County, VA | 97 | 19 | 3.6 | $7.2M | +8.3% |
| 2Union County, OH | 96 | 11 | 4.5 | $5.3M | +16.5% |
| 3Frederick County, VA | 94 | 9 | 2.5 | $8.5M | +8.8% |
| 4Orange County, VA | 94 | 6 | 4.0 | $5.2M | +10.1% |
| 5Pike County, PA | 94 | 11 | 4.5 | $5M | +7.2% |
| 6Jefferson County, WV | 94 | 12 | 5.3 | $4.1M | +9.2% |
| 7Sherburne County, MN | 94 | 21 | 5.9 | $3.9M | +6.8% |
| 8Chatham County, NC | 94 | 20 | 6.1 | $3.7M | +11.0% |
| 9Bryan County, GA | 94 | 11 | 6.6 | $3.3M | +15.6% |
| 10Tooele County, UT | 93 | 9 | 3.8 | $5.3M | +19.2% |
| 11Oldham County, KY | 93 | 13 | 5.6 | $4.4M | +4.9% |
| 12Carver County, MN | 93 | 26 | 6.3 | $4.2M | +6.6% |
| 13Guadalupe County, TX | 93 | 40 | 6.1 | $3.4M | +15.8% |
| 14Harris County, GA | 92 | 6 | 4.6 | $4.7M | +6.8% |
| 15Waller County, TX | 92 | 12 | 6.5 | $3.1M | +21.9% |
| 16Hancock County, IN | 92 | 26 | 7.8 | $2.8M | +13.5% |
| 17Northeastern Connecticut Planning Region, CT | 91 | 16 | 4.1 | $5.9M | +3.0% |
| 18Fauquier County, VA | 91 | 17 | 6.4 | $4M | +4.8% |
| 19St. Croix County, WI | 91 | 22 | 5.9 | $4M | +4.7% |
| 20Scott County, MN | 91 | 37 | 6.7 | $3.8M | +5.1% |
| 21Hanover County, VA | 91 | 26 | 6.1 | $3.8M | +5.6% |
| 22Warren County, NJ | 91 | 31 | 6.8 | $3.6M | +3.2% |
| 23Warren County, IA | 91 | 14 | 6.8 | $3.2M | +9.0% |
| 24Elbert County, CO | 91 | 9 | 9.0 | $2.6M | +16.5% |
| 25Sussex County, NJ | 90 | 32 | 5.5 | $5M | +2.9% |
Scored: 387 metro areas, 536 small-town markets and 2,087 counties, each with at least 5 clothing and shoe stores on map listings (counties: 10,000 people or more). Spending per listing is all household spending on clothing, shoes and related services over the listings: demand for each competitor, not revenue. Each market has its own page, reached from its state below.
Excel · free with an account
Every market in one Excel file
Clothing and shoe stores figures for all 387 metro areas, 538 small-town markets, 3,144 counties and 51 states: the Groundwork market score and rank, map listings and chains, household spending, businesses with payroll, employees and payroll, one-person businesses, SBA-backed loans, population, income and home value, each linked to its page. Sorted, filterable and ready to screen.
Clothing and shoe stores by state
Every market in each state ranked, with the state’s highest-scoring metro area.
