Groundwork

Food and drink · Metro area · Montana

Coffee shops and cafes in the Billings, MT metro area

How the Billings, MT metro area compares with other metro areas and the U.S. for coffee shops and cafes: competitors, household spending, official counts and growth.

Groundwork market score · out of 100

Score 31 out of 100: Lower middle

Ranked #337 of 387 scored metro areas
#3 of 5 scored metro areas based in Montana

Listings
126
38 chain locations (30%)
Official establishments
78
All snack and nonalcoholic beverage bars · +69.6% since 2019
Household spending a year
$305.7M
On food away from home · $3,901 a household
Spending per listing
$2.4M
34% below the U.S.
Listings per 10k households
16.1
46% above the U.S.
Population, 2025
193,603
+4.8% since 2020

See the coffee shops and cafes around any address in the Billings metro 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 Billings 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

The Billings metro area scores 31 (lower middle) on the Groundwork market score for coffee shops and cafes, ranking #337 of 387 scored metro areas and #3 of 5 scored metro areas based in Montana. That puts it in the bottom quarter of metro areas.

Household spending on food away from home in the Billings metro area comes to about $305.7M a year: $3,901 per household, 4% below the U.S. average. Spread across 126 coffee shops and cafes, that is $2.4M per cafe, 34% below the U.S. figure of $3.7M. The spending figure covers all food away from home, not only coffee shops and cafes.

The Billings metro area has 126 coffee shops and cafes on map listings as of September 2026. Of those, 38 are chain locations, or 30%, against 39% across the U.S. Per 10,000 households, that is 16.1, 46% above the U.S. rate of 11.0.

Official counts show 78 businesses with payroll classed as snack and nonalcoholic beverage bars in the Billings metro area in 2023, up 69.6% from 2019. That is one for every 1,005 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. Since fiscal 2022, 4 SBA-backed loans worth $1.9M have gone to businesses classed as snack and nonalcoholic beverage bars in the Billings metro area. Between 2020 and 2025, the population of the Billings metro area grew 4.8%, faster than the U.S. (+3.1%).

How the Billings metro area compares

The same measures for Montana 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 Billings, MT metro area compared with Montana and the U.S.
MeasureBillings metro areaMontanaU.S.
Listings per 10k households16.119.211.0
Spending per listing$2.4M$1.9M$3.7M
Households per official establishment (all snack and nonalcoholic beverage bars)1,0051,0751,518
Official establishment growth, 2019–2023+69.6%+33.9%+24.3%
Population growth, 2020–2025+4.8%+5.3%+3.1%
Spending per household on food away from home$3,901$3,748$4,070
Median household income$77,194$72,509$80,734
Groundwork market score3124

Official counts and lending

Businesses

Official establishments, 2019 to 2023
78All snack and nonalcoholic beverage bars · +69.6% over the period
Employees, 2023
925
Annual payroll, 2023
$14.2M
One-person businesses, 2023
8All snack and nonalcoholic beverage bars with no payroll
Map listings, September 2026
12638 chain locations
Listings at the U.S. rate for this spending
83The U.S. ratio of listings to household spending, applied here

SBA-backed loans since fiscal 2022

Loans
4
Amount
$1.9M

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

Population and households in the Billings metro area

Population, 2025 estimate
193,603+4.8% since 2020
Households
78,371
Median age
40.7
Homes lived in by their owners
71%
Vehicles per household
2.1
Land area
6,478 sq. mi.
People per square mile
29
Median household income
$77,194+26.0% vs. 2015–2019, before inflation
Average household income
$105,451
Median home value
$355,200
Jobs located here
97,581
Daytime population
192,076Residents who don’t work, plus everyone whose job is here

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

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

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Coffee shops and cafes across Montana

Every Montana market ranked →

The highest-scoring metro areas in Montana for coffee shops and cafes, numbered among those based in Montana, with the Billings metro area marked.

Top metro areas in Montana

Metro areas in Montana ranked for coffee shops and cafes by Groundwork market score
MarketScoreListingsPer 10k householdsSpending per listingPopulation growthU.S. rank
1Helena, MT395714.6$2.7M+7.7%#289 of 387
2Bozeman, MT3513025.4$1.7M+7.7%#315 of 387
3Billings, MT3112616.1$2.4M+4.8%#337 of 387
4Missoula, MT2910018.2$2.1M+4.7%#345 of 387
5Great Falls, MT224612.9$2.8M+0.7%#374 of 387

Other business types in the Billings metro 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 Billings, MT metro area?

Map listings as of September 2026 show 126 coffee shops and cafes in the Billings metro area. 38 of them (30%) are chain locations. The listings count coffee, tea, juice and bubble tea shops, and cafes. Official counts show 78 businesses with payroll classed as snack and nonalcoholic beverage bars in 2023, up 69.6% 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 8 one-person businesses without payroll.

How much do households in the Billings, MT metro area spend on food away from home?

About $305.7M a year, or $3,901 per household. That is 4% below the U.S. average (an index of 96, where 100 is the U.S. average). Spread across the 126 coffee shops and cafes on map listings, it comes to $2.4M 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 78,371 households in the Billings metro area and national spending patterns by income.

How does the Billings, MT metro area compare with the U.S. for coffee shops and cafes?

The Billings metro area has 16.1 coffee shops and cafes per 10,000 households, 46% above the U.S. rate of 11.0. Spending per cafe is $2.4M, 34% below the U.S. figure of $3.7M. At the U.S. ratio of coffee shops and cafes to household spending, the Billings metro area would have about 83, against 126 on map listings. There is one business with payroll in the industry for every 1,005 households, against one for every 1,518 across the U.S. The official count rose 69.6% from 2019 to 2023, against +24.3% for the U.S.

How fast is the Billings, MT metro area growing?

Population estimates put the Billings metro area at 193,603 people in 2025, up 4.8% since 2020, faster than the U.S. (+3.1%). It has 78,371 households. Median household income in the Billings metro area is $77,194, 4% below the U.S. median of $80,734. Against the 2015–2019 survey, the median rose 26.0%, 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 Billings metro area scores 31 for coffee shops and cafes (lower middle), #337 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 Billings metro 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 Billings metro area

Screening a site or an acquisition in the Billings 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 Billings 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.