Groceries and convenience · Metro area · California
Grocery and convenience stores in the San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA metro area
How the San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA metro area compares with other metro areas and the U.S. for grocery and convenience stores: competitors, household spending, official counts and growth.
Groundwork market score · out of 100
Score 61 out of 100: Upper middle
Ranked #120 of 387 scored metro areas
#3 of 25 scored metro areas based in California
- Listings
- 1,804
- 878 chain locations (49%)
- Official establishments
- 860
- +1.8% since 2019
- Household spending a year
- $7.8B
- On groceries · $6,677 a household
- Spending per listing
- $4.3M
- 28% above the U.S.
- Listings per 10k households
- 15.4
- 18% below the U.S.
- Population, 2025
- 3,282,248
- −0.6% since 2020
See the grocery and convenience stores around any address in the San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad metro area
The site report maps the grocery and convenience stores 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 San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad metro area. Signed out, you see a blurred preview; on an account, each report is one action.
Free10 actions over 3 days, no cardSurvey estimates 2020–2024 · population estimates 2025 · official business counts 2023 · map listings September 2026 · Data credits · How we measure
What this means
Household spending on groceries in the San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad metro area comes to about $7.8B a year: $6,677 per household, 6% above the U.S. average. That works out to $4.3M per store, 28% above the U.S. figure of $3.4M.
The San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad metro area has 1,804 grocery and convenience stores on map listings as of September 2026. Chain locations make up 49% of them, against 42% across the U.S. Per 10,000 households, that is 15.4, 18% below the U.S. rate of 18.7.
The official count of businesses with payroll classed as grocery and convenience stores in the San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad metro area was 860 in 2023, up 1.8% from 2019. That is one for every 1,362 households, against one for every 1,293 across the U.S. Another 476 one-person businesses have no payroll, by official counts. Since fiscal 2022, 25 SBA-backed loans worth $27.3M have gone to businesses classed as grocery and convenience stores in the San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad metro area.
Population estimates show the San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad metro area declined 0.6% from 2020 to 2025, against +3.1% for the U.S. The Groundwork market score for grocery and convenience stores in the San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad metro area is 61 (upper middle), #120 of 387 scored metro areas and #3 of 25 scored metro areas based in California.
How the San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad metro area compares
The same measures for California and the whole U.S. Spending per listing divides a year of household spending on all groceries by the grocery and convenience stores counted, so it measures the demand for each competitor, not any business’s revenue. Households per establishment does the same with the official count.
| Measure | San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad metro area | California | U.S. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Listings per 10k households | 15.4 | 18.1 | 18.7 |
| Spending per listing | $4.3M | $3.6M | $3.4M |
| Households per official establishment | 1,362 | 1,214 | 1,293 |
| Official establishment growth, 2019–2023 | +1.8% | +5.3% | +7.2% |
| Population growth, 2020–2025 | −0.6% | −0.4% | +3.1% |
| Spending per household on groceries | $6,677 | $6,548 | $6,319 |
| Median household income | $106,268 | $99,122 | $80,734 |
| Groundwork market score | 61 | 49 |
Official counts and lending
Businesses
- Official establishments, 2019 to 2023
- 860+1.8% over the period
- Employees, 2023
- 28,687
- Annual payroll, 2023
- $1B
- One-person businesses, 2023
- 476Businesses with no payroll
- Map listings, September 2026
- 1,804878 chain locations
- Listings at the U.S. rate for this spending
- 2,308The U.S. ratio of listings to household spending, applied here
SBA-backed loans since fiscal 2022
- Loans
- 25
- Amount
- $27.3M
SBA-backed loans to businesses classed as grocery and convenience stores in the San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad 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.
Population and households in the San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad metro area
- Population, 2025 estimate
- 3,282,248−0.6% since 2020
- Households
- 1,171,278
- Median age
- 38.9
- Homes lived in by their owners
- 55%
- Vehicles per household
- 1.9
- Land area
- 4,211 sq. mi.
