Groundwork

Clothing and laundry · Metro area · Pennsylvania

Clothing and shoe stores in the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD metro area

How the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD 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 64 out of 100: Upper middle

Ranked #100 of 387 scored metro areas
#11 of 16 scored metro areas based in Pennsylvania

Listings
3,992
2,067 chain locations (52%)
Official establishments
1,916
−16.8% since 2019
Household spending a year
$6B
On clothing, shoes and related services · $2,450 a household
Spending per listing
$1.5M
19% above the U.S.
Listings per 10k households
16.2
In line with the U.S.
Population, 2025
6,329,118
+1.4% since 2020

See the clothing and shoe stores around any address in the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington 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 Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington 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

Households in the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington metro area spend about $6B a year on clothing, shoes and related services, or $2,450 per household, 19% above the U.S. average. Spread across 3,992 clothing and shoe stores, that is $1.5M per store, 19% 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 Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington metro area has 3,992 clothing and shoe stores on map listings as of September 2026. Of those, 2,067 are chain locations, or 52%, against 44% across the U.S. Per 10,000 households, that is 16.2, in line with the U.S. rate of 16.2.

Official counts show 1,916 businesses with payroll classed as clothing and shoe stores in the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington metro area in 2023, down 16.8% from 2019. That is one for every 1,288 households, against one for every 1,273 across the U.S. Official counts also show 4,225 one-person businesses without payroll. Since fiscal 2022, 53 SBA-backed loans worth $8.9M have gone to businesses classed as clothing and shoe stores in the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington metro area.

Between 2020 and 2025, the population of the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington metro area grew 1.4%, slower than the U.S. (+3.1%). The Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington metro area scores 64 (upper middle) on the Groundwork market score for clothing and shoe stores, ranking #100 of 387 scored metro areas and #11 of 16 scored metro areas based in Pennsylvania.

How the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington metro area compares

The same measures for Pennsylvania 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 Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD metro area compared with Pennsylvania and the U.S.
MeasurePhiladelphia-Camden-Wilmington metro areaPennsylvaniaU.S.
Listings per 10k households16.213.716.2
Spending per listing$1.5M$1.7M$1.3M
Households per official establishment1,2881,5661,273
Official establishment growth, 2019–2023−16.8%−18.3%−12.2%
Population growth, 2020–2025+1.4%+0.5%+3.1%
Spending per household on clothing, shoes and related services$2,450$2,270$2,055
Median household income$91,289$77,971$80,734
Groundwork market score6472

Official counts and lending

Businesses

Official establishments, 2019 to 2023
1,916−16.8% over the period
Employees, 2023
28,152
Annual payroll, 2023
$618.9M
One-person businesses, 2023
4,225Businesses with no payroll
Map listings, September 2026
3,9922,067 chain locations
Listings at the U.S. rate for this spending
4,758The U.S. ratio of listings to household spending, applied here

SBA-backed loans since fiscal 2022

Loans
53
Amount
$8.9M

SBA-backed loans to businesses classed as clothing and shoe stores in the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington 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 Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington metro area

Population, 2025 estimate
6,329,118+1.4% since 2020
Households
2,467,761
Median age
40.5
Homes lived in by their owners
67%
Vehicles per household
1.6
Land area
4,603 sq. mi.
People per square mile
1,363
Median household income
$91,289+26.2% vs. 2015–2019, before inflation
Average household income
$126,166
Median home value
$351,900
Jobs located here
2,980,509
Daytime population
6,255,075Residents who don’t work, plus everyone whose job is here

Looking at a specific site in the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington 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 Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington 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 Pennsylvania

Every Pennsylvania market ranked →

The highest-scoring metro areas in Pennsylvania for clothing and shoe stores, numbered among those based in Pennsylvania, with the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington metro area marked.

Top metro areas in Pennsylvania

Metro areas in Pennsylvania ranked for clothing and shoe stores by Groundwork market score
MarketScoreListingsPer 10k householdsSpending per listingPopulation growthU.S. rank
1Lebanon, PA87254.4$5M+2.2%#8 of 387
2Chambersburg, PA87528.2$2.6M+3.0%#9 of 387
3York-Hanover, PA871809.9$2.3M+3.6%#10 of 387
4Reading, PA851619.9$2.3M+2.7%#12 of 387
5Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ8336310.7$2.2M+3.0%#14 of 387
6Harrisburg-Carlisle, PA7432913.4$1.7M+4.2%#42 of 387
7State College, PA737412.5$1.8M−0.4%#45 of 387
8Gettysburg, PA715714.0$1.6M+3.6%#55 of 387
9Pittsburgh, PA651,44013.6$1.6M−1.3%#88 of 387
10Johnstown, PA646311.3$1.7M−3.2%#97 of 387
11Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD643,99216.2$1.5M+1.4%#100 of 387

Other business types in the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington 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 Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD metro area?

Map listings as of September 2026 show 3,992 clothing and shoe stores in the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington metro area. 2,067 of them (52%) are chain locations. The listings count clothing, shoe and accessory stores and boutiques. Official counts show 1,916 businesses with payroll classed as clothing and shoe stores in 2023, down 16.8% from 2019. Another 4,225 one-person businesses have no payroll, by official counts.

How much do households in the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD metro area spend on clothing, shoes and related services?

About $6B a year, or $2,450 per household. That is 19% above the U.S. average (an index of 119, where 100 is the U.S. average). Spread across the 3,992 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 2,467,761 households in the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington metro area and national spending patterns by income.

How does the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD metro area compare with the U.S. for clothing and shoe stores?

The Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington metro area has 16.2 clothing and shoe stores per 10,000 households, in line with the U.S. rate of 16.2. Spending per store is $1.5M, 19% above the U.S. figure of $1.3M. At the U.S. ratio of clothing and shoe stores to household spending, the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington metro area would have about 4,758, against 3,992 on map listings. There is one business with payroll in the industry for every 1,288 households, against one for every 1,273 across the U.S. The official count fell 16.8% from 2019 to 2023, against −12.2% for the U.S.

How fast is the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD metro area growing?

Population estimates put the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington metro area at 6,329,118 people in 2025, up 1.4% since 2020, slower than the U.S. (+3.1%). It has 2,467,761 households. Median household income in the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington metro area is $91,289, 13% above the U.S. median of $80,734. Against the 2015–2019 survey, the median rose 26.2%, 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 Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington metro area scores 64 for clothing and shoe stores (upper middle), #100 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 Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington 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 Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington metro area

Screening a site or an acquisition in the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington 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 Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington 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.