Groundwork

Food and drink · Small-town market · Wisconsin

Fast food and sandwich shops in the Beaver Dam, WI area

How the Beaver Dam, WI 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 82 out of 100: High

Ranked #18 of 537 scored small-town markets
#1 of 13 scored small-town markets based in Wisconsin

Listings
28
27 chain locations (96%)
Official establishments
42
All limited-service restaurants · +13.5% since 2019
Household spending a year
$136M
On food away from home · $3,786 a household
Spending per listing
$4.9M
59% above the U.S.
Listings per 10k households
7.8
41% below the U.S.
Population, 2025
89,097
−0.3% since 2020

See the fast food and sandwich shops around any address in the Beaver Dam 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 Beaver Dam 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 Beaver Dam area has a Groundwork market score of 82 (high): #18 of 537 scored small-town markets and #1 of 13 scored small-town markets based in Wisconsin. That puts it in the top 10% of small-town markets for fast food and sandwich shops.

At $3,786 per household (7% below the U.S. average), households in the Beaver Dam area spend about $136M a year on food away from home. Spread across 28 fast food and sandwich shops, that is $4.9M per shop, 59% above the U.S. figure of $3.1M. The spending figure covers all food away from home, not only fast food and sandwich shops.

The Beaver Dam area has 28 fast food and sandwich shops on map listings as of September 2026. Chain locations make up 96% of them, against 79% across the U.S. That is 7.8 per 10,000 households, 41% below the U.S. rate of 13.3.

Official counts show 42 businesses with payroll classed as limited-service restaurants in the Beaver Dam area in 2023, up 13.5% from 2019. That is one for every 855 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, 1 SBA-backed loan worth $600K has gone to businesses classed as limited-service restaurants in the Beaver Dam area. Between 2020 and 2025, the population of the Beaver Dam area declined 0.3%, against +3.1% for the U.S.

How the Beaver Dam area compares

The same measures for Wisconsin 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 Beaver Dam, WI area compared with Wisconsin and the U.S.
MeasureBeaver Dam areaWisconsinU.S.
Listings per 10k households7.811.613.3
Spending per listing$4.9M$3.4M$3.1M
Households per official establishment (all limited-service restaurants)855632478
Official establishment growth, 2019–2023+13.5%+3.8%+6.1%
Population growth, 2020–2025−0.3%+1.3%+3.1%
Spending per household on food away from home$3,786$3,959$4,070
Median household income$75,929$77,485$80,734
Groundwork market score8263

Official counts and lending

Businesses

Official establishments, 2019 to 2023
42All limited-service restaurants · +13.5% over the period
Employees, 2023
784
Annual payroll, 2023
$12.8M
One-person businesses, 2023
5All limited-service restaurants with no payroll
Map listings, September 2026
2827 chain locations
Listings at the U.S. rate for this spending
45The U.S. ratio of listings to household spending, applied here

SBA-backed loans since fiscal 2022

Loans
1
Amount
$600K

SBA-backed loans to businesses classed as limited-service restaurants in the Beaver Dam 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 Beaver Dam area

Population, 2025 estimate
89,097−0.3% since 2020
Households
35,910
Median age
43.7
Homes lived in by their owners
71%
Vehicles per household
2.0
Land area
876 sq. mi.
People per square mile
101
Median household income
$75,929+25.2% vs. 2015–2019, before inflation
Average household income
$90,922
Median home value
$231,900
Jobs located here
34,764
Daytime population
79,179Residents who don’t work, plus everyone whose job is here

Looking at a specific site in the Beaver Dam 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 Beaver Dam 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 Wisconsin

Every Wisconsin market ranked →

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

Top small-town markets in Wisconsin

Small-town markets in Wisconsin ranked for fast food and sandwich shops by Groundwork market score
MarketScoreListingsPer 10k householdsSpending per listingPopulation growthU.S. rank
1Beaver Dam, WI82287.8$4.9M−0.3%#18 of 537
2Manitowoc, WI783610.2$3.6M+0.4%#39 of 537
3Shawano, WI772010.7$3.3M+1.4%#45 of 537
4Platteville, WI762211.0$3.3M+0.9%#51 of 537
5Watertown-Fort Atkinson, WI734312.3$3.2M+0.3%#69 of 537
6Wisconsin Rapids-Marshfield, WI723410.5$3.4M−0.2%#74 of 537
7Sparta, WI722212.0$3M+0.6%#75 of 537
8Menomonie, WI722614.9$2.6M+1.7%#77 of 537
9Whitewater-Elkhorn, WI675913.7$3M+0.8%#113 of 537
10Stevens Point-Plover, WI644414.8$2.6M+2.2%#147 of 537

Other business types in the Beaver Dam 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 Beaver Dam, WI area?

Map listings as of September 2026 show 28 fast food and sandwich shops in the Beaver Dam area. 27 of them (96%) are chain locations. The listings count fast food, sandwich shops, delis and bagel shops. Official counts show 42 businesses with payroll classed as limited-service restaurants in 2023, up 13.5% 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 5 one-person businesses without payroll.

How much do households in the Beaver Dam, WI area spend on food away from home?

About $136M a year, or $3,786 per household. That is 7% below the U.S. average (an index of 93, where 100 is the U.S. average). Spread across the 28 fast food and sandwich shops on map listings, it comes to $4.9M 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 35,910 households in the Beaver Dam area and national spending patterns by income.

How does the Beaver Dam, WI area compare with the U.S. for fast food and sandwich shops?

The Beaver Dam area has 7.8 fast food and sandwich shops per 10,000 households, 41% below the U.S. rate of 13.3. Spending per shop is $4.9M, 59% above the U.S. figure of $3.1M. At the U.S. ratio of fast food and sandwich shops to household spending, the Beaver Dam area would have about 45, against 28 on map listings. There is one business with payroll in the industry for every 855 households, against one for every 478 across the U.S. The official count rose 13.5% from 2019 to 2023, against +6.1% for the U.S.

How fast is the Beaver Dam, WI area growing?

Population estimates put the Beaver Dam area at 89,097 people in 2025, down 0.3% since 2020, against +3.1% for the U.S. It has 35,910 households. Median household income in the Beaver Dam area is $75,929, 6% below the U.S. median of $80,734. Against the 2015–2019 survey, the median rose 25.2%, 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 Beaver Dam area scores 82 for fast food and sandwich shops (high), #18 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 Beaver Dam 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 Beaver Dam area

Screening a site or an acquisition in the Beaver Dam 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 Beaver Dam 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.