Groundwork

Groceries and convenience · Metro area · Missouri

Grocery and convenience stores in the Kansas City, MO-KS metro area

How the Kansas City, MO-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 80 out of 100: High

Ranked #19 of 387 scored metro areas
#1 of 8 scored metro areas based in Missouri

Listings
1,235
543 chain locations (44%)
Official establishments
398
+9.2% since 2019
Household spending a year
$5.6B
On groceries · $6,279 a household
Spending per listing
$4.6M
34% above the U.S.
Listings per 10k households
13.8
26% below the U.S.
Population, 2025
2,270,682
+3.4% since 2020

See the grocery and convenience stores around any address in the Kansas City 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 Kansas City 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

For grocery and convenience stores, the Kansas City metro area has a Groundwork market score of 80 (high): #19 of 387 scored metro areas and #1 of 8 scored metro areas based in Missouri. That puts it in the top 10% of metro areas for grocery and convenience stores.

Map listings as of September 2026 show 1,235 grocery and convenience stores in the Kansas City metro area. Chain locations make up 44% of them, against 42% across the U.S. That is 13.8 per 10,000 households, 26% below the U.S. rate of 18.7.

Household spending on groceries in the Kansas City metro area comes to about $5.6B a year: $6,279 per household, in line with the U.S. average. That works out to $4.6M per store, 34% above the U.S. figure of $3.4M.

The official count of businesses with payroll classed as grocery and convenience stores in the Kansas City metro area was 398 in 2023, up 9.2% from 2019. That is one for every 2,250 households, against one for every 1,293 across the U.S. Since fiscal 2022, 14 SBA-backed loans worth $10.3M have gone to businesses classed as grocery and convenience stores in the Kansas City metro area. Population estimates show the Kansas City metro area grew 3.4% from 2020 to 2025, in step with the U.S. (+3.1%).

How the Kansas City metro area compares

The same measures for Missouri 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 Kansas City, MO-KS metro area compared with Missouri and the U.S.
MeasureKansas City metro areaMissouriU.S.
Listings per 10k households13.817.818.7
Spending per listing$4.6M$3.3M$3.4M
Households per official establishment2,2501,9951,293
Official establishment growth, 2019–2023+9.2%+0.7%+7.2%
Population growth, 2020–2025+3.4%+1.9%+3.1%
Spending per household on groceries$6,279$5,947$6,319
Median household income$83,460$70,702$80,734
Groundwork market score8051

Official counts and lending

Businesses

Official establishments, 2019 to 2023
398+9.2% over the period
Employees, 2023
21,806
Annual payroll, 2023
$517.3M
One-person businesses, 2023
361Businesses with no payroll
Map listings, September 2026
1,235543 chain locations
Listings at the U.S. rate for this spending
1,659The U.S. ratio of listings to household spending, applied here

SBA-backed loans since fiscal 2022

Loans
14
Amount
$10.3M

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

Population, 2025 estimate
2,270,682+3.4% since 2020
Households
895,368
Median age
39.1
Homes lived in by their owners
66%
Vehicles per household
1.8
Land area
7,257 sq. mi.
People per square mile
306
Median household income
$83,460+25.3% vs. 2015–2019, before inflation
Average household income
$111,261
Median home value
$287,300
Jobs located here
1,123,972
Daytime population
2,247,861Residents who don’t work, plus everyone whose job is here

Looking at a specific site in the Kansas City 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 Kansas City 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 Missouri

Every Missouri market ranked →

The highest-scoring metro areas in Missouri for grocery and convenience stores, numbered among those based in Missouri, with the Kansas City metro area marked.

Top metro areas in Missouri

Metro areas in Missouri ranked for grocery and convenience stores by Groundwork market score
MarketScoreListingsPer 10k householdsSpending per listingPopulation growthU.S. rank
1Kansas City, MO-KS801,23513.8$4.6M+3.4%#19 of 387
2Springfield, MO6929815.0$3.8M+5.1%#66 of 387
3Columbia, MO6614416.7$3.6M+3.9%#88 of 387
4St. Louis, MO-IL621,87116.1$3.9M−0.2%#117 of 387
5Jefferson City, MO5610317.6$3.4M+2.2%#160 of 387
6Cape Girardeau, MO-IL437118.5$3.1M+1.7%#245 of 387
7Joplin, MO-KS4017822.4$2.5M+3.9%#265 of 387
8St. Joseph, MO-KS2810221.8$2.6M−2.0%#333 of 387

Other business types in the Kansas City 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 Kansas City, MO-KS metro area?

There are 1,235 grocery and convenience stores on map listings in the Kansas City metro area as of September 2026. 543 of them (44%) are chain locations. The listings count grocery, convenience and specialty food stores. Official counts show 398 businesses with payroll classed as grocery and convenience stores in 2023, up 9.2% from 2019. Another 361 one-person businesses have no payroll, by official counts.

How much do households in the Kansas City, MO-KS metro area spend on groceries?

About $5.6B a year, or $6,279 per household. That is in line with the U.S. average (an index of 99, where 100 is the U.S. average). Spread across the 1,235 grocery and convenience stores on map listings, it comes to $4.6M per store. It is estimated from the incomes of the 895,368 households in the Kansas City metro area and national spending patterns by income.

How does the Kansas City, MO-KS metro area compare with the U.S. for grocery and convenience stores?

The Kansas City metro area has 13.8 grocery and convenience stores per 10,000 households, 26% below the U.S. rate of 18.7. Spending per store is $4.6M, 34% above the U.S. figure of $3.4M. At the national ratio of grocery and convenience stores to household spending, the Kansas City metro area would have about 1,659, against 1,235 on map listings. There is one business with payroll in the industry for every 2,250 households, against one for every 1,293 across the U.S. The official count rose 9.2% from 2019 to 2023, against +7.2% for the U.S.

How fast is the Kansas City, MO-KS metro area growing?

Population estimates put the Kansas City metro area at 2,270,682 people in 2025, up 3.4% since 2020, in step with the U.S. (+3.1%). It has 895,368 households. Median household income in the Kansas City metro area is $83,460, 3% above the U.S. median of $80,734. Against the 2015–2019 survey, the median rose 25.3%, 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 Kansas City metro area scores 80 for grocery and convenience stores (high), #19 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 Kansas City 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 Kansas City metro area

Screening a site or an acquisition in the Kansas City 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 Kansas City 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.