Market rankings · Iowa

Fast food and sandwich shops in Iowa

Every metro area, small-town market and county in Iowa, ranked by the Groundwork market score for fast food and sandwich shops, with competitor counts and household spending for each.

Listings: 1,600; 1,427 chain locations (89%)
Official establishments: 2,095; All limited-service restaurants · −0.9% since 2019
Household spending a year: $5.1B; On food away from home
Listings per 10k households: 12.2; 8% below the U.S.
Spending per listing: $3.2M; 5% above the U.S.
Rank among states: #18 of 51; Market score 59 · Upper middle

A site report maps the fast food and sandwich shops on map listings around any address in Iowa by name and distance, and the spending within reach.

Free10 actions over 3 days, no card

Survey estimates 2020–2024 · population estimates 2025 · official business counts 2023 · map listings September 2026 · Data credits · How we measure

What this means

Iowa has 1,600 fast food and sandwich shops on map listings as of September 2026. Of those, 1,427 are chain locations, or 89%, against 79% across the U.S. That comes to 12.2 for every 10,000 households, 8% below the U.S. rate of 13.3.

At $3,880 per household (5% below the U.S. average), households in Iowa spend about $5.1B a year on food away from home. That works out to $3.2M per shop, 5% above the U.S. figure of $3.1M. The spending figure covers all food away from home, not only fast food and sandwich shops.

In 2023, official counts showed 2,095 businesses with payroll in Iowa classed as limited-service restaurants, down 0.9% from 2019. That is one for every 628 households, against one for every 478 across the U.S. Across the U.S., the count rose 6.1% over the same years. That count covers all limited-service restaurants (pizza places included), not only fast food and sandwich shops. Since fiscal 2022, 63 SBA-backed loans worth $34.4M have gone to businesses classed as limited-service restaurants in Iowa.

Among the 50 states and DC, Iowa ranks #18 for fast food and sandwich shops, with a Groundwork market score of 59 (upper middle). Of the 9 scored metro areas in or partly in Iowa, the Des Moines-West Des Moines metro area scores highest (80). Of the 15 scored small-town markets in or partly in Iowa, the Le Mars area scores highest (79).

Every market in Iowa for fast food and sandwich shops

Download the ranking (CSV)

Numbered by Groundwork market score among the markets based in Iowa, highest first; the U.S. rank compares each market with every other of its kind. A metro area that crosses a state line is listed in each state it reaches, and numbered only in the state its page is under. How the score works.

Metro areas

Metro areas reaching Iowa, ranked for fast food and sandwich shops by Groundwork market score
Market	Score	Listings	Per 10k households	Spending per listing	Population growth	U.S. rank
1Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA	80	362	12.3	$3.5M	+6.7%	#27 of 387
2Cedar Rapids, IA	70	138	12.1	$3.3M	+1.0%	#69 of 387
Omaha, NE-IA	69	523	13.4	$3.1M	+4.2%	#78 of 387
3Iowa City, IA	64	106	14.7	$2.7M	+4.1%	#111 of 387
4Ames, IA	58	68	13.6	$2.8M	+2.2%	#153 of 387
5Dubuque, IA	56	59	14.4	$2.7M	+0.1%	#160 of 387
6Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA	55	89	12.8	$2.9M	+0.5%	#166 of 387
7Davenport-Moline-Rock Island, IA-IL	45	221	13.7	$2.8M	−0.9%	#227 of 387
8Sioux City, IA-NE-SD	39	93	16.8	$2.3M	+1.0%	#267 of 387

