Groceries and convenience · Metro area · California
Grocery and convenience stores in the San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA metro area
How the San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, 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 47 out of 100: Lower middle
Ranked #219 of 387 scored metro areas
#9 of 25 scored metro areas based in California
- Listings
- 213
- 77 chain locations (36%)
- Official establishments
- 81
- +3.9% since 2019
- Household spending a year
- $707.9M
- On groceries · $6,465 a household
- Spending per listing
- $3.3M
- 2% below the U.S.
- Listings per 10k households
- 19.5
- 4% above the U.S.
- Population, 2025
- 282,367
- 0.0% since 2020
See the grocery and convenience stores around any address in the San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles 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 Luis Obispo-Paso Robles 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
Households in the San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles metro area spend about $707.9M a year on groceries, or $6,465 per household, 2% above the U.S. average. That is about $3.3M of household spending for each store on map listings, 2% below the U.S. figure of $3.4M.
The San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles metro area has 213 grocery and convenience stores on map listings as of September 2026. Chain locations make up 36% of them, against 42% across the U.S. That is 19.5 per 10,000 households, 4% above the U.S. rate of 18.7.
In 2023, official counts showed 81 businesses with payroll in the San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles metro area classed as grocery and convenience stores, up 3.9% from 2019. That is one for every 1,352 households, against one for every 1,293 across the U.S. Official counts also show 31 one-person businesses without payroll. Since fiscal 2022, 4 SBA-backed loans worth $5.6M have gone to businesses classed as grocery and convenience stores in the San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles metro area.
Population estimates show the San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles metro area held about level from 2020 to 2025, against +3.1% for the U.S. For grocery and convenience stores, the San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles metro area has a Groundwork market score of 47 (lower middle): #219 of 387 scored metro areas and #9 of 25 scored metro areas based in California.
How the San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles 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 Luis Obispo-Paso Robles metro area | California | U.S. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Listings per 10k households | 19.5 | 18.1 | 18.7 |
| Spending per listing | $3.3M | $3.6M | $3.4M |
| Households per official establishment | 1,352 | 1,214 | 1,293 |
| Official establishment growth, 2019–2023 | +3.9% | +5.3% | +7.2% |
| Population growth, 2020–2025 | 0.0% | −0.4% | +3.1% |
| Spending per household on groceries | $6,465 | $6,548 | $6,319 |
| Median household income | $97,446 | $99,122 | $80,734 |
| Groundwork market score | 47 | 49 |
Official counts and lending
Businesses
- Official establishments, 2019 to 2023
- 81+3.9% over the period
- Employees, 2023
- 2,812
- Annual payroll, 2023
- $105M
- One-person businesses, 2023
- 31Businesses with no payroll
- Map listings, September 2026
- 21377 chain locations
- Listings at the U.S. rate for this spending
- 209The U.S. ratio of listings to household spending, applied here
SBA-backed loans since fiscal 2022
- Loans
- 4
- Amount
- $5.6M
SBA-backed loans to businesses classed as grocery and convenience stores in the San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles 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 Luis Obispo-Paso Robles metro area
- Population, 2025 estimate
- 282,3670.0% since 2020
- Households
- 109,503
- Median age
- 42.3
- Homes lived in by their owners
- 62%
- Vehicles per household
- 2.1
- Land area
- 3,301 sq. mi.
- People per square mile
- 85
- Median household income
- $97,446+32.6% vs. 2015–2019, before inflation
- Average household income
- $132,001
- Median home value
- $824,700
- Jobs located here
- 112,621
- Daytime population
- 276,085Residents who don’t work, plus everyone whose job is here
Looking at a specific site in the San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles 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 Luis Obispo-Paso Robles 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 Luis Obispo-Paso Robles 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 Luis Obispo-Paso Robles 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 stores47
- Grocery stores30
- Convenience stores70
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 Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA metro area?
Map listings as of September 2026 show 213 grocery and convenience stores in the San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles metro area. 77 of them (36%) are chain locations. The listings count grocery, convenience and specialty food stores. Official counts show 81 businesses with payroll classed as grocery and convenience stores in 2023, up 3.9% from 2019. Another 31 one-person businesses have no payroll, by official counts.
How much do households in the San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA metro area spend on groceries?
About $707.9M a year, or $6,465 per household. That is 2% above the U.S. average (an index of 102, where 100 is the U.S. average). Spread across the 213 grocery and convenience stores on map listings, it comes to $3.3M per store. It is estimated from the incomes of the 109,503 households in the San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles metro area and national spending patterns by income.
How does the San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA metro area compare with the U.S. for grocery and convenience stores?
The San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles metro area has 19.5 grocery and convenience stores per 10,000 households, 4% above the U.S. rate of 18.7. Spending per store is $3.3M, 2% below the U.S. figure of $3.4M. At the U.S. ratio of grocery and convenience stores to household spending, the San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles metro area would have about 209, against 213 on map listings. There is one business with payroll in the industry for every 1,352 households, against one for every 1,293 across the U.S. The official count rose 3.9% from 2019 to 2023, against +7.2% for the U.S.
How fast is the San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA metro area growing?
Population estimates put the San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles metro area at 282,367 people in 2025, unchanged since 2020, against +3.1% for the U.S. It has 109,503 households. The median household income in the San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles metro area is $97,446 a year, 21% above the U.S. median of $80,734. That rose 32.6% 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 Luis Obispo-Paso Robles metro area scores 47 for grocery and convenience stores (lower middle), #219 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 Luis Obispo-Paso Robles 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 Luis Obispo-Paso Robles metro area
Screening a site or an acquisition in the San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles 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 Luis Obispo-Paso Robles 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.