Groundwork

Groceries and convenience · Metro area · New York

Grocery and convenience stores in the Rochester, NY metro area

How the Rochester, NY 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 53 out of 100: Upper middle

Ranked #178 of 387 scored metro areas
#3 of 13 scored metro areas based in New York

Listings
780
312 chain locations (40%)
Official establishments
356
−0.6% since 2019
Household spending a year
$3B
On groceries · $6,651 a household
Spending per listing
$3.8M
12% above the U.S.
Listings per 10k households
17.5
6% below the U.S.
Population, 2025
1,056,149
−0.7% since 2020

See the grocery and convenience stores around any address in the Rochester 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 Rochester 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 780 grocery and convenience stores in the Rochester metro area. Chain locations make up 40% of them, against 42% across the U.S. That comes to 17.5 for every 10,000 households, 6% below the U.S. rate of 18.7.

Household spending on groceries in the Rochester metro area comes to about $3B a year: $6,651 per household, 5% 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.

The official count of businesses with payroll classed as grocery and convenience stores in the Rochester metro area was 356 in 2023, down 0.6% from 2019. That is one for every 1,252 households, against one for every 1,293 across the U.S. Official counts also show 206 one-person businesses without payroll. Since fiscal 2022, 22 SBA-backed loans worth $5.2M have gone to businesses classed as grocery and convenience stores in the Rochester metro area.

Population estimates show the Rochester metro area declined 0.7% from 2020 to 2025, against +3.1% for the U.S. The Rochester metro area scores 53 (upper middle) on the Groundwork market score for grocery and convenience stores, ranking #178 of 387 scored metro areas and #3 of 13 scored metro areas based in New York.

How the Rochester metro area compares

The same measures for New York 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 Rochester, NY metro area compared with New York and the U.S.
MeasureRochester metro areaNew YorkU.S.
Listings per 10k households17.520.418.7
Spending per listing$3.8M$3.4M$3.4M
Households per official establishment1,2526121,293
Official establishment growth, 2019–2023−0.6%+1.8%+7.2%
Population growth, 2020–2025−0.7%−0.6%+3.1%
Spending per household on groceries$6,651$6,985$6,319
Median household income$76,284$85,974$80,734
Groundwork market score5339

Official counts and lending

Businesses

Official establishments, 2019 to 2023
356−0.6% over the period
Employees, 2023
13,324
Annual payroll, 2023
$359.6M
One-person businesses, 2023
206Businesses with no payroll
Map listings, September 2026
780312 chain locations
Listings at the U.S. rate for this spending
875The U.S. ratio of listings to household spending, applied here

SBA-backed loans since fiscal 2022

Loans
22
Amount
$5.2M

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

Population, 2025 estimate
1,056,149−0.7% since 2020
Households
445,836
Median age
42.2
Homes lived in by their owners
67%
Vehicles per household
1.6
Land area
2,928 sq. mi.
People per square mile
362
Median household income
$76,284
Average household income
$100,943
Median home value
$204,600
Jobs located here
501,944
Daytime population
1,064,689Residents who don’t work, plus everyone whose job is here

Looking at a specific site in the Rochester 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 Rochester 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 New York

Every New York market ranked →

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

Top metro areas in New York

Metro areas in New York ranked for grocery and convenience stores by Groundwork market score
MarketScoreListingsPer 10k householdsSpending per listingPopulation growthU.S. rank
1Kiryas Joel-Poughkeepsie-Newburgh, NY6244117.3$4.2M+3.0%#113 of 387
2Ithaca, NY577417.1$3.9M−1.4%#148 of 387
3Rochester, NY5378017.5$3.8M−0.7%#178 of 387
4Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY5276219.9$3.5M+1.9%#186 of 387
5Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY4985117.0$3.9M−0.8%#205 of 387
6New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ4914,60619.8$3.7M+0.6%#206 of 387
7Kingston, NY4715320.6$3.4M+1.1%#218 of 387
8Binghamton, NY4119919.4$3.3M−1.3%#259 of 387
9Syracuse, NY3857421.2$3.1M−1.3%#279 of 387
10Elmira, NY338123.0$2.7M−3.9%#308 of 387

Other business types in the Rochester metro area

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

Groceries and convenience

Funeral services

Questions

How many grocery and convenience stores are in the Rochester, NY metro area?

There are 780 grocery and convenience stores on map listings in the Rochester metro area as of September 2026. 312 of them (40%) are chain locations. The listings count grocery, convenience and specialty food stores. Official counts show 356 businesses with payroll classed as grocery and convenience stores in 2023, down 0.6% from 2019. Another 206 one-person businesses have no payroll, by official counts.

How much do households in the Rochester, NY metro area spend on groceries?

About $3B a year, or $6,651 per household. That is 5% above the U.S. average (an index of 105, where 100 is the U.S. average). Spread across the 780 grocery and convenience stores on map listings, it comes to $3.8M per store. It is estimated from the incomes of the 445,836 households in the Rochester metro area and national spending patterns by income.

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

The Rochester metro area has 17.5 grocery and convenience stores per 10,000 households, 6% below 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 Rochester metro area would have about 875, against 780 on map listings. There is one business with payroll in the industry for every 1,252 households, against one for every 1,293 across the U.S. The official count fell 0.6% from 2019 to 2023, against +7.2% for the U.S.

How fast is the Rochester, NY metro area growing?

Population estimates put the Rochester metro area at 1,056,149 people in 2025, down 0.7% since 2020, against +3.1% for the U.S. It has 445,836 households. Median household income in the Rochester metro area is $76,284, 6% below 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 Rochester metro area scores 53 for grocery and convenience stores (upper middle), #178 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 Rochester 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 Rochester metro area

Screening a site or an acquisition in the Rochester metro area?

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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.