Small-town markets

Small-town markets reaching Iowa, ranked for fast food and sandwich shops by Groundwork market score
Market	Score	Listings	Per 10k households	Spending per listing	Population growth	U.S. rank
1Le Mars, IA	79	9	8.7	$4.6M	0.0%	#29 of 537
2Marshalltown, IA	75	15	9.7	$3.8M	−0.5%	#52 of 537
3Storm Lake, IA	75	8	10.6	$3.6M	−1.7%	#53 of 537
4Fort Dodge, IA	66	18	11.7	$3M	−0.4%	#123 of 537
5Oskaloosa, IA	65	10	11.4	$3.2M	−1.2%	#132 of 537
6Carroll, IA	63	9	10.2	$3.7M	−2.0%	#148 of 537
7Pella, IA	63	18	13.5	$2.9M	+2.3%	#153 of 537
8Clinton, IA	59	24	12.3	$3M	−0.9%	#188 of 537
9Mason City, IA	57	29	12.8	$2.9M	−1.5%	#213 of 537
10Fort Madison, IA	56	18	12.6	$2.7M	−3.6%	#222 of 537
11Burlington, IA-IL	49	24	12.1	$2.9M	−2.5%	#282 of 537
12Ottumwa, IA	49	20	14.3	$2.4M	−0.3%	#284 of 537
13Muscatine, IA	48	20	11.5	$3.2M	−3.0%	#290 of 537
14Spirit Lake, IA	47	15	17.0	$2.4M	+1.7%	#302 of 537
15Spencer, IA	34	13	17.9	$2M	−0.8%	#419 of 537

Counties

Counties in Iowa, ranked for fast food and sandwich shops by Groundwork market score
Market	Score	Listings	Per 10k households	Spending per listing	Population growth	U.S. rank
1Madison County, IA	89	5	7.5	$5.6M	+3.8%	#22 of 2,222
2Warren County, IA	88	21	10.2	$4.3M	+9.0%	#33 of 2,222
3Jones County, IA	84	6	7.3	$5.1M	+2.9%	#71 of 2,222
4Dallas County, IA	83	50	11.8	$4M	+17.8%	#89 of 2,222
5Bremer County, IA	80	9	9.3	$4.3M	+1.1%	#128 of 2,222
6Buchanan County, IA	79	7	8.5	$4.4M	+1.3%	#149 of 2,222
7Delaware County, IA	78	5	6.8	$5.6M	+1.3%	#156 of 2,222
8Boone County, IA	78	11	10.1	$4M	+0.4%	#169 of 2,222
9Winneshiek County, IA	73	7	8.6	$4.5M	−1.6%	#275 of 2,222
10Jackson County, IA	73	7	8.5	$4.4M	−0.8%	#276 of 2,222
11Iowa County, IA	73	6	8.7	$4.3M	−1.0%	#278 of 2,222
12Guthrie County, IA	73	5	10.9	$3.6M	+1.6%	#287 of 2,222
13Plymouth County, IA	72	9	8.7	$4.6M	0.0%	#300 of 2,222
14Washington County, IA	72	10	11.1	$3.4M	+0.6%	#313 of 2,222
15O’Brien County, IA	69	5	8.6	$4.2M	+0.5%	#390 of 2,222
16Hardin County, IA	68	5	7.1	$4.9M	−2.2%	#419 of 2,222
17Sioux County, IA	67	17	13.4	$3.1M	+2.5%	#488 of 2,222
18Marshall County, IA	66	15	9.7	$3.8M	−0.5%	#509 of 2,222
19Buena Vista County, IA	66	8	10.6	$3.6M	−1.7%	#512 of 2,222
20Polk County, IA	66	263	12.8	$3.3M	+4.8%	#523 of 2,222
21Jasper County, IA	66	18	12.0	$3.1M	+0.9%	#527 of 2,222
22Poweshiek County, IA	65	8	10.3	$3.6M	−1.4%	#546 of 2,222
23Harrison County, IA	64	5	8.2	$4.7M	+0.4%	#565 of 2,222
24Kossuth County, IA	64	6	9.2	$3.9M	−3.2%	#570 of 2,222
25Crawford County, IA	63	6	9.5	$3.8M	−1.5%	#605 of 2,222

