Groundwork

Groceries and convenience · Metro area · Alabama

Convenience stores in the Huntsville, AL metro area

How the Huntsville, AL metro area compares with other metro areas and the U.S. for convenience stores: competitors, household spending, official counts and growth.

Groundwork market score · out of 100

Score 82 out of 100: High

Ranked #13 of 387 scored metro areas
#1 of 12 scored metro areas based in Alabama

Listings
143
79 chain locations (55%)
Official establishments
22
Businesses with payroll, 2023
Household spending a year
$1.3B
On groceries · $6,323 a household
Spending per listing
$9.1M
16% above the U.S.
Listings per 10k households
6.9
14% below the U.S.
Population, 2025
556,444
+12.5% since 2020

See the convenience stores around any address in the Huntsville metro area

The site report maps the convenience 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 Huntsville 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

For convenience stores, the Huntsville metro area has a Groundwork market score of 82 (high): #13 of 387 scored metro areas and #1 of 12 scored metro areas based in Alabama. That puts it in the top 10% of metro areas for convenience stores.

At $6,323 per household (in line with the U.S. average), households in the Huntsville metro area spend about $1.3B a year on groceries. That is about $9.1M of household spending for each store on map listings, 16% above the U.S. figure of $7.9M. The spending figure covers all groceries, not only convenience stores.

The Huntsville metro area has 143 convenience stores on map listings as of September 2026. Of those, 79 are chain locations, or 55%, against 60% across the U.S. That comes to 6.9 for every 10,000 households, 14% below the U.S. rate of 8.0.

Official counts show 22 businesses with payroll classed as convenience stores in the Huntsville metro area in 2023. That is one for every 9,363 households, against one for every 3,493 across the U.S. Population estimates put the population change in the Huntsville metro area from 2020 to 2025 at +12.5%, faster than the U.S. (+3.1%).

How the Huntsville metro area compares

The same measures for Alabama and the whole U.S. Spending per listing divides a year of household spending on all groceries by the convenience 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.

Convenience stores in Huntsville, AL metro area compared with Alabama and the U.S.
MeasureHuntsville metro areaAlabamaU.S.
Listings per 10k households6.910.58.0
Spending per listing$9.1M$5.5M$7.9M
Households per official establishment9,3634,7223,493
Official establishment growth, 2019–2023n/a+74.1%+22.0%
Population growth, 2020–2025+12.5%+3.2%+3.1%
Spending per household on groceries$6,323$5,771$6,319
Median household income$85,989$63,999$80,734
Groundwork market score8234

Official counts and lending

Businesses

Official establishments, 2019 to 2023
22
Employees, 2023
74
Annual payroll, 2023
$1.1M
One-person businesses, 2023
Not publishedNot published for this business type
Map listings, September 2026
14379 chain locations
Listings at the U.S. rate for this spending
165The 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 convenience stores in the Huntsville 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 Huntsville metro area

Population, 2025 estimate
556,444+12.5% since 2020
Households
205,984
Median age
39.8
Homes lived in by their owners
70%
Vehicles per household
1.9
Land area
1,365 sq. mi.
People per square mile
379
Median household income
$85,989+33.4% vs. 2015–2019, before inflation
Average household income
$114,012
Median home value
$295,200
Jobs located here
250,093
Daytime population
546,361Residents who don’t work, plus everyone whose job is here

Looking at a specific site in the Huntsville 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 convenience stores on map listings by name and distance.

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

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Convenience stores across Alabama

Every Alabama market ranked →

The highest-scoring metro areas in Alabama for convenience stores, numbered among those based in Alabama, with the Huntsville metro area marked.

Top metro areas in Alabama

Metro areas in Alabama ranked for convenience stores by Groundwork market score
MarketScoreListingsPer 10k householdsSpending per listingPopulation growthU.S. rank
1Huntsville, AL821436.9$9.1M+12.5%#13 of 387
2Daphne-Fairhope-Foley, AL67959.6$6.3M+14.8%#80 of 387
3Auburn-Opelika, AL50678.7$6.6M+7.1%#200 of 387
4Birmingham, AL444148.9$6.7M+1.4%#237 of 387
5Florence-Muscle Shoals, AL407912.4$4.6M+3.5%#264 of 387
6Decatur, AL39629.9$5.9M+2.5%#267 of 387
7Montgomery, AL371469.6$6M+0.9%#282 of 387
8Tuscaloosa, AL3311210.6$5.4M+2.9%#305 of 387
9Dothan, AL307412.1$4.6M+3.4%#321 of 387
10Gadsden, AL265313.4$4M+0.4%#342 of 387

Other business types in the Huntsville metro area

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

Questions

How many convenience stores are in the Huntsville, AL metro area?

Map listings as of September 2026 show 143 convenience stores in the Huntsville metro area. 79 of them (55%) are chain locations. The listings count convenience stores without fuel. Official counts show 22 businesses with payroll classed as convenience stores in 2023.

How much do households in the Huntsville, AL metro area spend on groceries?

About $1.3B a year, or $6,323 per household. That is in line with the U.S. average (an index of 100, where 100 is the U.S. average). Spread across the 143 convenience stores on map listings, it comes to $9.1M per store. That spending covers all groceries, which convenience stores share with other businesses in the trade. It is estimated from the incomes of the 205,984 households in the Huntsville metro area and national spending patterns by income.

How does the Huntsville, AL metro area compare with the U.S. for convenience stores?

The Huntsville metro area has 6.9 convenience stores per 10,000 households, 14% below the U.S. rate of 8.0. Spending per store is $9.1M, 16% above the U.S. figure of $7.9M. At the U.S. ratio of convenience stores to household spending, the Huntsville metro area would have about 165, against 143 on map listings. There is one business with payroll in the industry for every 9,363 households, against one for every 3,493 across the U.S.

How fast is the Huntsville, AL metro area growing?

Population estimates put the Huntsville metro area at 556,444 people in 2025, up 12.5% since 2020, faster than the U.S. (+3.1%). It has 205,984 households. The median household income in the Huntsville metro area is $85,989 a year, 7% above the U.S. median of $80,734. That rose 33.4% from the 2015–2019 survey, 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 Huntsville metro area scores 82 for convenience stores (high), #13 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 Huntsville metro area. It maps the convenience 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 convenience stores · All 56 business types in the Huntsville metro area

Screening a site or an acquisition in the Huntsville 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 Huntsville 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.