Groundwork

Clothing and laundry · Metro area · Wisconsin

Clothing and shoe stores in the Eau Claire, WI metro area

Competitor counts, household spending and official business counts for clothing and shoe stores in the Eau Claire, WI metro area, set against other metro areas and the U.S.

Groundwork market score · out of 100

Score 51 out of 100: Upper middle

Ranked #204 of 387 scored metro areas
#11 of 13 scored metro areas based in Wisconsin

Listings
121
53 chain locations (44%)
Official establishments
47
−4.1% since 2019
Household spending a year
$139.5M
On clothing, shoes and related services · $1,942 a household
Spending per listing
$1.2M
9% below the U.S.
Listings per 10k households
16.8
4% above the U.S.
Population, 2025
176,647
+2.6% since 2020

See the clothing and shoe stores around any address in the Eau Claire 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 Eau Claire 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 Eau Claire metro area spend about $139.5M a year on clothing, shoes and related services, or $1,942 per household, 6% below the U.S. average. That is about $1.2M of household spending for each store on map listings, 9% below the U.S. figure of $1.3M. The spending figure covers all clothing, shoes and related services, not only clothing and shoe stores.

There are 121 clothing and shoe stores on map listings in the Eau Claire metro area as of September 2026. Chain locations make up 44% of them, against 44% across the U.S. That is 16.8 per 10,000 households, 4% above the U.S. rate of 16.2.

Official counts show 47 businesses with payroll classed as clothing and shoe stores in the Eau Claire metro area in 2023, down 4.1% from 2019. That is one for every 1,529 households, against one for every 1,273 across the U.S. Official counts also show 118 one-person businesses without payroll. Since fiscal 2022, 1 SBA-backed loan worth $50K has gone to businesses classed as clothing and shoe stores in the Eau Claire metro area.

Population estimates put the population change in the Eau Claire metro area from 2020 to 2025 at +2.6%, slower than the U.S. (+3.1%). The Eau Claire metro area scores 51 (upper middle) on the Groundwork market score for clothing and shoe stores, ranking #204 of 387 scored metro areas and #11 of 13 scored metro areas based in Wisconsin.

How the Eau Claire metro area compares

The same measures for Wisconsin 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 Eau Claire, WI metro area compared with Wisconsin and the U.S.
MeasureEau Claire metro areaWisconsinU.S.
Listings per 10k households16.812.716.2
Spending per listing$1.2M$1.6M$1.3M
Households per official establishment1,5291,8391,273
Official establishment growth, 2019–2023−4.1%−16.1%−12.2%
Population growth, 2020–2025+2.6%+1.3%+3.1%
Spending per household on clothing, shoes and related services$1,942$2,003$2,055
Median household income$74,595$77,485$80,734
Groundwork market score5172

Official counts and lending

Businesses

Official establishments, 2019 to 2023
47−4.1% over the period
Employees, 2023
583
Annual payroll, 2023
$10.8M
One-person businesses, 2023
118Businesses with no payroll
Map listings, September 2026
12153 chain locations
Listings at the U.S. rate for this spending
110The U.S. ratio of listings to household spending, applied here

SBA-backed loans since fiscal 2022

Loans
1
Amount
$50K

SBA-backed loans to businesses classed as clothing and shoe stores in the Eau Claire 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 Eau Claire metro area

Population, 2025 estimate
176,647+2.6% since 2020
Households
71,865
Median age
39.3
Homes lived in by their owners
66%
Vehicles per household
1.9
Land area
1,646 sq. mi.
People per square mile
106
Median household income
$74,595+25.2% vs. 2015–2019, before inflation
Average household income
$97,224
Median home value
$259,900
Jobs located here
86,835
Daytime population
182,644Residents who don’t work, plus everyone whose job is here

Looking at a specific site in the Eau Claire 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 Eau Claire 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 Wisconsin

Every Wisconsin market ranked →

The highest-scoring metro areas in Wisconsin for clothing and shoe stores, numbered among those based in Wisconsin (a market based in another state is listed without a number), with the Eau Claire metro area marked.

Top metro areas in Wisconsin

Metro areas in Wisconsin ranked for clothing and shoe stores by Groundwork market score
MarketScoreListingsPer 10k householdsSpending per listingPopulation growthU.S. rank
1Madison, WI8036011.9$1.8M+4.1%#21 of 387
2Racine-Mount Pleasant, WI768210.2$2M+0.4%#31 of 387
3Sheboygan, WI75397.8$2.5M0.0%#33 of 387
4Fond du Lac, WI75368.3$2.3M+0.5%#34 of 387
Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI722,06214.0$1.7M+2.6%#50 of 387
5Wausau, WI707412.8$1.5M+1.0%#61 of 387
6Green Bay, WI6818313.4$1.5M+2.5%#75 of 387
7Janesville-Beloit, WI658813.1$1.5M+1.7%#93 of 387
8Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI6389913.7$1.5M0.0%#107 of 387
9Oshkosh-Neenah, WI639913.6$1.4M+1.4%#109 of 387
11Eau Claire, WI5112116.8$1.2M+2.6%#204 of 387

Other business types in the Eau Claire 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 Eau Claire, WI metro area?

As of September 2026, map listings count 121 clothing and shoe stores in the Eau Claire metro area. 53 of them (44%) are chain locations. The listings count clothing, shoe and accessory stores and boutiques. Official counts show 47 businesses with payroll classed as clothing and shoe stores in 2023, down 4.1% from 2019. Another 118 one-person businesses have no payroll, by official counts.

How much do households in the Eau Claire, WI metro area spend on clothing, shoes and related services?

About $139.5M a year, or $1,942 per household. That is 6% below the U.S. average (an index of 94, where 100 is the U.S. average). Spread across the 121 clothing and shoe stores on map listings, it comes to $1.2M 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 71,865 households in the Eau Claire metro area and national spending patterns by income.

How does the Eau Claire, WI metro area compare with the U.S. for clothing and shoe stores?

The Eau Claire metro area has 16.8 clothing and shoe stores per 10,000 households, 4% above the U.S. rate of 16.2. Spending per store is $1.2M, 9% below the U.S. figure of $1.3M. At the U.S. ratio of clothing and shoe stores to household spending, the Eau Claire metro area would have about 110, against 121 on map listings. There is one business with payroll in the industry for every 1,529 households, against one for every 1,273 across the U.S. The official count fell 4.1% from 2019 to 2023, against −12.2% for the U.S.

How fast is the Eau Claire, WI metro area growing?

Population estimates put the Eau Claire metro area at 176,647 people in 2025, up 2.6% since 2020, slower than the U.S. (+3.1%). It has 71,865 households. Median household income in the Eau Claire metro area is $74,595, 8% below the U.S. median of $80,734. Against the 2015–2019 survey, the median rose 25.2%, 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 Eau Claire metro area scores 51 for clothing and shoe stores (upper middle), #204 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 Eau Claire 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 Eau Claire metro area

Screening a site or an acquisition in the Eau Claire 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 Eau Claire 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.