Groceries and convenience · Metro area · Iowa
Grocery and convenience stores in the Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA metro area
How the Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA 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 35 out of 100: Lower middle
Ranked #295 of 387 scored metro areas
#8 of 8 scored metro areas based in Iowa
- Listings
- 130
- 64 chain locations (49%)
- Official establishments
- 56
- +21.7% since 2019
- Household spending a year
- $409.7M
- On groceries · $5,904 a household
- Spending per listing
- $3.2M
- 7% below the U.S.
- Listings per 10k households
- 18.7
- In line with the U.S.
- Population, 2025
- 169,189
- +0.5% since 2020
See the grocery and convenience stores around any address in the Waterloo-Cedar Falls 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 Waterloo-Cedar Falls 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
The Groundwork market score for grocery and convenience stores in the Waterloo-Cedar Falls metro area is 35 (lower middle), #295 of 387 scored metro areas and #8 of 8 scored metro areas based in Iowa. That puts it in the bottom quarter of metro areas.
At $5,904 per household (7% below the U.S. average), households in the Waterloo-Cedar Falls metro area spend about $409.7M a year on groceries. That is about $3.2M of household spending for each store on map listings, 7% below the U.S. figure of $3.4M.
The Waterloo-Cedar Falls metro area has 130 grocery and convenience stores on map listings as of September 2026. 64 of them (49%) are chain locations, against 42% across the U.S. That is 18.7 per 10,000 households, in line with the U.S. rate of 18.7.
Official counts show 56 businesses with payroll classed as grocery and convenience stores in the Waterloo-Cedar Falls metro area in 2023, up 21.7% from 2019. That is one for every 1,239 households, against one for every 1,293 across the U.S. Since fiscal 2022, 6 SBA-backed loans worth $1.9M have gone to businesses classed as grocery and convenience stores in the Waterloo-Cedar Falls metro area. Between 2020 and 2025, the population of the Waterloo-Cedar Falls metro area grew 0.5%, slower than the U.S. (+3.1%).
How the Waterloo-Cedar Falls metro area compares
The same measures for Iowa 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 | Waterloo-Cedar Falls metro area | Iowa | U.S. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Listings per 10k households | 18.7 | 18.7 | 18.7 |
| Spending per listing | $3.2M | $3.2M | $3.4M |
| Households per official establishment | 1,239 | 1,810 | 1,293 |
| Official establishment growth, 2019–2023 | +21.7% | +5.2% | +7.2% |
| Population growth, 2020–2025 | +0.5% | +1.5% | +3.1% |
| Spending per household on groceries | $5,904 | $6,036 | $6,319 |
| Median household income | $70,811 | $75,059 | $80,734 |
| Groundwork market score | 35 | 50 |
Official counts and lending
Businesses
- Official establishments, 2019 to 2023
- 56+21.7% over the period
- Employees, 2023
- 2,366
- Annual payroll, 2023
- $42.9M
- One-person businesses, 2023
- 27Businesses with no payroll
- Map listings, September 2026
- 13064 chain locations
- Listings at the U.S. rate for this spending
- 121The U.S. ratio of listings to household spending, applied here
SBA-backed loans since fiscal 2022
- Loans
- 6
- Amount
- $1.9M
SBA-backed loans to businesses classed as grocery and convenience stores in the Waterloo-Cedar Falls 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 Waterloo-Cedar Falls metro area
- Population, 2025 estimate
- 169,189+0.5% since 2020
- Households
- 69,396
- Median age
- 37.8
- Homes lived in by their owners
- 69%
- Vehicles per household
- 1.9
- Land area
- 1,503 sq. mi.
- People per square mile
- 112
- Median household income
- $70,811+23.2% vs. 2015–2019, before inflation
- Average household income
- $92,709
- Median home value
- $194,800
- Jobs located here
- 88,619
- Daytime population
- 179,403Residents who don’t work, plus everyone whose job is here
Looking at a specific site in the Waterloo-Cedar Falls 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 Waterloo-Cedar Falls 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 Iowa
Every Iowa market ranked →The highest-scoring metro areas in Iowa for grocery and convenience stores, numbered among those based in Iowa (a market based in another state is listed without a number), with the Waterloo-Cedar Falls metro area marked.
Top metro areas in Iowa
| Market | Score | Listings | Per 10k households | Spending per listing | Population growth | U.S. rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Omaha, NE-IA | 81 | 578 | 14.8 | $4.3M | +4.2% | #18 of 387 |
| 1Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA | 76 | 493 | 16.7 | $3.8M | +6.7% | #29 of 387 |
| 2Ames, IA | 73 | 68 | 13.6 | $4.4M | +2.2% | #41 of 387 |
| 3Iowa City, IA | 73 | 110 | 15.2 | $4M | +4.1% | #43 of 387 |
| 4Cedar Rapids, IA | 68 | 181 | 15.9 | $3.9M | +1.0% | #70 of 387 |
| 5Dubuque, IA | 58 | 68 | 16.6 | $3.7M | +0.1% | #140 of 387 |
| 6Davenport-Moline-Rock Island, IA-IL | 49 | 274 | 16.9 | $3.5M | −0.9% | #207 of 387 |
| 7Sioux City, IA-NE-SD | 38 | 115 | 20.7 | $2.9M | +1.0% | #281 of 387 |
| 8Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA | 35 | 130 | 18.7 | $3.2M | +0.5% | #295 of 387 |
Other business types in the Waterloo-Cedar Falls 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 stores35
- Grocery stores31
- Convenience stores38
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 Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA metro area?
Map listings as of September 2026 show 130 grocery and convenience stores in the Waterloo-Cedar Falls metro area. 64 of them (49%) are chain locations. The listings count grocery, convenience and specialty food stores. Official counts show 56 businesses with payroll classed as grocery and convenience stores in 2023, up 21.7% from 2019. Another 27 one-person businesses have no payroll, by official counts.
How much do households in the Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA metro area spend on groceries?
About $409.7M a year, or $5,904 per household. That is 7% below the U.S. average (an index of 93, where 100 is the U.S. average). Spread across the 130 grocery and convenience stores on map listings, it comes to $3.2M per store. It is estimated from the incomes of the 69,396 households in the Waterloo-Cedar Falls metro area and national spending patterns by income.
How does the Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA metro area compare with the U.S. for grocery and convenience stores?
The Waterloo-Cedar Falls metro area has 18.7 grocery and convenience stores per 10,000 households, in line with the U.S. rate of 18.7. Spending per store is $3.2M, 7% below the U.S. figure of $3.4M. At the U.S. ratio of grocery and convenience stores to household spending, the Waterloo-Cedar Falls metro area would have about 121, against 130 on map listings. There is one business with payroll in the industry for every 1,239 households, against one for every 1,293 across the U.S. The official count rose 21.7% from 2019 to 2023, against +7.2% for the U.S.
How fast is the Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA metro area growing?
Population estimates put the Waterloo-Cedar Falls metro area at 169,189 people in 2025, up 0.5% since 2020, slower than the U.S. (+3.1%). It has 69,396 households. The median household income in the Waterloo-Cedar Falls metro area is $70,811 a year, 12% below the U.S. median of $80,734. That rose 23.2% 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 Waterloo-Cedar Falls metro area scores 35 for grocery and convenience stores (lower middle), #295 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 Waterloo-Cedar Falls 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 Waterloo-Cedar Falls metro area
Screening a site or an acquisition in the Waterloo-Cedar Falls 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 Waterloo-Cedar Falls 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.