Groceries and convenience · Small-town market · Wisconsin
Grocery and convenience stores in the Watertown-Fort Atkinson, WI area
How the Watertown-Fort Atkinson, WI area compares with other small-town markets and the U.S. for grocery and convenience stores: competitors, household spending, official counts and growth.
Groundwork market score · out of 100
Score 78 out of 100: High
Ranked #26 of 538 scored small-town markets
#1 of 13 scored small-town markets based in Wisconsin
- Listings
- 66
- 27 chain locations (41%)
- Official establishments
- 13
- Businesses with payroll, 2023
- Household spending a year
- $214.8M
- On groceries · $6,159 a household
- Spending per listing
- $3.3M
- 4% below the U.S.
- Listings per 10k households
- 18.9
- In line with the U.S.
- Population, 2025
- 86,505
- +0.3% since 2020
See the grocery and convenience stores around any address in the Watertown-Fort Atkinson 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 Watertown-Fort Atkinson 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
For grocery and convenience stores, the Watertown-Fort Atkinson area has a Groundwork market score of 78 (high): #26 of 538 scored small-town markets and #1 of 13 scored small-town markets based in Wisconsin. That puts it in the top 10% of small-town markets for grocery and convenience stores.
Household spending on groceries in the Watertown-Fort Atkinson area comes to about $214.8M a year: $6,159 per household, 3% below the U.S. average. Spread across 66 grocery and convenience stores, that is $3.3M per store, 4% below the U.S. figure of $3.4M.
There are 66 grocery and convenience stores on map listings in the Watertown-Fort Atkinson area as of September 2026. Chain locations make up 41% of them, against 42% across the U.S. That comes to 18.9 for every 10,000 households, in line with the U.S. rate of 18.7.
In 2023, official counts showed 13 businesses with payroll in the Watertown-Fort Atkinson area classed as grocery and convenience stores. That is one for every 2,683 households, against one for every 1,293 across the U.S. Since fiscal 2022, 1 SBA-backed loan worth $1.1M has gone to businesses classed as grocery and convenience stores in the Watertown-Fort Atkinson area. Between 2020 and 2025, the population of the Watertown-Fort Atkinson area grew 0.3%, slower than the U.S. (+3.1%).
How the Watertown-Fort Atkinson area compares
The same measures for Wisconsin 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 | Watertown-Fort Atkinson area | Wisconsin | U.S. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Listings per 10k households | 18.9 | 20.0 | 18.7 |
| Spending per listing | $3.3M | $3M | $3.4M |
| Households per official establishment | 2,683 | 2,181 | 1,293 |
| Official establishment growth, 2019–2023 | n/a | +4.0% | +7.2% |
| Population growth, 2020–2025 | +0.3% | +1.3% | +3.1% |
| Spending per household on groceries | $6,159 | $6,105 | $6,319 |
| Median household income | $83,750 | $77,485 | $80,734 |
| Groundwork market score | 78 | 52 |
Official counts and lending
Businesses
- Official establishments, 2019 to 2023
- 13
- Employees, 2023
- 573
- Annual payroll, 2023
- $13.3M
- One-person businesses, 2023
- 22Businesses with no payroll
- Map listings, September 2026
- 6627 chain locations
- Listings at the U.S. rate for this spending
- 63The U.S. ratio of listings to household spending, applied here
SBA-backed loans since fiscal 2022
- Loans
- 1
- Amount
- $1.1M
SBA-backed loans to businesses classed as grocery and convenience stores in the Watertown-Fort Atkinson 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 Watertown-Fort Atkinson area
- Population, 2025 estimate
- 86,505+0.3% since 2020
- Households
- 34,873
- Median age
- 42.2
- Homes lived in by their owners
- 73%
- Vehicles per household
- 2.0
- Land area
- 557 sq. mi.
- People per square mile
- 155
- Median household income
- $83,750+26.3% vs. 2015–2019, before inflation
- Average household income
- $100,082
- Median home value
- $274,100
- Jobs located here
- 34,853
- Daytime population
- 76,557Residents who don’t work, plus everyone whose job is here
Looking at a specific site in the Watertown-Fort Atkinson area?
