Groundwork

Groceries and convenience · Small-town market · Georgia

Grocery and convenience stores in the Cornelia, GA area

How the Cornelia, GA area compares with other small-town markets and the U.S. for grocery and convenience stores: competitors, household spending, official counts and growth.

Groundwork market score · out of 100

Score 43 out of 100: Lower middle

Ranked #360 of 538 scored small-town markets
#4 of 23 scored small-town markets based in Georgia

Listings
52
15 chain locations (29%)
Official establishments
16
Businesses with payroll, 2023
Household spending a year
$97.5M
On groceries · $5,822 a household
Spending per listing
$1.9M
45% below the U.S.
Listings per 10k households
31.0
66% above the U.S.
Population, 2025
50,416
+9.3% since 2020

See the grocery and convenience stores around any address in the Cornelia 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 Cornelia area. Signed out, you see a blurred preview; on an account, each report is one action.

Free10 actions over 3 days, no card

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 52 grocery and convenience stores in the Cornelia area. Chain locations make up 29% of them, against 42% across the U.S. That is 31.0 per 10,000 households, 66% above the U.S. rate of 18.7.

Household spending on groceries in the Cornelia area comes to about $97.5M a year: $5,822 per household, 8% below the U.S. average. That works out to $1.9M per store, 45% below the U.S. figure of $3.4M.

Official counts show 16 businesses with payroll classed as grocery and convenience stores in the Cornelia area in 2023. That is one for every 1,047 households, against one for every 1,293 across the U.S. Official counts list 13 one-person businesses without payroll.

Population estimates put the population change in the Cornelia area from 2020 to 2025 at +9.3%, faster than the U.S. (+3.1%). The Groundwork market score for grocery and convenience stores in the Cornelia area is 43 (lower middle), #360 of 538 scored small-town markets and #4 of 23 scored small-town markets based in Georgia.

How the Cornelia area compares

The same measures for Georgia 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 Cornelia, GA area compared with Georgia and the U.S.
MeasureCornelia areaGeorgiaU.S.
Listings per 10k households31.020.318.7
Spending per listing$1.9M$3M$3.4M
Households per official establishment1,0471,1111,293
Official establishment growth, 2019–2023n/a+14.0%+7.2%
Population growth, 2020–2025+9.3%+5.3%+3.1%
Spending per household on groceries$5,822$6,137$6,319
Median household income$67,309$77,353$80,734
Groundwork market score4344

Official counts and lending

Businesses

Official establishments, 2019 to 2023
16
Employees, 2023
512
Annual payroll, 2023
$9.9M
One-person businesses, 2023
13Businesses with no payroll
Map listings, September 2026
5215 chain locations
Listings at the U.S. rate for this spending
29The U.S. ratio of listings to household spending, applied here

SBA-backed loans since fiscal 2022

Loans
0
Amount
$0

SBA-backed loans to businesses classed as grocery and convenience stores in the Cornelia 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 Cornelia area

Population, 2025 estimate
50,416+9.3% since 2020
Households
16,753
Median age
39.8
Homes lived in by their owners
73%
Vehicles per household
2.1
Land area
277 sq. mi.
People per square mile
173
Median household income
$67,309+33.1% vs. 2015–2019, before inflation
Average household income
$88,702
Median home value
$238,300
Jobs located here
13,258
Daytime population
41,101Residents who don’t work, plus everyone whose job is here

Looking at a specific site in the Cornelia 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 grocery and convenience stores on map listings by name and distance.

Or open the report at the center of the Cornelia 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 Georgia

Every Georgia market ranked →

The highest-scoring small-town markets in Georgia for grocery and convenience stores, numbered among those based in Georgia, with the Cornelia area marked.

Top small-town markets in Georgia

Small-town markets in Georgia ranked for grocery and convenience stores by Groundwork market score
MarketScoreListingsPer 10k householdsSpending per listingPopulation growthU.S. rank
1Kingsland, GA724822.1$2.7M+9.5%#62 of 538
2Jefferson, GA696723.6$2.7M+29.3%#92 of 538
3Jesup, GA532623.5$2.3M+7.8%#259 of 538
4Cornelia, GA435231.0$1.9M+9.3%#360 of 538
5Calhoun, GA426329.5$2M+6.9%#366 of 538
6Statesboro, GA409527.2$2M+8.0%#384 of 538
7LaGrange, GA-AL379523.6$2.3M+3.0%#403 of 538
8Toccoa, GA342523.8$2.3M+3.8%#424 of 538
9Cedartown, GA334528.3$2M+6.0%#433 of 538
10Thomasville, GA299332.3$1.7M+1.3%#460 of 538

Other business types in the Cornelia 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 Cornelia, GA area?

There are 52 grocery and convenience stores on map listings in the Cornelia area as of September 2026. 15 of them (29%) are chain locations. The listings count grocery, convenience and specialty food stores. Official counts show 16 businesses with payroll classed as grocery and convenience stores in 2023. Official counts also show 13 one-person businesses without payroll.

How much do households in the Cornelia, GA area spend on groceries?

About $97.5M a year, or $5,822 per household. That is 8% below the U.S. average (an index of 92, where 100 is the U.S. average). Spread across the 52 grocery and convenience stores on map listings, it comes to $1.9M per store. It is estimated from the incomes of the 16,753 households in the Cornelia area and national spending patterns by income.

How does the Cornelia, GA area compare with the U.S. for grocery and convenience stores?

The Cornelia area has 31.0 grocery and convenience stores per 10,000 households, 66% above the U.S. rate of 18.7. Spending per store is $1.9M, 45% below the U.S. figure of $3.4M. At the national ratio of grocery and convenience stores to household spending, the Cornelia area would have about 29, against 52 on map listings. There is one business with payroll in the industry for every 1,047 households, against one for every 1,293 across the U.S.

How fast is the Cornelia, GA area growing?

Population estimates put the Cornelia area at 50,416 people in 2025, up 9.3% since 2020, faster than the U.S. (+3.1%). It has 16,753 households. Median household income in the Cornelia area is $67,309, 17% below the U.S. median of $80,734. Against the 2015–2019 survey, the median rose 33.1%, 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 Cornelia area scores 43 for grocery and convenience stores (lower middle), #360 of 538 scored small-town markets.

How can I see the market around a specific site?

Run a Groundwork site report on an address in the Cornelia 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 Cornelia area

Screening a site or an acquisition in the Cornelia 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 Cornelia 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.