Groundwork

Food and drink · Small-town market · Kentucky

Fast food and sandwich shops in the Madisonville, KY area

How the Madisonville, KY area compares with other small-town markets and the U.S. for fast food and sandwich shops: competitors, household spending, official counts and growth.

Groundwork market score · out of 100

Score 31 out of 100: Lower middle

Ranked #444 of 537 scored small-town markets
#10 of 15 scored small-town markets based in Kentucky

Listings
30
28 chain locations (93%)
Official establishments
32
All limited-service restaurants · +18.5% since 2019
Household spending a year
$58M
On food away from home · $3,153 a household
Spending per listing
$1.9M
37% below the U.S.
Listings per 10k households
16.3
23% above the U.S.
Population, 2025
45,127
−0.5% since 2020

See the fast food and sandwich shops around any address in the Madisonville area

The site report maps the fast food and sandwich shops 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 Madisonville 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 Madisonville area scores 31 (lower middle) on the Groundwork market score for fast food and sandwich shops, ranking #444 of 537 scored small-town markets and #10 of 15 scored small-town markets based in Kentucky. That puts it in the bottom quarter of small-town markets.

Household spending on food away from home in the Madisonville area comes to about $58M a year: $3,153 per household, 23% below the U.S. average. That works out to $1.9M per shop, 37% below the U.S. figure of $3.1M. The spending figure covers all food away from home, not only fast food and sandwich shops.

The Madisonville area has 30 fast food and sandwich shops on map listings as of September 2026. Of those, 28 are chain locations, or 93%, against 79% across the U.S. Per 10,000 households, that is 16.3, 23% above the U.S. rate of 13.3.

In 2023, official counts showed 32 businesses with payroll in the Madisonville area classed as limited-service restaurants, up 18.5% from 2019. That is one for every 575 households, against one for every 478 across the U.S. That count covers all limited-service restaurants (pizza places included), not only fast food and sandwich shops. Between 2020 and 2025, the population of the Madisonville area declined 0.5%, against +3.1% for the U.S.

How the Madisonville area compares

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

Fast food and sandwich shops in Madisonville, KY area compared with Kentucky and the U.S.
MeasureMadisonville areaKentuckyU.S.
Listings per 10k households16.314.813.3
Spending per listing$1.9M$2.4M$3.1M
Households per official establishment (all limited-service restaurants)575519478
Official establishment growth, 2019–2023+18.5%+5.7%+6.1%
Population growth, 2020–2025−0.5%+2.2%+3.1%
Spending per household on food away from home$3,153$3,489$4,070
Median household income$56,815$63,726$80,734
Groundwork market score3128

Official counts and lending

Businesses

Official establishments, 2019 to 2023
32All limited-service restaurants · +18.5% over the period
Employees, 2023
801
Annual payroll, 2023
$13M
One-person businesses, 2023
6All limited-service restaurants with no payroll
Map listings, September 2026
3028 chain locations
Listings at the U.S. rate for this spending
19The 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 limited-service restaurants in the Madisonville 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 limited-service restaurants, not only fast food and sandwich shops.

Population and households in the Madisonville area

Population, 2025 estimate
45,127−0.5% since 2020
Households
18,397
Median age
40.6
Homes lived in by their owners
71%
Vehicles per household
1.9
Land area
542 sq. mi.
People per square mile
83
Median household income
$56,815+20.5% vs. 2015–2019, before inflation
Average household income
$70,892
Median home value
$142,800
Jobs located here
16,599
Daytime population
43,041Residents who don’t work, plus everyone whose job is here

Looking at a specific site in the Madisonville 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 fast food and sandwich shops on map listings by name and distance.

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

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Fast food and sandwich shops across Kentucky

Every Kentucky market ranked →

The highest-scoring small-town markets in Kentucky for fast food and sandwich shops, numbered among those based in Kentucky, with the Madisonville area marked.

Top small-town markets in Kentucky

Small-town markets in Kentucky ranked for fast food and sandwich shops by Groundwork market score
MarketScoreListingsPer 10k householdsSpending per listingPopulation growthU.S. rank
1Mayfield, KY64139.2$3.4M+1.4%#141 of 537
2Frankfort, KY524614.2$2.5M+3.1%#260 of 537
3Henderson, KY512410.2$3.2M−0.9%#272 of 537
4Mount Sterling, KY492714.9$2.1M+3.1%#286 of 537
5Richmond-Berea, KY497915.9$2.1M+7.0%#288 of 537
6Danville, KY383315.2$2.1M+3.6%#385 of 537
7Murray, KY372214.4$2.2M+4.9%#389 of 537
8Somerset, KY364115.6$2M+3.5%#404 of 537
9Campbellsville, KY342617.7$1.8M+3.4%#422 of 537
10Madisonville, KY313016.3$1.9M−0.5%#444 of 537

Other business types in the Madisonville area

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

Questions

How many fast food and sandwich shops are in the Madisonville, KY area?

Map listings as of September 2026 show 30 fast food and sandwich shops in the Madisonville area. 28 of them (93%) are chain locations. The listings count fast food, sandwich shops, delis and bagel shops. Official counts show 32 businesses with payroll classed as limited-service restaurants in 2023, up 18.5% from 2019. The official count takes in all limited-service restaurants, not only fast food and sandwich shops: pizza places are counted too. Official counts list 6 one-person businesses without payroll.

How much do households in the Madisonville, KY area spend on food away from home?

About $58M a year, or $3,153 per household. That is 23% below the U.S. average (an index of 77, where 100 is the U.S. average). Spread across the 30 fast food and sandwich shops on map listings, it comes to $1.9M 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 18,397 households in the Madisonville area and national spending patterns by income.

How does the Madisonville, KY area compare with the U.S. for fast food and sandwich shops?

The Madisonville area has 16.3 fast food and sandwich shops per 10,000 households, 23% above the U.S. rate of 13.3. Spending per shop is $1.9M, 37% below the U.S. figure of $3.1M. At the U.S. ratio of fast food and sandwich shops to household spending, the Madisonville area would have about 19, against 30 on map listings. There is one business with payroll in the industry for every 575 households, against one for every 478 across the U.S. The official count rose 18.5% from 2019 to 2023, against +6.1% for the U.S.

How fast is the Madisonville, KY area growing?

Population estimates put the Madisonville area at 45,127 people in 2025, down 0.5% since 2020, against +3.1% for the U.S. It has 18,397 households. Median household income in the Madisonville area is $56,815, 30% below the U.S. median of $80,734. Against the 2015–2019 survey, the median rose 20.5%, 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. 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 Madisonville area scores 31 for fast food and sandwich shops (lower middle), #444 of 537 scored small-town markets.

How can I see the market around a specific site?

Run a Groundwork site report on an address in the Madisonville area. 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.

How the score works · Top markets for fast food and sandwich shops · All 56 business types in the Madisonville area

Screening a site or an acquisition in the Madisonville 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 Madisonville 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.