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Clothing and laundry · Metro area · Connecticut

Clothing and shoe stores in the Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT metro area

How the Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT metro area compares with other metro areas and the U.S. for clothing and shoe stores: competitors, household spending, official counts and growth.

Groundwork market score · out of 100

Score 71 out of 100: Upper middle

Ranked #53 of 387 scored metro areas
#2 of 5 scored metro areas based in Connecticut

Listings
711
421 chain locations (59%)
Official establishments
349
Businesses with payroll, 2023
Household spending a year
$1.2B
On clothing, shoes and related services · $2,531 a household
Spending per listing
$1.7M
30% above the U.S.
Listings per 10k households
15.3
6% below the U.S.
Population, 2025
1,171,426
+3.0% since 2020

See the clothing and shoe stores around any address in the Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford metro area

The site report maps the clothing and shoe stores 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 Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford 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 711 clothing and shoe stores in the Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford metro area. Chain locations make up 59% of them, against 44% across the U.S. Per 10,000 households, that is 15.3, 6% below the U.S. rate of 16.2.

Household spending on clothing, shoes and related services in the Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford metro area comes to about $1.2B a year: $2,531 per household, 23% above the U.S. average. That works out to $1.7M per store, 30% above the U.S. figure of $1.3M. That spending covers all clothing, shoes and related services, which clothing and shoe stores share with other businesses in the trade.

Official counts show 349 businesses with payroll classed as clothing and shoe stores in the Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford metro area in 2023. That is one for every 1,333 households, against one for every 1,273 across the U.S. Another 623 one-person businesses have no payroll, by official counts. Since fiscal 2022, 3 SBA-backed loans worth $115K have gone to businesses classed as clothing and shoe stores in the Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford metro area.

Population estimates show the Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford metro area grew 3.0% from 2020 to 2025, in step with the U.S. (+3.1%). The Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford metro area scores 71 (upper middle) on the Groundwork market score for clothing and shoe stores, ranking #53 of 387 scored metro areas and #2 of 5 scored metro areas based in Connecticut. That puts it in the top quarter of metro areas.

How the Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford metro area compares

The same measures for Connecticut and the whole U.S. Spending per listing divides a year of household spending on all clothing, shoes and related services by the clothing and shoe stores counted, so it measures the demand for each competitor, not any business’s revenue. Households per establishment does the same with the official count.

Clothing and shoe stores in Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT metro area compared with Connecticut and the U.S.
MeasureHartford-West Hartford-East Hartford metro areaConnecticutU.S.
Listings per 10k households15.315.916.2
Spending per listing$1.7M$1.6M$1.3M
Households per official establishment1,3331,3041,273
Official establishment growth, 2019–2023n/a−15.3%−12.2%
Population growth, 2020–2025+3.0%+3.0%+3.1%
Spending per household on clothing, shoes and related services$2,531$2,564$2,055
Median household income$95,118$95,781$80,734
Groundwork market score7173

Official counts and lending

Businesses

Official establishments, 2019 to 2023
349
Employees, 2023
6,369
Annual payroll, 2023
$137.4M
One-person businesses, 2023
623Businesses with no payroll
Map listings, September 2026
711421 chain locations
Listings at the U.S. rate for this spending
927The U.S. ratio of listings to household spending, applied here

SBA-backed loans since fiscal 2022

Loans
3
Amount
$115K

SBA-backed loans to businesses classed as clothing and shoe stores in the Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford 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.

Population and households in the Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford metro area

Population, 2025 estimate
1,171,426+3.0% since 2020
Households
465,181
Median age
42.0
Homes lived in by their owners
67%
Vehicles per household
1.7
Land area
1,452 sq. mi.
People per square mile
794
Median household income
$95,118
Average household income
$127,867
Median home value
$333,500
Jobs located here
597,826
Daytime population
1,193,128Residents who don’t work, plus everyone whose job is here

Looking at a specific site in the Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford 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 clothing and shoe stores on map listings by name and distance.

Or open the report at the center of the Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford metro area. Signed out, you see a blurred preview; on an account, each report is one action.

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Clothing and shoe stores across Connecticut

Every Connecticut market ranked →

The highest-scoring metro areas in Connecticut for clothing and shoe stores, numbered among those based in Connecticut, with the Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford metro area marked.

Top metro areas in Connecticut

Metro areas in Connecticut ranked for clothing and shoe stores by Groundwork market score
MarketScoreListingsPer 10k householdsSpending per listingPopulation growthU.S. rank
1Waterbury-Shelton, CT891598.8$2.7M+3.2%#4 of 387
2Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT7171115.3$1.7M+3.0%#53 of 387
3Norwich-New London-Willimantic, CT6517715.3$1.5M+2.0%#90 of 387
4New Haven, CT6039817.3$1.4M+2.5%#129 of 387
5Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, CT5379322.3$1.3M+3.7%#188 of 387

Other business types in the Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford metro area

Each with its Groundwork market score here, out of 100, where it has one.

Questions

How many clothing and shoe stores are in the Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT metro area?

There are 711 clothing and shoe stores on map listings in the Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford metro area as of September 2026. 421 of them (59%) are chain locations. The listings count clothing, shoe and accessory stores and boutiques. Official counts show 349 businesses with payroll classed as clothing and shoe stores in 2023. Official counts list 623 one-person businesses without payroll.

How much do households in the Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT metro area spend on clothing, shoes and related services?

About $1.2B a year, or $2,531 per household. That is 23% above the U.S. average (an index of 123, where 100 is the U.S. average). Spread across the 711 clothing and shoe stores on map listings, it comes to $1.7M per store. The spending figure covers all clothing, shoes and related services, not only clothing and shoe stores. It is estimated from the incomes of the 465,181 households in the Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford metro area and national spending patterns by income.

How does the Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT metro area compare with the U.S. for clothing and shoe stores?

The Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford metro area has 15.3 clothing and shoe stores per 10,000 households, 6% below the U.S. rate of 16.2. Spending per store is $1.7M, 30% above the U.S. figure of $1.3M. At the national ratio of clothing and shoe stores to household spending, the Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford metro area would have about 927, against 711 on map listings. There is one business with payroll in the industry for every 1,333 households, against one for every 1,273 across the U.S.

How fast is the Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT metro area growing?

Population estimates put the Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford metro area at 1,171,426 people in 2025, up 3.0% since 2020, in step with the U.S. (+3.1%). It has 465,181 households. The median household income in the Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford metro area is $95,118 a year, 18% above 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 Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford metro area scores 71 for clothing and shoe stores (upper middle), #53 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 Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford metro area. 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.

How the score works · Top markets for clothing and shoe stores · All 56 business types in the Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford metro area

Screening a site or an acquisition in the Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford 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 Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford 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.