Groundwork

Groceries and convenience · Metro area · Connecticut

Grocery and convenience stores in the New Haven, CT metro area

How the New Haven, CT 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 58 out of 100: Upper middle

Ranked #139 of 387 scored metro areas
#5 of 5 scored metro areas based in Connecticut

Listings
426
139 chain locations (33%)
Official establishments
228
Businesses with payroll, 2023
Household spending a year
$1.6B
On groceries · $7,029 a household
Spending per listing
$3.8M
12% above the U.S.
Listings per 10k households
18.5
In line with the U.S.
Population, 2025
578,741
+2.5% since 2020

See the grocery and convenience stores around any address in the New Haven 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 New Haven 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

Map listings as of September 2026 show 426 grocery and convenience stores in the New Haven metro area. Chain locations make up 33% of them, against 42% across the U.S. Per 10,000 households, that is 18.5, in line with the U.S. rate of 18.7.

Household spending on groceries in the New Haven metro area comes to about $1.6B a year: $7,029 per household, 11% above the U.S. average. That is about $3.8M of household spending for each store on map listings, 12% above the U.S. figure of $3.4M.

In 2023, official counts showed 228 businesses with payroll in the New Haven metro area classed as grocery and convenience stores. That is one for every 1,012 households, against one for every 1,293 across the U.S. Another 151 one-person businesses have no payroll, by official counts. Since fiscal 2022, 13 SBA-backed loans worth $4.1M have gone to businesses classed as grocery and convenience stores in the New Haven metro area.

Population estimates show the New Haven metro area grew 2.5% from 2020 to 2025, slower than the U.S. (+3.1%). The Groundwork market score for grocery and convenience stores in the New Haven metro area is 58 (upper middle), #139 of 387 scored metro areas and #5 of 5 scored metro areas based in Connecticut.

How the New Haven metro area compares

The same measures for Connecticut 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.

Grocery and convenience stores in New Haven, CT metro area compared with Connecticut and the U.S.
MeasureNew Haven metro areaConnecticutU.S.
Listings per 10k households18.517.518.7
Spending per listing$3.8M$4.1M$3.4M
Households per official establishment1,0121,1721,293
Official establishment growth, 2019–2023n/a+5.3%+7.2%
Population growth, 2020–2025+2.5%+3.0%+3.1%
Spending per household on groceries$7,029$7,222$6,319
Median household income$88,197$95,781$80,734
Groundwork market score5869

Official counts and lending

Businesses

Official establishments, 2019 to 2023
228
Employees, 2023
5,286
Annual payroll, 2023
$166.7M
One-person businesses, 2023
151Businesses with no payroll
Map listings, September 2026
426139 chain locations
Listings at the U.S. rate for this spending
479The U.S. ratio of listings to household spending, applied here

SBA-backed loans since fiscal 2022

Loans
13
Amount
$4.1M

SBA-backed loans to businesses classed as grocery and convenience stores in the New Haven 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 New Haven metro area

Population, 2025 estimate
578,741+2.5% since 2020
Households
230,673
Median age
41.7
Homes lived in by their owners
61%
Vehicles per household
1.6
Land area
367 sq. mi.
People per square mile
1,554
Median household income
$88,197
Average household income
$121,518
Median home value
$353,100
Jobs located here
298,580
Daytime population
597,614Residents who don’t work, plus everyone whose job is here

Looking at a specific site in the New Haven 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 New Haven metro area. Signed out, you see a blurred preview; on an account, each report is one action.

Free10 actions over 3 days, no card

Grocery and convenience stores across Connecticut

Every Connecticut market ranked →

The highest-scoring metro areas in Connecticut for grocery and convenience stores, numbered among those based in Connecticut, with the New Haven metro area marked.

Top metro areas in Connecticut

Metro areas in Connecticut ranked for grocery and convenience stores by Groundwork market score
MarketScoreListingsPer 10k householdsSpending per listingPopulation growthU.S. rank
1Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, CT6963617.9$4.3M+3.7%#61 of 387
2Waterbury-Shelton, CT6629416.3$4.3M+3.2%#82 of 387
3Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT6679217.0$4.2M+3.0%#83 of 387
4Norwich-New London-Willimantic, CT6221218.3$3.8M+2.0%#118 of 387
5New Haven, CT5842618.5$3.8M+2.5%#139 of 387

Other business types in the New Haven metro area

Each with its Groundwork market score here, out of 100, where it has one.

Questions

How many grocery and convenience stores are in the New Haven, CT metro area?

There are 426 grocery and convenience stores on map listings in the New Haven metro area as of September 2026. 139 of them (33%) are chain locations. The listings count grocery, convenience and specialty food stores. Official counts show 228 businesses with payroll classed as grocery and convenience stores in 2023. Official counts list 151 one-person businesses without payroll.

How much do households in the New Haven, CT metro area spend on groceries?

About $1.6B a year, or $7,029 per household. That is 11% above the U.S. average (an index of 111, where 100 is the U.S. average). Spread across the 426 grocery and convenience stores on map listings, it comes to $3.8M per store. It is estimated from the incomes of the 230,673 households in the New Haven metro area and national spending patterns by income.

How does the New Haven, CT metro area compare with the U.S. for grocery and convenience stores?

The New Haven metro area has 18.5 grocery and convenience stores per 10,000 households, in line with the U.S. rate of 18.7. Spending per store is $3.8M, 12% above the U.S. figure of $3.4M. At the national ratio of grocery and convenience stores to household spending, the New Haven metro area would have about 479, against 426 on map listings. There is one business with payroll in the industry for every 1,012 households, against one for every 1,293 across the U.S.

How fast is the New Haven, CT metro area growing?

Population estimates put the New Haven metro area at 578,741 people in 2025, up 2.5% since 2020, slower than the U.S. (+3.1%). It has 230,673 households. Median household income in the New Haven metro area is $88,197, 9% above the U.S. median of $80,734.

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 New Haven metro area scores 58 for grocery and convenience stores (upper middle), #139 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 New Haven 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 New Haven metro area

Screening a site or an acquisition in the New Haven 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 New Haven 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.