Groundwork

Food and drink · Small-town market · Montana

Fast food and sandwich shops in the Butte-Silver Bow, MT area

How the Butte-Silver Bow, MT 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 29 out of 100: Lower middle

Ranked #456 of 537 scored small-town markets
#2 of 2 scored small-town markets based in Montana

Listings
28
23 chain locations (82%)
Official establishments
35
All limited-service restaurants · −2.8% since 2019
Household spending a year
$50.7M
On food away from home · $3,288 a household
Spending per listing
$1.8M
41% below the U.S.
Listings per 10k households
18.2
37% above the U.S.
Population, 2025
36,118
+2.6% since 2020

See the fast food and sandwich shops around any address in the Butte-Silver Bow 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 Butte-Silver Bow 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 fast food and sandwich shops, the Butte-Silver Bow area has a Groundwork market score of 29 (lower middle): #456 of 537 scored small-town markets and #2 of 2 scored small-town markets based in Montana. That puts it in the bottom quarter of small-town markets.

Household spending on food away from home in the Butte-Silver Bow area comes to about $50.7M a year: $3,288 per household, 19% below the U.S. average. That works out to $1.8M per shop, 41% below the U.S. figure of $3.1M. The spending figure covers all food away from home, not only fast food and sandwich shops.

There are 28 fast food and sandwich shops on map listings in the Butte-Silver Bow area as of September 2026. Chain locations make up 82% of them, against 79% across the U.S. That comes to 18.2 for every 10,000 households, 37% above the U.S. rate of 13.3.

Official counts show 35 businesses with payroll classed as limited-service restaurants in the Butte-Silver Bow area in 2023, down 2.8% from 2019. That is one for every 441 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. Since fiscal 2022, 2 SBA-backed loans worth $365K have gone to businesses classed as limited-service restaurants in the Butte-Silver Bow area. Population estimates show the Butte-Silver Bow area grew 2.6% from 2020 to 2025, slower than the U.S. (+3.1%).

How the Butte-Silver Bow 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 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 Butte-Silver Bow, MT area compared with Montana and the U.S.
MeasureButte-Silver Bow areaMontanaU.S.
Listings per 10k households18.211.713.3
Spending per listing$1.8M$3.2M$3.1M
Households per official establishment (all limited-service restaurants)441569478
Official establishment growth, 2019–2023−2.8%+5.5%+6.1%
Population growth, 2020–2025+2.6%+5.3%+3.1%
Spending per household on food away from home$3,288$3,748$4,070
Median household income$61,754$72,509$80,734
Groundwork market score2960

Official counts and lending

Businesses

Official establishments, 2019 to 2023
35All limited-service restaurants · −2.8% over the period
Employees, 2023
630
Annual payroll, 2023
$13.2M
One-person businesses, 2023
5All limited-service restaurants with no payroll
Map listings, September 2026
2823 chain locations
Listings at the U.S. rate for this spending
17The U.S. ratio of listings to household spending, applied here

SBA-backed loans since fiscal 2022

Loans
2
Amount
$365K

SBA-backed loans to businesses classed as limited-service restaurants in the Butte-Silver Bow 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 Butte-Silver Bow area

Population, 2025 estimate
36,118+2.6% since 2020
Households
15,419
Median age
40.5
Homes lived in by their owners
71%
Vehicles per household
1.9
Land area
718 sq. mi.
People per square mile
50
Median household income
$61,754+35.1% vs. 2015–2019, before inflation
Average household income
$80,950
Median home value
$255,200
Jobs located here
17,312
Daytime population
35,343Residents who don’t work, plus everyone whose job is here

Looking at a specific site in the Butte-Silver Bow 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 Butte-Silver Bow 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 Montana

Every Montana market ranked →

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

Top small-town markets in Montana

Small-town markets in Montana ranked for fast food and sandwich shops by Groundwork market score
MarketScoreListingsPer 10k householdsSpending per listingPopulation growthU.S. rank
1Kalispell, MT785111.5$3.3M+10.1%#42 of 537
2Butte-Silver Bow, MT292818.2$1.8M+2.6%#456 of 537

Other business types in the Butte-Silver Bow 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 Butte-Silver Bow, MT area?

As of September 2026, map listings count 28 fast food and sandwich shops in the Butte-Silver Bow area. 23 of them (82%) are chain locations. The listings count fast food, sandwich shops, delis and bagel shops. Official counts show 35 businesses with payroll classed as limited-service restaurants in 2023, down 2.8% 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 5 one-person businesses without payroll.

How much do households in the Butte-Silver Bow, MT area spend on food away from home?

About $50.7M a year, or $3,288 per household. That is 19% below the U.S. average (an index of 81, where 100 is the U.S. average). Spread across the 28 fast food and sandwich shops on map listings, it comes to $1.8M 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 15,419 households in the Butte-Silver Bow area and national spending patterns by income.

How does the Butte-Silver Bow, MT area compare with the U.S. for fast food and sandwich shops?

The Butte-Silver Bow area has 18.2 fast food and sandwich shops per 10,000 households, 37% above the U.S. rate of 13.3. Spending per shop is $1.8M, 41% below the U.S. figure of $3.1M. At the U.S. ratio of fast food and sandwich shops to household spending, the Butte-Silver Bow area would have about 17, against 28 on map listings. There is one business with payroll in the industry for every 441 households, against one for every 478 across the U.S. The official count fell 2.8% from 2019 to 2023, against +6.1% for the U.S.

How fast is the Butte-Silver Bow, MT area growing?

Population estimates put the Butte-Silver Bow area at 36,118 people in 2025, up 2.6% since 2020, slower than the U.S. (+3.1%). It has 15,419 households. Median household income in the Butte-Silver Bow area is $61,754, 24% below the U.S. median of $80,734. Against the 2015–2019 survey, the median rose 35.1%, 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 Butte-Silver Bow area scores 29 for fast food and sandwich shops (lower middle), #456 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 Butte-Silver Bow 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 Butte-Silver Bow area

Screening a site or an acquisition in the Butte-Silver Bow 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 Butte-Silver Bow 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.