Show all 99 counties

Counties in Iowa, ranked for fast food and sandwich shops by Groundwork market score, continued
Market	Score	Listings	Per 10k households	Spending per listing	Population growth	U.S. rank
26Cedar County, IA	63	10	13.1	$3M	−0.7%	#629 of 2,222
27Linn County, IA	60	128	13.4	$3M	+0.7%	#752 of 2,222
28Cass County, IA	59	6	10.3	$3.4M	−1.2%	#779 of 2,222
29Floyd County, IA	59	7	10.8	$3.3M	−4.4%	#783 of 2,222
30Wright County, IA	59	7	13.1	$2.8M	−0.9%	#797 of 2,222
31Johnson County, IA	58	96	15.2	$2.7M	+4.6%	#839 of 2,222
32Page County, IA	57	6	9.6	$3.5M	−2.3%	#849 of 2,222
33Carroll County, IA	56	9	10.2	$3.7M	−2.0%	#889 of 2,222
34Mahaska County, IA	56	10	11.4	$3.2M	−1.2%	#903 of 2,222
35Webster County, IA	55	18	11.7	$3M	−0.4%	#946 of 2,222
36Dubuque County, IA	55	59	14.4	$2.7M	+0.1%	#956 of 2,222
37Hamilton County, IA	55	10	15.5	$2.4M	−0.5%	#966 of 2,222
38Marion County, IA	54	18	13.5	$2.9M	+2.3%	#992 of 2,222
39Union County, IA	51	5	9.8	$3.3M	−2.5%	#1,092 of 2,222
40Clinton County, IA	51	24	12.3	$3M	−0.9%	#1,104 of 2,222
41Shelby County, IA	51	8	16.4	$2.4M	−0.2%	#1,116 of 2,222
42Jefferson County, IA	49	7	10.1	$3.4M	−2.5%	#1,164 of 2,222
43Story County, IA	49	57	14.7	$2.6M	+2.7%	#1,186 of 2,222
44Lee County, IA	47	18	12.6	$2.7M	−3.6%	#1,267 of 2,222
45Pottawattamie County, IA	47	53	14.1	$2.7M	−0.7%	#1,268 of 2,222
46Black Hawk County, IA	44	78	14.3	$2.5M	+0.4%	#1,376 of 2,222
47Scott County, IA	43	118	16.1	$2.5M	+0.4%	#1,404 of 2,222
48Muscatine County, IA	42	20	11.5	$3.2M	−3.0%	#1,426 of 2,222
49Cerro Gordo County, IA	42	26	13.3	$2.8M	−1.5%	#1,431 of 2,222
50Henry County, IA	42	12	15.7	$2.3M	−5.4%	#1,449 of 2,222
51Wapello County, IA	40	20	14.3	$2.4M	−0.3%	#1,498 of 2,222
52Des Moines County, IA	39	22	12.8	$2.7M	−2.0%	#1,519 of 2,222
53Fayette County, IA	39	14	16.8	$2M	−2.1%	#1,549 of 2,222
54Appanoose County, IA	38	5	9.6	$3.3M	−1.7%	#1,555 of 2,222
55Dickinson County, IA	38	15	17.0	$2.4M	+1.7%	#1,568 of 2,222
56Woodbury County, IA	33	75	18.4	$2M	+0.7%	#1,751 of 2,222
57Clay County, IA	29	13	17.9	$2M	−0.8%	#1,874 of 2,222
Benton County, IA	Not scored	4	3.9	$10.5M	+1.8%
Clayton County, IA	Not scored	4	5.3	$6.7M	−1.1%
Tama County, IA	Not scored	3	4.5	$8M	−1.5%
Mills County, IA	Not scored	3	5.6	$7.7M	+2.6%
Butler County, IA	Not scored	0	0.0	n/a	−2.0%
Allamakee County, IA	Not scored	2	3.4	$10.8M	+1.2%
Grundy County, IA	Not scored	2	3.9	$10.4M	+0.2%
Lyon County, IA	Not scored	1	2.2	$17.2M	+3.6%
Chickasaw County, IA	Not scored	3	6.0	$6.2M	−2.8%
Cherokee County, IA	Not scored	3	5.9	$6.3M	−2.4%
Louisa County, IA	Not scored	2	4.7	$8.1M	−3.7%
Hancock County, IA	Not scored	3	6.4	$5.5M	−2.2%
Winnebago County, IA	Not scored	4	8.6	$4.1M	−3.8%
Mitchell County, IA	Not scored	2	4.4	$8.7M	+0.6%
Montgomery County, IA	Not scored	4	8.7	$3.9M	−3.2%
Franklin County, IA	Not scored	5	11.9	$2.8M	−1.2%
Keokuk County, IA	Not scored	3	7.4	$4.8M	−2.0%
Calhoun County, IA	Not scored	3	7.5	$4.8M	−3.4%
Sac County, IA	Not scored	2	4.6	$7.8M	−2.7%
Clarke County, IA	Not scored	5	12.3	$3M	−1.6%
Humboldt County, IA	Not scored	2	4.7	$7.8M	−2.0%
Howard County, IA	Not scored	3	8.0	$4.5M	−0.8%
Emmet County, IA	Not scored	4	9.8	$3.4M	−2.5%
Davis County, IA	Not scored	3	9.4	$4M	+1.3%
Palo Alto County, IA	Not scored	3	7.9	$4.7M	−1.0%
Lucas County, IA	Not scored	3	8.1	$4.1M	+2.6%
Greene County, IA	Not scored	5	12.7	$2.8M	−1.0%
Monona County, IA	Not scored	4	10.3	$3.4M	−2.4%
Decatur County, IA	Not scored	2	6.5	$5M	−0.9%
Monroe County, IA	Not scored	3	9.7	$3.7M	−2.5%
Adair County, IA	Not scored	2	6.2	$6M	−1.3%
Worth County, IA	Not scored	3	9.4	$4M	−1.3%
Van Buren County, IA	Not scored	0	0.0	n/a	−1.2%
Pocahontas County, IA	Not scored	1	3.3	$10.3M	−3.5%
Ida County, IA	Not scored	4	13.1	$2.7M	−3.4%
Wayne County, IA	Not scored	0	0.0	n/a	+3.6%
Fremont County, IA	Not scored	3	10.6	$3.5M	−0.8%
Osceola County, IA	Not scored	3	11.4	$3.2M	−3.6%
Taylor County, IA	Not scored	2	8.0	$4.3M	−0.5%
Audubon County, IA	Not scored	2	7.7	$4.5M	−3.0%
Ringgold County, IA	Not scored	1	5.3	$7.1M	0.0%
Adams County, IA	Not scored	1	6.5	$5.8M	−2.5%