- People per square mile
- 781
- Median household income
- $106,268+34.6% vs. 2015–2019, before inflation
- Average household income
- $141,250
- Median home value
- $854,700
- Jobs located here
- 1,516,991
- Daytime population
- 3,269,716Residents who don’t work, plus everyone whose job is here
Looking at a specific site in the San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad 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 grocery and convenience stores on map listings by name and distance.
Or open the report at the center of the San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad metro area. Signed out, you see a blurred preview; on an account, each report is one action.
Free10 actions over 3 days, no cardGrocery and convenience stores across California
Every California market ranked →The highest-scoring metro areas in California for grocery and convenience stores, numbered among those based in California, with the San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad metro area marked.
Top metro areas in California
| Market | Score | Listings | Per 10k households | Spending per listing | Population growth | U.S. rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA | 68 | 962 | 14.1 | $5.3M | −0.6% | #68 of 387 |
| 2Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA | 64 | 1,420 | 16.1 | $4M | +3.2% | #98 of 387 |
| 3San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA | 61 | 1,804 | 15.4 | $4.3M | −0.6% | #120 of 387 |
| 4Vallejo, CA | 60 | 255 | 16.2 | $4M | +0.6% | #124 of 387 |
| 5Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA | 57 | 2,572 | 17.7 | $3.5M | +3.5% | #152 of 387 |
| 6San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA | 56 | 2,906 | 16.7 | $4.3M | −2.4% | #154 of 387 |
| 7Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA | 50 | 496 | 17.7 | $3.8M | −1.5% | #198 of 387 |
| 8Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA | 47 | 7,916 | 17.6 | $3.7M | −2.6% | #216 of 387 |
| 9San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA | 47 | 213 | 19.5 | $3.3M | 0.0% | #219 of 387 |
| 10Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA | 43 | 369 | 19.3 | $3.5M | −0.4% | #243 of 387 |
Other business types in the San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad metro area
Each with its Groundwork market score here, out of 100, where it has one.
Food and drink
Groceries and convenience
- Grocery and convenience stores61
- Grocery stores54
- Convenience stores64
Auto
Beauty and personal care
Fitness and classes
Health care
Child care
Clothing and laundry
Home services
Real estate
Funeral services
Questions
How many grocery and convenience stores are in the San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA metro area?
Map listings as of September 2026 show 1,804 grocery and convenience stores in the San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad metro area. 878 of them (49%) are chain locations. The listings count grocery, convenience and specialty food stores. Official counts show 860 businesses with payroll classed as grocery and convenience stores in 2023, up 1.8% from 2019. Official counts list 476 one-person businesses without payroll.
How much do households in the San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA metro area spend on groceries?
About $7.8B a year, or $6,677 per household. That is 6% above the U.S. average (an index of 106, where 100 is the U.S. average). Spread across the 1,804 grocery and convenience stores on map listings, it comes to $4.3M per store. It is estimated from the incomes of the 1,171,278 households in the San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad metro area and national spending patterns by income.
How does the San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA metro area compare with the U.S. for grocery and convenience stores?
The San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad metro area has 15.4 grocery and convenience stores per 10,000 households, 18% below the U.S. rate of 18.7. Spending per store is $4.3M, 28% above the U.S. figure of $3.4M. At the U.S. ratio of grocery and convenience stores to household spending, the San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad metro area would have about 2,308, against 1,804 on map listings. There is one business with payroll in the industry for every 1,362 households, against one for every 1,293 across the U.S. The official count rose 1.8% from 2019 to 2023, against +7.2% for the U.S.
How fast is the San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA metro area growing?
Population estimates put the San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad metro area at 3,282,248 people in 2025, down 0.6% since 2020, against +3.1% for the U.S. It has 1,171,278 households. The median household income in the San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad metro area is $106,268 a year, 32% above the U.S. median of $80,734. That rose 34.6% 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 San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad metro area scores 61 for grocery and convenience stores (upper middle), #120 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 San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad metro area. It maps the grocery and convenience stores 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 grocery and convenience stores · All 56 business types in the San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad metro area
Screening a site or an acquisition in the San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad 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 San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad 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.