Groceries and convenience · Metro area · North Carolina
Grocery and convenience stores in the Wilmington, NC metro area
How the Wilmington, 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 55 out of 100: Upper middle
Ranked #172 of 387 scored metro areas
#5 of 15 scored metro areas based in North Carolina
- Listings
- 438
- 199 chain locations (45%)
- Official establishments
- 119
- +20.2% since 2019
- Household spending a year
- $1.2B
- On groceries · $6,103 a household
- Spending per listing
- $2.8M
- 18% below the U.S.
- Listings per 10k households
- 22.0
- 18% above the U.S.
- Population, 2025
- 492,772
- +15.9% since 2020
See the grocery and convenience stores around any address in the Wilmington 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 Wilmington 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
As of September 2026, map listings count 438 grocery and convenience stores in the Wilmington metro area. Chain locations make up 45% of them, against 42% across the U.S. Per 10,000 households, that is 22.0, 18% above the U.S. rate of 18.7.
Household spending on groceries in the Wilmington metro area comes to about $1.2B a year: $6,103 per household, 3% below the U.S. average. That is about $2.8M of household spending for each store on map listings, 18% below the U.S. figure of $3.4M.
The official count of businesses with payroll classed as grocery and convenience stores in the Wilmington metro area was 119 in 2023, up 20.2% from 2019. That is one for every 1,675 households, against one for every 1,293 across the U.S. Another 82 one-person businesses have no payroll, by official counts. Since fiscal 2022, 3 SBA-backed loans worth $875K have gone to businesses classed as grocery and convenience stores in the Wilmington metro area.
Population estimates put the population change in the Wilmington metro area from 2020 to 2025 at +15.9%, faster than the U.S. (+3.1%). For grocery and convenience stores, the Wilmington metro area has a Groundwork market score of 55 (upper middle): #172 of 387 scored metro areas and #5 of 15 scored metro areas based in North Carolina.
How the Wilmington 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.
| Measure | Wilmington metro area | North Carolina | U.S. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Listings per 10k households | 22.0 | 20.2 | 18.7 |
| Spending per listing | $2.8M | $3M | $3.4M |
| Households per official establishment | 1,675 | 1,469 | 1,293 |
| Official establishment growth, 2019–2023 | +20.2% | +8.2% | +7.2% |
| Population growth, 2020–2025 | +15.9% | +7.2% | +3.1% |
| Spending per household on groceries | $6,103 | $6,016 | $6,319 |
| Median household income | $76,471 | $72,388 | $80,734 |
| Groundwork market score | 55 | 49 |
Official counts and lending
Businesses
- Official establishments, 2019 to 2023
- 119+20.2% over the period
- Employees, 2023
- 5,862
- Annual payroll, 2023
- $152.2M
- One-person businesses, 2023
- 82Businesses with no payroll
- Map listings, September 2026
- 438199 chain locations
- Listings at the U.S. rate for this spending
- 359The U.S. ratio of listings to household spending, applied here
SBA-backed loans since fiscal 2022
- Loans
- 3
- Amount
- $875K
SBA-backed loans to businesses classed as grocery and convenience stores in the Wilmington 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 Wilmington metro area
- Population, 2025 estimate
- 492,772+15.9% since 2020
- Households
- 199,271
- Median age
- 45.1
- Homes lived in by their owners
- 72%
- Vehicles per household
- 1.9
- Land area
- 1,913 sq. mi.
- People per square mile
- 237
- Median household income
- $76,471
- Average household income
- $104,427
- Median home value
- $362,400
- Jobs located here
- 180,798
- Daytime population
- 448,307Residents who don’t work, plus everyone whose job is here
Looking at a specific site in the Wilmington 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 Wilmington 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 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 Wilmington metro area marked.
Top metro areas in North Carolina
| Market | Score | Listings | Per 10k households | Spending per listing | Population growth | U.S. rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1Raleigh-Cary, NC | 80 | 907 | 15.8 | $4.2M | +12.6% | #20 of 387 |
| 2Durham-Chapel Hill, NC | 71 | 420 | 16.9 | $3.8M | +7.5% | #55 of 387 |
| 3Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC | 67 | 1,903 | 17.7 | $3.6M | +10.1% | #78 of 387 |
| 4Pinehurst-Southern Pines, NC | 64 | 82 | 18.6 | $3.3M | +10.3% | #104 of 387 |
| 5Wilmington, NC | 55 | 438 | 22.0 | $2.8M | +15.9% | #172 of 387 |
| 6Jacksonville, NC | 52 | 143 | 19.0 | $3M | +6.0% | #189 of 387 |
| 7Winston-Salem, NC | 48 | 492 | 17.5 | $3.3M | +5.3% | #211 of 387 |
| 8Burlington, NC | 45 | 138 | 19.7 | $2.9M | +8.5% | #235 of 387 |
| Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC | 43 | 1,317 | 18.6 | $3.4M | +0.9% | #244 of 387 |
| 9Asheville, NC | 40 | 347 | 21.5 | $2.8M | +3.6% | #264 of 387 |
Other business types in the Wilmington 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 stores55
- Grocery stores51
- Convenience stores61
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 Wilmington, NC metro area?
The Wilmington metro area has 438 grocery and convenience stores on map listings as of September 2026. 199 of them (45%) are chain locations. The listings count grocery, convenience and specialty food stores. Official counts show 119 businesses with payroll classed as grocery and convenience stores in 2023, up 20.2% from 2019. Official counts list 82 one-person businesses without payroll.
How much do households in the Wilmington, NC metro area spend on groceries?
About $1.2B a year, or $6,103 per household. That is 3% below the U.S. average (an index of 97, where 100 is the U.S. average). Spread across the 438 grocery and convenience stores on map listings, it comes to $2.8M per store. It is estimated from the incomes of the 199,271 households in the Wilmington metro area and national spending patterns by income.
How does the Wilmington, NC metro area compare with the U.S. for grocery and convenience stores?
The Wilmington metro area has 22.0 grocery and convenience stores per 10,000 households, 18% above the U.S. rate of 18.7. Spending per store is $2.8M, 18% below the U.S. figure of $3.4M. At the national ratio of grocery and convenience stores to household spending, the Wilmington metro area would have about 359, against 438 on map listings. There is one business with payroll in the industry for every 1,675 households, against one for every 1,293 across the U.S. The official count rose 20.2% from 2019 to 2023, against +7.2% for the U.S.
How fast is the Wilmington, NC metro area growing?
Population estimates put the Wilmington metro area at 492,772 people in 2025, up 15.9% since 2020, faster than the U.S. (+3.1%). It has 199,271 households. Median household income in the Wilmington metro area is $76,471, 5% 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 Wilmington metro area scores 55 for grocery and convenience stores (upper middle), #172 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 Wilmington 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 Wilmington metro area
Screening a site or an acquisition in the Wilmington 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 Wilmington 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.