- AlabamaTop metro area: Huntsville metro area · 65
- AlaskaTop metro area: Fairbanks-College metro area · 67
- ArizonaTop metro area: Lake Havasu City-Kingman metro area · 73
- ArkansasTop metro area: Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers metro area · 51
- CaliforniaTop metro area: Stockton-Lodi metro area · 77
- ColoradoTop metro area: Greeley metro area · 89
- ConnecticutTop metro area: Waterbury-Shelton metro area · 89
- DelawareTop metro area: Dover metro area · 64
- District of ColumbiaTop metro area: Washington-Arlington-Alexandria metro area · 74
- FloridaTop metro area: Wildwood-The Villages metro area · 88
- GeorgiaTop metro area: Gainesville metro area · 86
- HawaiiTop metro area: Urban Honolulu metro area · 22
- IdahoTop metro area: Coeur d’Alene metro area · 75
- IllinoisTop metro area: Kankakee metro area · 66
- IndianaTop metro area: Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood metro area · 73
- IowaTop metro area: Cedar Rapids metro area · 65
- KansasTop metro area: Lawrence metro area · 72
- KentuckyTop metro area: Louisville/Jefferson County metro area · 52
- LouisianaTop metro area: Hammond metro area · 58
- MaineTop metro area: Lewiston-Auburn metro area · 89
- MarylandTop metro area: Lexington Park metro area · 88
- MassachusettsTop metro area: Amherst Town-Northampton metro area · 93
- MichiganTop metro area: Monroe metro area · 79
- MinnesotaTop metro area: Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington metro area · 72
- MississippiTop metro area: Gulfport-Biloxi metro area · 25
- MissouriTop metro area: Jefferson City metro area · 69
- MontanaTop metro area: Helena metro area · 80
- NebraskaTop metro area: Omaha metro area · 64
- NevadaTop metro area: Carson City metro area · 60
- New HampshireTop metro area: Manchester-Nashua metro area · 59
- New JerseyTop metro area: Trenton-Princeton metro area · 67
- New MexicoTop metro area: Las Cruces metro area · 66
- New YorkTop metro area: Ithaca metro area · 77
- North CarolinaTop metro area: Durham-Chapel Hill metro area · 80
- North DakotaTop metro area: Fargo metro area · 63
- OhioTop metro area: Columbus metro area · 76
- OklahomaTop metro area: Tulsa metro area · 54
- OregonTop metro area: Corvallis metro area · 76
- PennsylvaniaTop metro area: Lebanon metro area · 87
- Rhode IslandTop metro area: Providence-Warwick metro area · 68
- South CarolinaTop metro area: Greenville-Anderson-Greer metro area · 56
- South DakotaTop metro area: Sioux Falls metro area · 50
- TennesseeTop metro area: Cleveland metro area · 63
- TexasTop metro area: Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos metro area · 71
- UtahTop metro area: Ogden metro area · 69
- VermontTop metro area: Burlington-South Burlington metro area · 59
- VirginiaTop metro area: Staunton-Stuarts Draft metro area · 76
- WashingtonTop metro area: Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard metro area · 81
- West VirginiaTop metro area: Weirton-Steubenville metro area · 61
- WisconsinTop metro area: Madison metro area · 80
- WyomingTop metro area: Cheyenne metro area · 41
Related business types
- Clothing, shoes and laundry301,650 listings
- Laundromats21,229 listings
- Dry cleaners16,944 listings
Questions
Which metro areas have the highest market score for clothing and shoe stores?
The top 5 are Amherst Town-Northampton, MA (93); Worcester, MA (90); Lewiston-Auburn, ME (89); Waterbury-Shelton, CT (89); and Greeley, CO (89). The score compares each of 387 scored metro areas with the others for clothing and shoe stores.
How many clothing and shoe stores are in the U.S.?
Map listings as of September 2026 show 208,996 clothing and shoe stores in the U.S. 91,142 of them (44%) are chain locations. The listings count clothing, shoe and accessory stores and boutiques. Official counts show 101,464 businesses with payroll classed as clothing and shoe stores in 2023, down 12.2% from 2019. Official counts also show 248,842 one-person businesses without payroll.
How much do U.S. households spend on clothing, shoes and related services?
About $265.5B a year, or $2,055 per household. Spread across the 208,996 clothing and shoe stores on map listings, it comes to $1.3M per store. That spending covers all clothing, shoes and related services, which clothing and shoe stores share with other businesses in the trade. It is estimated from the incomes of the 129,209,336 households in the U.S. and national spending patterns by income.
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. Markets with fewer than 5 map listings of the type, and counties under 10,000 people, aren’t scored, since a few businesses can swing their figures.
How can I see the market around a specific site?
Run a Groundwork site report on an address anywhere in the U.S. It maps the clothing and shoe stores 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.
All business types and every U.S. market · How we measure
Screening a site or an acquisition?
A site report maps the competitors on map listings near an address and sizes the households and spending around it.
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.