Groundwork

Food and drink · Small-town market · Delaware

Coffee shops and cafes in the Seaford, DE area

How the Seaford, DE area compares with other small-town markets and the U.S. for coffee shops and cafes: competitors, household spending, official counts and growth.

Groundwork market score · out of 100

Score 68 out of 100: Upper middle

Ranked #73 of 529 scored small-town markets
The only scored small-town market based in Delaware

Listings
93
26 chain locations (28%)
Official establishments
73
All snack and nonalcoholic beverage bars · +9.0% since 2019
Household spending a year
$423M
On food away from home · $3,974 a household
Spending per listing
$4.5M
23% above the U.S.
Listings per 10k households
8.7
21% below the U.S.
Population, 2025
277,140
+16.1% since 2020

See the coffee shops and cafes around any address in the Seaford area

The site report maps the coffee shops and cafes 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 Seaford 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

At $3,974 per household (2% below the U.S. average), households in the Seaford area spend about $423M a year on food away from home. Spread across 93 coffee shops and cafes, that is $4.5M per cafe, 23% above the U.S. figure of $3.7M. The spending figure covers all food away from home, not only coffee shops and cafes.

The Seaford area has 93 coffee shops and cafes on map listings as of September 2026. Chain locations make up 28% of them, against 39% across the U.S. Per 10,000 households, that is 8.7, 21% below the U.S. rate of 11.0.

The official count of businesses with payroll classed as snack and nonalcoholic beverage bars in the Seaford area was 73 in 2023, up 9.0% from 2019. That is one for every 1,458 households, against one for every 1,518 across the U.S. That count covers all snack and nonalcoholic beverage bars (bakeries and dessert shops included), not only coffee shops and cafes. Another 7 one-person businesses have no payroll, by official counts. Since fiscal 2022, 4 SBA-backed loans worth $1.7M have gone to businesses classed as snack and nonalcoholic beverage bars in the Seaford area.

Population estimates show the Seaford area grew 16.1% from 2020 to 2025, faster than the U.S. (+3.1%). For coffee shops and cafes, the Seaford area has a Groundwork market score of 68 (upper middle): #73 of 529 scored small-town markets and the only scored small-town market based in Delaware. That puts it in the top quarter of small-town markets.

How the Seaford area compares

The same measures for Delaware and the whole U.S. Spending per listing divides a year of household spending on all food away from home by the coffee shops and cafes counted, so it measures the demand for each competitor, not any business’s revenue. Households per establishment does the same with the official count.

Coffee shops and cafes in Seaford, DE area compared with Delaware and the U.S.
MeasureSeaford areaDelawareU.S.
Listings per 10k households8.78.811.0
Spending per listing$4.5M$4.6M$3.7M
Households per official establishment (all snack and nonalcoholic beverage bars)1,4581,7481,518
Official establishment growth, 2019–2023+9.0%+5.5%+24.3%
Population growth, 2020–2025+16.1%+6.9%+3.1%
Spending per household on food away from home$3,974$4,092$4,070
Median household income$81,497$84,954$80,734
Groundwork market score6875

Official counts and lending

Businesses

Official establishments, 2019 to 2023
73All snack and nonalcoholic beverage bars · +9.0% over the period
Employees, 2023
709
Annual payroll, 2023
$20.3M
One-person businesses, 2023
7All snack and nonalcoholic beverage bars with no payroll
Map listings, September 2026
9326 chain locations
Listings at the U.S. rate for this spending
114The U.S. ratio of listings to household spending, applied here

SBA-backed loans since fiscal 2022

Loans
4
Amount
$1.7M

SBA-backed loans to businesses classed as snack and nonalcoholic beverage bars in the Seaford 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. These official figures cover all snack and nonalcoholic beverage bars, not only coffee shops and cafes.

Population and households in the Seaford area

Population, 2025 estimate
277,140+16.1% since 2020
Households
106,441
Median age
49.6
Homes lived in by their owners
82%
Vehicles per household
1.9
Land area
936 sq. mi.
People per square mile
273
Median household income
$81,497
Average household income
$109,287
Median home value
$382,600
Jobs located here
85,870
Daytime population
239,628Residents who don’t work, plus everyone whose job is here

Looking at a specific site in the Seaford 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 coffee shops and cafes on map listings by name and distance.

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

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Other business types in the Seaford area

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

Questions

How many coffee shops and cafes are in the Seaford, DE area?

Map listings as of September 2026 show 93 coffee shops and cafes in the Seaford area. 26 of them (28%) are chain locations. The listings count coffee, tea, juice and bubble tea shops, and cafes. Official counts show 73 businesses with payroll classed as snack and nonalcoholic beverage bars in 2023, up 9.0% from 2019. The official count takes in all snack and nonalcoholic beverage bars, not only coffee shops and cafes: bakeries and dessert shops are counted too. Official counts list 7 one-person businesses without payroll.

How much do households in the Seaford, DE area spend on food away from home?

About $423M a year, or $3,974 per household. That is 2% below the U.S. average (an index of 98, where 100 is the U.S. average). Spread across the 93 coffee shops and cafes on map listings, it comes to $4.5M per cafe. That spending covers all food away from home, which coffee shops and cafes share with other businesses in the trade. It is estimated from the incomes of the 106,441 households in the Seaford area and national spending patterns by income.

How does the Seaford, DE area compare with the U.S. for coffee shops and cafes?

The Seaford area has 8.7 coffee shops and cafes per 10,000 households, 21% below the U.S. rate of 11.0. Spending per cafe is $4.5M, 23% above the U.S. figure of $3.7M. At the U.S. ratio of coffee shops and cafes to household spending, the Seaford area would have about 114, against 93 on map listings. There is one business with payroll in the industry for every 1,458 households, against one for every 1,518 across the U.S. The official count rose 9.0% from 2019 to 2023, against +24.3% for the U.S.

How fast is the Seaford, DE area growing?

Population estimates put the Seaford area at 277,140 people in 2025, up 16.1% since 2020, faster than the U.S. (+3.1%). It has 106,441 households. Median household income in the Seaford area is $81,497, in line with 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. 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 Seaford area scores 68 for coffee shops and cafes (upper middle), #73 of 529 scored small-town markets.

How can I see the market around a specific site?

Run a Groundwork site report on an address in the Seaford area. It maps the coffee shops and cafes 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 coffee shops and cafes · All 56 business types in the Seaford area

Screening a site or an acquisition in the Seaford 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 Seaford 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.