Markets with fewer than 5 fast food and sandwich shops on map listings, and counties under 10,000 people, aren’t scored; they’re listed last in each table.

Questions

How many fast food and sandwich shops are in Iowa?

Map listings as of September 2026 show 1,600 fast food and sandwich shops in Iowa. 1,427 of them (89%) are chain locations. The listings count fast food, sandwich shops, delis and bagel shops. Official counts show 2,095 businesses with payroll classed as limited-service restaurants in 2023, down 0.9% from 2019. The official count takes in all limited-service restaurants, not only fast food and sandwich shops: pizza places are counted too. Another 271 one-person businesses have no payroll, by official counts.

How much do households in Iowa spend on food away from home?

About $5.1B a year, or $3,880 per household. That is 5% below the U.S. average (an index of 95, where 100 is the U.S. average). Spread across the 1,600 fast food and sandwich shops on map listings, it comes to $3.2M per shop. That spending covers all food away from home, which fast food and sandwich shops share with other businesses in the trade. It is estimated from the incomes of the 1,315,707 households in Iowa and national spending patterns by income.

How does Iowa compare with the U.S. for fast food and sandwich shops?

Iowa has 12.2 fast food and sandwich shops per 10,000 households, 8% below the U.S. rate of 13.3. Spending per shop is $3.2M, 5% above the U.S. figure of $3.1M. At the U.S. ratio of fast food and sandwich shops to household spending, Iowa would have about 1,673, against 1,600 on map listings. There is one business with payroll in the industry for every 628 households, against one for every 478 across the U.S. The official count fell 0.9% from 2019 to 2023, against +6.1% for the U.S.

Which market in Iowa has the highest market score for fast food and sandwich shops?

Among 9 scored metro areas in or partly in Iowa, the Des Moines-West Des Moines metro area scores highest, at 80 (high). Among 15 scored small-town markets in or partly in Iowa, the Le Mars area scores highest, at 79 (high). Among 57 scored counties in Iowa, Madison County scores highest, at 89 (high). Scores compare each market with others of its kind across the U.S.

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. Iowa scores 59 for fast food and sandwich shops (upper middle), #18 of the 50 states and DC.

How can I see the market around a specific site?

Run a Groundwork site report on an address in Iowa. It maps the fast food and sandwich shops 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.

Restaurants and cafes13,560 listings
Sit-down restaurants6,964 listings
Pizza1,535 listings
Coffee shops and cafes1,555 listings
Bakeries and dessert shops1,058 listings

Screening a site or an acquisition in Iowa?

A site report maps the competitors on map listings near an address and sizes the households and spending around it.

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