These figures cover the whole small-town market. 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 Watertown-Fort Atkinson 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 Wisconsin
Every Wisconsin market ranked →The highest-scoring small-town markets in Wisconsin for grocery and convenience stores, numbered among those based in Wisconsin (a market based in another state is listed without a number), with the Watertown-Fort Atkinson area marked.
Top small-town markets in Wisconsin
| Market | Score | Listings | Per 10k households | Spending per listing | Population growth | U.S. rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1Watertown-Fort Atkinson, WI | 78 | 66 | 18.9 | $3.3M | +0.3% | #26 of 538 |
| 2Stevens Point-Plover, WI | 75 | 67 | 22.6 | $2.7M | +2.2% | #43 of 538 |
| 3Whitewater-Elkhorn, WI | 74 | 89 | 20.7 | $3M | +0.8% | #47 of 538 |
| 4Manitowoc, WI | 73 | 68 | 19.3 | $3M | +0.4% | #51 of 538 |
| 5Menomonie, WI | 69 | 44 | 25.2 | $2.4M | +1.7% | #94 of 538 |
| 6Beaver Dam, WI | 67 | 79 | 22.0 | $2.7M | −0.3% | #110 of 538 |
| 7Wisconsin Rapids-Marshfield, WI | 60 | 75 | 23.3 | $2.5M | −0.2% | #179 of 538 |
| 8Baraboo, WI | 54 | 79 | 28.2 | $2.2M | +1.3% | #252 of 538 |
| Iron Mountain, MI-WI | 49 | 36 | 25.5 | $2.2M | +0.4% | #296 of 538 |
| 9Shawano, WI | 48 | 49 | 26.3 | $2.2M | +1.4% | #307 of 538 |
Other business types in the Watertown-Fort Atkinson area
Each with its Groundwork market score here, out of 100, where it has one.
Food and drink
Groceries and convenience
- Grocery and convenience stores78
- Grocery stores68
- Convenience stores73
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 Watertown-Fort Atkinson, WI area?
As of September 2026, map listings count 66 grocery and convenience stores in the Watertown-Fort Atkinson area. 27 of them (41%) are chain locations. The listings count grocery, convenience and specialty food stores. Official counts show 13 businesses with payroll classed as grocery and convenience stores in 2023. Another 22 one-person businesses have no payroll, by official counts.
How much do households in the Watertown-Fort Atkinson, WI area spend on groceries?
About $214.8M a year, or $6,159 per household. That is 3% below the U.S. average (an index of 97, where 100 is the U.S. average). Spread across the 66 grocery and convenience stores on map listings, it comes to $3.3M per store. It is estimated from the incomes of the 34,873 households in the Watertown-Fort Atkinson area and national spending patterns by income.
How does the Watertown-Fort Atkinson, WI area compare with the U.S. for grocery and convenience stores?
The Watertown-Fort Atkinson area has 18.9 grocery and convenience stores per 10,000 households, in line with the U.S. rate of 18.7. Spending per store is $3.3M, 4% below the U.S. figure of $3.4M. At the U.S. ratio of grocery and convenience stores to household spending, the Watertown-Fort Atkinson area would have about 63, against 66 on map listings. There is one business with payroll in the industry for every 2,683 households, against one for every 1,293 across the U.S.
How fast is the Watertown-Fort Atkinson, WI area growing?
Population estimates put the Watertown-Fort Atkinson area at 86,505 people in 2025, up 0.3% since 2020, slower than the U.S. (+3.1%). It has 34,873 households. The median household income in the Watertown-Fort Atkinson area is $83,750 a year, 4% above the U.S. median of $80,734. That rose 26.3% 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. A small-town market is a town of 10,000 to 50,000 people and the county or counties tied to it by commuting. 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 Watertown-Fort Atkinson area scores 78 for grocery and convenience stores (high), #26 of 538 scored small-town markets.
How can I see the market around a specific site?
Run a Groundwork site report on an address in the Watertown-Fort Atkinson 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 Watertown-Fort Atkinson area
Screening a site or an acquisition in the Watertown-Fort Atkinson 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 Watertown-Fort Atkinson 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.