Groundwork

Food and drink · Metro area · Michigan

Fast food and sandwich shops in the Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI metro area

Competitor counts, household spending and official business counts for fast food and sandwich shops in the Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI metro area, set against other metro areas and the U.S.

Groundwork market score · out of 100

Score 49 out of 100: Lower middle

Ranked #200 of 387 scored metro areas
#7 of 15 scored metro areas based in Michigan

Listings
2,349
1,922 chain locations (82%)
Official establishments
3,764
All limited-service restaurants · +10.8% since 2019
Household spending a year
$7.1B
On food away from home · $4,024 a household
Spending per listing
$3M
In line with the U.S.
Listings per 10k households
13.3
In line with the U.S.
Population, 2025
4,390,913
+0.1% since 2020

See the fast food and sandwich shops around any address in the Detroit-Warren-Dearborn metro 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 Detroit-Warren-Dearborn 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

As of September 2026, map listings count 2,349 fast food and sandwich shops in the Detroit-Warren-Dearborn metro area. Chain locations make up 82% of them, against 79% across the U.S. Per 10,000 households, that is 13.3, in line with the U.S. rate of 13.3.

Household spending on food away from home in the Detroit-Warren-Dearborn metro area comes to about $7.1B a year: $4,024 per household, in line with the U.S. average. Spread across 2,349 fast food and sandwich shops, that is $3M per shop, in line with the U.S. figure of $3.1M. That spending covers all food away from home, which fast food and sandwich shops share with other businesses in the trade.

In 2023, official counts showed 3,764 businesses with payroll in the Detroit-Warren-Dearborn metro area classed as limited-service restaurants, up 10.8% from 2019. That is one for every 470 households, against one for every 478 across the U.S. The official count takes in all limited-service restaurants, not only fast food and sandwich shops: pizza places are counted too. Official counts also show 802 one-person businesses without payroll. Since fiscal 2022, 167 SBA-backed loans worth $83.5M have gone to businesses classed as limited-service restaurants in the Detroit-Warren-Dearborn metro area.

Population estimates put the population change in the Detroit-Warren-Dearborn metro area from 2020 to 2025 at +0.1%, slower than the U.S. (+3.1%). The Groundwork market score for fast food and sandwich shops in the Detroit-Warren-Dearborn metro area is 49 (lower middle), #200 of 387 scored metro areas and #7 of 15 scored metro areas based in Michigan.

How the Detroit-Warren-Dearborn metro area compares

The same measures for Michigan 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 Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI metro area compared with Michigan and the U.S.
MeasureDetroit-Warren-Dearborn metro areaMichiganU.S.
Listings per 10k households13.312.813.3
Spending per listing$3M$3M$3.1M
Households per official establishment (all limited-service restaurants)470514478
Official establishment growth, 2019–2023+10.8%+7.8%+6.1%
Population growth, 2020–2025+0.1%+0.6%+3.1%
Spending per household on food away from home$4,024$3,875$4,070
Median household income$76,664$72,875$80,734
Groundwork market score4944

Official counts and lending

Businesses

Official establishments, 2019 to 2023
3,764All limited-service restaurants · +10.8% over the period
Employees, 2023
63,821
Annual payroll, 2023
$1.3B
One-person businesses, 2023
802All limited-service restaurants with no payroll
Map listings, September 2026
2,3491,922 chain locations
Listings at the U.S. rate for this spending
2,333The U.S. ratio of listings to household spending, applied here

SBA-backed loans since fiscal 2022

Loans
167
Amount
$83.5M

SBA-backed loans to businesses classed as limited-service restaurants in the Detroit-Warren-Dearborn 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 limited-service restaurants, not only fast food and sandwich shops.

