Groundwork

Groceries and convenience · Metro area · Virginia

Grocery and convenience stores in the Harrisonburg, VA metro area

How the Harrisonburg, VA 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 24 out of 100: Low

Ranked #350 of 387 scored metro areas
#9 of 9 scored metro areas based in Virginia

Listings
145
66 chain locations (46%)
Official establishments
64
+23.1% since 2019
Household spending a year
$299.5M
On groceries · $5,984 a household
Spending per listing
$2.1M
39% below the U.S.
Listings per 10k households
29.0
55% above the U.S.
Population, 2025
140,155
+3.5% since 2020

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

The Groundwork market score for grocery and convenience stores in the Harrisonburg metro area is 24 (low), #350 of 387 scored metro areas and #9 of 9 scored metro areas based in Virginia. That puts it in the bottom quarter of metro areas.

Household spending on groceries in the Harrisonburg metro area comes to about $299.5M a year: $5,984 per household, 5% below the U.S. average. That works out to $2.1M per store, 39% below the U.S. figure of $3.4M.

The Harrisonburg metro area has 145 grocery and convenience stores on map listings as of September 2026. Chain locations make up 46% of them, against 42% across the U.S. That comes to 29.0 for every 10,000 households, 55% above the U.S. rate of 18.7.

In 2023, official counts showed 64 businesses with payroll in the Harrisonburg metro area classed as grocery and convenience stores, up 23.1% from 2019. That is one for every 782 households, against one for every 1,293 across the U.S. Population estimates put the population change in the Harrisonburg metro area from 2020 to 2025 at +3.5%, in step with the U.S. (+3.1%).

How the Harrisonburg metro area compares

The same measures for Virginia 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 Harrisonburg, VA metro area compared with Virginia and the U.S.
MeasureHarrisonburg metro areaVirginiaU.S.
Listings per 10k households29.019.118.7
Spending per listing$2.1M$3.4M$3.4M
Households per official establishment7821,1521,293
Official establishment growth, 2019–2023+23.1%+7.3%+7.2%
Population growth, 2020–2025+3.5%+2.8%+3.1%
Spending per household on groceries$5,984$6,537$6,319
Median household income$75,065$93,170$80,734
Groundwork market score2451

Official counts and lending

Businesses

Official establishments, 2019 to 2023
64+23.1% over the period
Employees, 2023
1,501
Annual payroll, 2023
$34.7M
One-person businesses, 2023
26Businesses with no payroll
Map listings, September 2026
14566 chain locations
Listings at the U.S. rate for this spending
88The U.S. ratio of listings to household spending, applied here

SBA-backed loans since fiscal 2022

Loans
0
Amount
$0

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

Population, 2025 estimate
140,155+3.5% since 2020
Households
50,046
Median age
37.3
Homes lived in by their owners
63%
Vehicles per household
2.2
Land area
867 sq. mi.
People per square mile
158
Median household income
$75,065+32.9% vs. 2015–2019, before inflation
Average household income
$97,373
Median home value
$309,300
Jobs located here
66,301
Daytime population
138,028Residents who don’t work, plus everyone whose job is here

Looking at a specific site in the Harrisonburg 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 Harrisonburg 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 Virginia

Every Virginia market ranked →

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

Top metro areas in Virginia

Metro areas in Virginia ranked for grocery and convenience stores by Groundwork market score
MarketScoreListingsPer 10k householdsSpending per listingPopulation growthU.S. rank
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV723,40814.4$5M+3.3%#45 of 387
1Richmond, VA511,03219.3$3.3M+5.5%#194 of 387
2Winchester, VA-WV5013524.3$2.6M+6.5%#204 of 387
Kingsport-Bristol, TN-VA4821216.2$3.4M+2.3%#210 of 387
3Charlottesville, VA4818320.2$3.2M+3.1%#212 of 387
4Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC431,31718.6$3.4M+0.9%#244 of 387
5Lynchburg, VA3021120.4$2.9M+2.9%#323 of 387
6Staunton-Stuarts Draft, VA3011722.4$2.6M+3.2%#324 of 387
7Blacksburg-Christiansburg-Radford, VA2813619.4$3M−0.1%#331 of 387
8Roanoke, VA2526920.5$2.9M+0.4%#343 of 387
9Harrisonburg, VA2414529.0$2.1M+3.5%#350 of 387

Other business types in the Harrisonburg 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 Harrisonburg, VA metro area?

Map listings as of September 2026 show 145 grocery and convenience stores in the Harrisonburg metro area. 66 of them (46%) are chain locations. The listings count grocery, convenience and specialty food stores. Official counts show 64 businesses with payroll classed as grocery and convenience stores in 2023, up 23.1% from 2019. Official counts also show 26 one-person businesses without payroll.

How much do households in the Harrisonburg, VA metro area spend on groceries?

About $299.5M a year, or $5,984 per household. That is 5% below the U.S. average (an index of 95, where 100 is the U.S. average). Spread across the 145 grocery and convenience stores on map listings, it comes to $2.1M per store. It is estimated from the incomes of the 50,046 households in the Harrisonburg metro area and national spending patterns by income.

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

The Harrisonburg metro area has 29.0 grocery and convenience stores per 10,000 households, 55% above the U.S. rate of 18.7. Spending per store is $2.1M, 39% below the U.S. figure of $3.4M. At the U.S. ratio of grocery and convenience stores to household spending, the Harrisonburg metro area would have about 88, against 145 on map listings. There is one business with payroll in the industry for every 782 households, against one for every 1,293 across the U.S. The official count rose 23.1% from 2019 to 2023, against +7.2% for the U.S.

How fast is the Harrisonburg, VA metro area growing?

Population estimates put the Harrisonburg metro area at 140,155 people in 2025, up 3.5% since 2020, in step with the U.S. (+3.1%). It has 50,046 households. The median household income in the Harrisonburg metro area is $75,065 a year, 7% below the U.S. median of $80,734. That rose 32.9% from the 2015–2019 survey, 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 Harrisonburg metro area scores 24 for grocery and convenience stores (low), #350 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 Harrisonburg 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 Harrisonburg metro area

Screening a site or an acquisition in the Harrisonburg 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 Harrisonburg 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.