Groundwork

Groceries and convenience · Metro area · North Carolina

Grocery and convenience stores in the Fayetteville, NC metro area

How the Fayetteville, NC 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 28 out of 100: Lower middle

Ranked #332 of 387 scored metro areas
#13 of 15 scored metro areas based in North Carolina

Listings
319
184 chain locations (58%)
Official establishments
103
−1.0% since 2019
Household spending a year
$842M
On groceries · $5,650 a household
Spending per listing
$2.6M
22% below the U.S.
Listings per 10k households
21.4
14% above the U.S.
Population, 2025
395,412
+1.6% since 2020

See the grocery and convenience stores around any address in the Fayetteville 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 Fayetteville 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 Fayetteville metro area has a Groundwork market score of 28 (lower middle): #332 of 387 scored metro areas and #13 of 15 scored metro areas based in North Carolina. That puts it in the bottom quarter of metro areas.

As of September 2026, map listings count 319 grocery and convenience stores in the Fayetteville metro area. Chain locations make up 58% of them, against 42% across the U.S. Per 10,000 households, that is 21.4, 14% above the U.S. rate of 18.7.

Household spending on groceries in the Fayetteville metro area comes to about $842M a year: $5,650 per household, 11% below the U.S. average. Spread across 319 grocery and convenience stores, that is $2.6M per store, 22% below the U.S. figure of $3.4M.

The official count of businesses with payroll classed as grocery and convenience stores in the Fayetteville metro area was 103 in 2023, down 1.0% from 2019. That is one for every 1,447 households, against one for every 1,293 across the U.S. Since fiscal 2022, 2 SBA-backed loans worth $2.4M have gone to businesses classed as grocery and convenience stores in the Fayetteville metro area. Population estimates put the population change in the Fayetteville metro area from 2020 to 2025 at +1.6%, slower than the U.S. (+3.1%).

How the Fayetteville metro area compares

The same measures for North Carolina 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 Fayetteville, NC metro area compared with North Carolina and the U.S.
MeasureFayetteville metro areaNorth CarolinaU.S.
Listings per 10k households21.420.218.7
Spending per listing$2.6M$3M$3.4M
Households per official establishment1,4471,4691,293
Official establishment growth, 2019–2023−1.0%+8.2%+7.2%
Population growth, 2020–2025+1.6%+7.2%+3.1%
Spending per household on groceries$5,650$6,016$6,319
Median household income$61,763$72,388$80,734
Groundwork market score2849

Official counts and lending

Businesses

Official establishments, 2019 to 2023
103−1.0% over the period
Employees, 2023
3,290
Annual payroll, 2023
$74.8M
One-person businesses, 2023
107Businesses with no payroll
Map listings, September 2026
319184 chain locations
Listings at the U.S. rate for this spending
249The U.S. ratio of listings to household spending, applied here

SBA-backed loans since fiscal 2022

Loans
2
Amount
$2.4M

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

Population, 2025 estimate
395,412+1.6% since 2020
Households
149,016
Median age
34.4
Homes lived in by their owners
57%
Vehicles per household
1.8
Land area
1,043 sq. mi.
People per square mile
376
Median household income
$61,763
Average household income
$81,373
Median home value
$202,700
Jobs located here
124,855
Daytime population
386,104Residents who don’t work, plus everyone whose job is here

Looking at a specific site in the Fayetteville 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 Fayetteville 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 North Carolina

Every North Carolina market ranked →

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

Top metro areas in North Carolina

Metro areas in North Carolina ranked for grocery and convenience stores by Groundwork market score
MarketScoreListingsPer 10k householdsSpending per listingPopulation growthU.S. rank
1Raleigh-Cary, NC8090715.8$4.2M+12.6%#20 of 387
2Durham-Chapel Hill, NC7142016.9$3.8M+7.5%#55 of 387
3Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC671,90317.7$3.6M+10.1%#78 of 387
4Pinehurst-Southern Pines, NC648218.6$3.3M+10.3%#104 of 387
5Wilmington, NC5543822.0$2.8M+15.9%#172 of 387
6Jacksonville, NC5214319.0$3M+6.0%#189 of 387
7Winston-Salem, NC4849217.5$3.3M+5.3%#211 of 387
8Burlington, NC4513819.7$2.9M+8.5%#235 of 387
Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC431,31718.6$3.4M+0.9%#244 of 387
9Asheville, NC4034721.5$2.8M+3.6%#264 of 387
13Fayetteville, NC2831921.4$2.6M+1.6%#332 of 387

Other business types in the Fayetteville 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 Fayetteville, NC metro area?

The Fayetteville metro area has 319 grocery and convenience stores on map listings as of September 2026. 184 of them (58%) are chain locations. The listings count grocery, convenience and specialty food stores. Official counts show 103 businesses with payroll classed as grocery and convenience stores in 2023, down 1.0% from 2019. Another 107 one-person businesses have no payroll, by official counts.

How much do households in the Fayetteville, NC metro area spend on groceries?

About $842M a year, or $5,650 per household. That is 11% below the U.S. average (an index of 89, where 100 is the U.S. average). Spread across the 319 grocery and convenience stores on map listings, it comes to $2.6M per store. It is estimated from the incomes of the 149,016 households in the Fayetteville metro area and national spending patterns by income.

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

The Fayetteville metro area has 21.4 grocery and convenience stores per 10,000 households, 14% above the U.S. rate of 18.7. Spending per store is $2.6M, 22% below the U.S. figure of $3.4M. At the national ratio of grocery and convenience stores to household spending, the Fayetteville metro area would have about 249, against 319 on map listings. There is one business with payroll in the industry for every 1,447 households, against one for every 1,293 across the U.S. The official count fell 1.0% from 2019 to 2023, against +7.2% for the U.S.

How fast is the Fayetteville, NC metro area growing?

Population estimates put the Fayetteville metro area at 395,412 people in 2025, up 1.6% since 2020, slower than the U.S. (+3.1%). It has 149,016 households. Median household income in the Fayetteville metro area is $61,763, 23% 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 Fayetteville metro area scores 28 for grocery and convenience stores (lower middle), #332 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 Fayetteville 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 Fayetteville metro area

Screening a site or an acquisition in the Fayetteville 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 Fayetteville 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.