Population and households in the Detroit-Warren-Dearborn metro area

Population, 2025 estimate
4,390,913+0.1% since 2020
Households
1,768,816
Median age
41.1
Homes lived in by their owners
71%
Vehicles per household
1.7
Land area
3,893 sq. mi.
People per square mile
1,124
Median household income
$76,664+25.7% vs. 2015–2019, before inflation
Average household income
$105,167
Median home value
$249,700
Jobs located here
1,848,019
Daytime population
4,411,570Residents who don’t work, plus everyone whose job is here

Looking at a specific site in the Detroit-Warren-Dearborn 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 fast food and sandwich shops on map listings by name and distance.

Or open the report at the center of the Detroit-Warren-Dearborn metro 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 Michigan

Every Michigan market ranked →

The highest-scoring metro areas in Michigan for fast food and sandwich shops, numbered among those based in Michigan, with the Detroit-Warren-Dearborn metro area marked.

Top metro areas in Michigan

Metro areas in Michigan ranked for fast food and sandwich shops by Groundwork market score
MarketScoreListingsPer 10k householdsSpending per listingPopulation growthU.S. rank
1Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood, MI6854412.4$3.3M+2.8%#86 of 387
2Midland, MI673810.9$3.7M+0.3%#91 of 387
3Ann Arbor, MI6616310.8$4.1M−0.4%#97 of 387
4Traverse City, MI648513.0$3.1M+2.2%#108 of 387
5Monroe, MI618513.5$2.9M+0.7%#130 of 387
6Jackson, MI557912.6$2.9M−0.4%#167 of 387
7Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI492,34913.3$3M+0.1%#200 of 387
8Lansing-East Lansing, MI4925012.9$3M+1.4%#202 of 387
9Kalamazoo-Portage, MI4815514.5$2.7M+0.8%#211 of 387
10Muskegon-Norton Shores, MI478212.1$2.9M+1.8%#215 of 387

Other business types in the Detroit-Warren-Dearborn metro 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 Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI metro area?

The Detroit-Warren-Dearborn metro area has 2,349 fast food and sandwich shops on map listings as of September 2026. 1,922 of them (82%) are chain locations. The listings count fast food, sandwich shops, delis and bagel shops. Official counts show 3,764 businesses with payroll classed as limited-service restaurants in 2023, up 10.8% from 2019. That count covers all limited-service restaurants (pizza places included), not only fast food and sandwich shops. Another 802 one-person businesses have no payroll, by official counts.

How much do households in the Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI metro area spend on food away from home?

About $7.1B a year, or $4,024 per household. That is in line with the U.S. average (an index of 99, where 100 is the U.S. average). Spread across the 2,349 fast food and sandwich shops on map listings, it comes to $3M per shop. The spending figure covers all food away from home, not only fast food and sandwich shops. It is estimated from the incomes of the 1,768,816 households in the Detroit-Warren-Dearborn metro area and national spending patterns by income.

How does the Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI metro area compare with the U.S. for fast food and sandwich shops?

The Detroit-Warren-Dearborn metro area has 13.3 fast food and sandwich shops per 10,000 households, in line with the U.S. rate of 13.3. Spending per shop is $3M, in line with the U.S. figure of $3.1M. At the national ratio of fast food and sandwich shops to household spending, the Detroit-Warren-Dearborn metro area would have about 2,333, against 2,349 on map listings. There is one business with payroll in the industry for every 470 households, against one for every 478 across the U.S. The official count rose 10.8% from 2019 to 2023, against +6.1% for the U.S.

How fast is the Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI metro area growing?

Population estimates put the Detroit-Warren-Dearborn metro area at 4,390,913 people in 2025, up 0.1% since 2020, slower than the U.S. (+3.1%). It has 1,768,816 households. The median household income in the Detroit-Warren-Dearborn metro area is $76,664 a year, 5% below the U.S. median of $80,734. That rose 25.7% 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 Detroit-Warren-Dearborn metro area scores 49 for fast food and sandwich shops (lower middle), #200 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 Detroit-Warren-Dearborn metro 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 Detroit-Warren-Dearborn metro area

Screening a site or an acquisition in the Detroit-Warren-Dearborn 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 Detroit-Warren-Dearborn 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.