Groundwork

Clothing and laundry · Small-town market · Ohio

Clothing and shoe stores in the Defiance, OH area

How the Defiance, OH area compares with other small-town markets and the U.S. for clothing and shoe stores: competitors, household spending, official counts and growth.

Groundwork market score · out of 100

Score 63 out of 100: Upper middle

Ranked #159 of 536 scored small-town markets
#17 of 29 scored small-town markets based in Ohio

Listings
19
5 chain locations (26%)
Official establishments
5
Businesses with payroll, 2023
Household spending a year
$28.2M
On clothing, shoes and related services · $1,838 a household
Spending per listing
$1.5M
17% above the U.S.
Listings per 10k households
12.4
23% below the U.S.
Population, 2025
38,292
+0.1% since 2020

See the clothing and shoe stores around any address in the Defiance 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 Defiance area. Signed out, you see a blurred preview; on an account, each report is one action.

Free10 actions over 3 days, no card

Survey estimates 2020–2024 · population estimates 2025 · official business counts 2023 · map listings September 2026 · Data credits · How we measure

What this means

Households in the Defiance area spend about $28.2M a year on clothing, shoes and related services, or $1,838 per household, 11% below the U.S. average. That works out to $1.5M per store, 17% above the U.S. figure of $1.3M. The spending figure covers all clothing, shoes and related services, not only clothing and shoe stores.

The Defiance area has 19 clothing and shoe stores on map listings as of September 2026. Chain locations make up 26% of them, against 44% across the U.S. Per 10,000 households, that is 12.4, 23% below the U.S. rate of 16.2.

Official counts show 5 businesses with payroll classed as clothing and shoe stores in the Defiance area in 2023. That is one for every 3,065 households, against one for every 1,273 across the U.S. Another 17 one-person businesses have no payroll, by official counts.

Population estimates show the Defiance area grew 0.1% from 2020 to 2025, slower than the U.S. (+3.1%). The Groundwork market score for clothing and shoe stores in the Defiance area is 63 (upper middle), #159 of 536 scored small-town markets and #17 of 29 scored small-town markets based in Ohio.

How the Defiance area compares

The same measures for Ohio 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 Defiance, OH area compared with Ohio and the U.S.
MeasureDefiance areaOhioU.S.
Listings per 10k households12.412.916.2
Spending per listing$1.5M$1.5M$1.3M
Households per official establishment3,0651,6771,273
Official establishment growth, 2019–2023n/a−13.4%−12.2%
Population growth, 2020–2025+0.1%+0.9%+3.1%
Spending per household on clothing, shoes and related services$1,838$1,954$2,055
Median household income$73,064$71,389$80,734
Groundwork market score6361

Official counts and lending

Businesses

Official establishments, 2019 to 2023
5
Employees, 2023
85
Annual payroll, 2023
$1.3M
One-person businesses, 2023
17Businesses with no payroll
Map listings, September 2026
195 chain locations
Listings at the U.S. rate for this spending
22The U.S. ratio of listings to household spending, applied here

SBA-backed loans since fiscal 2022

Loans
0
Amount
$0

SBA-backed loans to businesses classed as clothing and shoe stores in the Defiance 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 Defiance area

Population, 2025 estimate
38,292+0.1% since 2020
Households
15,327
Median age
40.9
Homes lived in by their owners
79%
Vehicles per household
2.0
Land area
411 sq. mi.
People per square mile
93
Median household income
$73,064+21.9% vs. 2015–2019, before inflation
Average household income
$88,073
Median home value
$163,200
Jobs located here
14,922
Daytime population
36,059Residents who don’t work, plus everyone whose job is here

Looking at a specific site in the Defiance area?

These figures cover the whole small-town market. 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 Defiance area. Signed out, you see a blurred preview; on an account, each report is one action.

Free10 actions over 3 days, no card

Clothing and shoe stores across Ohio

Every Ohio market ranked →

The highest-scoring small-town markets in Ohio for clothing and shoe stores, numbered among those based in Ohio, with the Defiance area marked.

Top small-town markets in Ohio

Small-town markets in Ohio ranked for clothing and shoe stores by Groundwork market score
MarketScoreListingsPer 10k householdsSpending per listingPopulation growthU.S. rank
1Mount Vernon, OH82177.2$2.7M+1.9%#20 of 536
2Sidney, OH79136.9$2.8M−0.2%#31 of 536
3Urbana, OH76106.4$2.9M+0.2%#46 of 536
4Ashland, OH76146.8$2.6M+0.1%#49 of 536
5Marion, OH75156.1$2.9M−0.4%#56 of 536
6Coshocton, OH75106.8$2.5M+1.6%#58 of 536
7Norwalk, OH72177.2$2.5M−0.4%#80 of 536
8Wilmington, OH72148.4$2.2M+0.6%#81 of 536
9Van Wert, OH72108.7$2.1M+0.3%#83 of 536
10Bellefontaine, OH72189.2$2M+0.4%#84 of 536
17Defiance, OH631912.4$1.5M+0.1%#159 of 536

Other business types in the Defiance 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 Defiance, OH area?

Map listings as of September 2026 show 19 clothing and shoe stores in the Defiance area. 5 of them (26%) are chain locations. The listings count clothing, shoe and accessory stores and boutiques. Official counts show 5 businesses with payroll classed as clothing and shoe stores in 2023. Official counts list 17 one-person businesses without payroll.

How much do households in the Defiance, OH area spend on clothing, shoes and related services?

About $28.2M a year, or $1,838 per household. That is 11% below the U.S. average (an index of 89, where 100 is the U.S. average). Spread across the 19 clothing and shoe stores on map listings, it comes to $1.5M 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 15,327 households in the Defiance area and national spending patterns by income.

How does the Defiance, OH area compare with the U.S. for clothing and shoe stores?

The Defiance area has 12.4 clothing and shoe stores per 10,000 households, 23% below the U.S. rate of 16.2. Spending per store is $1.5M, 17% above the U.S. figure of $1.3M. At the U.S. ratio of clothing and shoe stores to household spending, the Defiance area would have about 22, against 19 on map listings. There is one business with payroll in the industry for every 3,065 households, against one for every 1,273 across the U.S.

How fast is the Defiance, OH area growing?

Population estimates put the Defiance area at 38,292 people in 2025, up 0.1% since 2020, slower than the U.S. (+3.1%). It has 15,327 households. Median household income in the Defiance area is $73,064, 10% below the U.S. median of $80,734. Against the 2015–2019 survey, the median rose 21.9%, 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. A small-town market is a town of 10,000 to 50,000 people and the county or counties tied to it by commuting. 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 Defiance area scores 63 for clothing and shoe stores (upper middle), #159 of 536 scored small-town markets.

How can I see the market around a specific site?

Run a Groundwork site report on an address in the Defiance 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 Defiance area

Screening a site or an acquisition in the Defiance 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 Defiance 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.