Groundwork

Groceries and convenience · Metro area · Kansas

Grocery and convenience stores in the Topeka, KS metro area

How the Topeka, KS 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 69 out of 100: Upper middle

Ranked #60 of 387 scored metro areas
#3 of 4 scored metro areas based in Kansas

Listings
123
34 chain locations (28%)
Official establishments
38
Businesses with payroll, 2023
Household spending a year
$571.8M
On groceries · $5,894 a household
Spending per listing
$4.6M
37% above the U.S.
Listings per 10k households
12.7
32% below the U.S.
Population, 2025
233,052
+0.1% since 2020

See the grocery and convenience stores around any address in the Topeka 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 Topeka 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

As of September 2026, map listings count 123 grocery and convenience stores in the Topeka metro area. Chain locations make up 28% of them, against 42% across the U.S. Per 10,000 households, that is 12.7, 32% below the U.S. rate of 18.7.

Household spending on groceries in the Topeka metro area comes to about $571.8M a year: $5,894 per household, 7% below the U.S. average. That works out to $4.6M per store, 37% above the U.S. figure of $3.4M.

In 2023, official counts showed 38 businesses with payroll in the Topeka metro area classed as grocery and convenience stores. That is one for every 2,553 households, against one for every 1,293 across the U.S. Official counts also show 33 one-person businesses without payroll. Since fiscal 2022, 5 SBA-backed loans worth $3.3M have gone to businesses classed as grocery and convenience stores in the Topeka metro area.

Population estimates show the Topeka metro area grew 0.1% from 2020 to 2025, slower than the U.S. (+3.1%). The Topeka metro area scores 69 (upper middle) on the Groundwork market score for grocery and convenience stores, ranking #60 of 387 scored metro areas and #3 of 4 scored metro areas based in Kansas. That puts it in the top quarter of metro areas.

How the Topeka metro area compares

The same measures for Kansas 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 Topeka, KS metro area compared with Kansas and the U.S.
MeasureTopeka metro areaKansasU.S.
Listings per 10k households12.716.918.7
Spending per listing$4.6M$3.6M$3.4M
Households per official establishment2,5532,0351,293
Official establishment growth, 2019–2023n/a+5.9%+7.2%
Population growth, 2020–2025+0.1%+1.3%+3.1%
Spending per household on groceries$5,894$6,053$6,319
Median household income$69,888$74,275$80,734
Groundwork market score6958

Official counts and lending

Businesses

Official establishments, 2019 to 2023
38
Employees, 2023
1,737
Annual payroll, 2023
$42.7M
One-person businesses, 2023
33Businesses with no payroll
Map listings, September 2026
12334 chain locations
Listings at the U.S. rate for this spending
169The U.S. ratio of listings to household spending, applied here

SBA-backed loans since fiscal 2022

Loans
5
Amount
$3.3M

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

Population, 2025 estimate
233,052+0.1% since 2020
Households
96,999
Median age
41.3
Homes lived in by their owners
70%
Vehicles per household
1.9
Land area
3,233 sq. mi.
People per square mile
72
Median household income
$69,888+21.3% vs. 2015–2019, before inflation
Average household income
$89,198
Median home value
$183,200
Jobs located here
117,217
Daytime population
240,729Residents who don’t work, plus everyone whose job is here

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

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Grocery and convenience stores across Kansas

Every Kansas market ranked →

The highest-scoring metro areas in Kansas for grocery and convenience stores, numbered among those based in Kansas (a market based in another state is listed without a number), with the Topeka metro area marked.

Top metro areas in Kansas

Metro areas in Kansas ranked for grocery and convenience stores by Groundwork market score
MarketScoreListingsPer 10k householdsSpending per listingPopulation growthU.S. rank
Kansas City, MO-KS801,23513.8$4.6M+3.4%#19 of 387
1Lawrence, KS755911.7$5.1M+1.8%#30 of 387
2Wichita, KS7234613.6$4.4M+2.4%#48 of 387
3Topeka, KS6912312.7$4.6M+0.1%#60 of 387
4Manhattan, KS547915.4$3.7M+1.4%#174 of 387
Joplin, MO-KS4017822.4$2.5M+3.9%#265 of 387
St. Joseph, MO-KS2810221.8$2.6M−2.0%#333 of 387

Other business types in the Topeka 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 Topeka, KS metro area?

The Topeka metro area has 123 grocery and convenience stores on map listings as of September 2026. 34 of them (28%) are chain locations. The listings count grocery, convenience and specialty food stores. Official counts show 38 businesses with payroll classed as grocery and convenience stores in 2023. Another 33 one-person businesses have no payroll, by official counts.

How much do households in the Topeka, KS metro area spend on groceries?

About $571.8M a year, or $5,894 per household. That is 7% below the U.S. average (an index of 93, where 100 is the U.S. average). Spread across the 123 grocery and convenience stores on map listings, it comes to $4.6M per store. It is estimated from the incomes of the 96,999 households in the Topeka metro area and national spending patterns by income.

How does the Topeka, KS metro area compare with the U.S. for grocery and convenience stores?

The Topeka metro area has 12.7 grocery and convenience stores per 10,000 households, 32% below the U.S. rate of 18.7. Spending per store is $4.6M, 37% above the U.S. figure of $3.4M. At the national ratio of grocery and convenience stores to household spending, the Topeka metro area would have about 169, against 123 on map listings. There is one business with payroll in the industry for every 2,553 households, against one for every 1,293 across the U.S.

How fast is the Topeka, KS metro area growing?

Population estimates put the Topeka metro area at 233,052 people in 2025, up 0.1% since 2020, slower than the U.S. (+3.1%). It has 96,999 households. Median household income in the Topeka metro area is $69,888, 13% below the U.S. median of $80,734. Against the 2015–2019 survey, the median rose 21.3%, 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 Topeka metro area scores 69 for grocery and convenience stores (upper middle), #60 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 Topeka 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 Topeka metro area

Screening a site or an acquisition in the Topeka 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 Topeka 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.