Groundwork

Groceries and convenience · Small-town market · Iowa

Grocery stores in the Muscatine, IA area

How the Muscatine, IA area compares with other small-town markets and the U.S. for grocery stores: competitors, household spending, official counts and growth.

Groundwork market score · out of 100

Score 63 out of 100: Upper middle

Ranked #124 of 506 scored small-town markets
#3 of 14 scored small-town markets based in Iowa

Listings
10
5 chain locations (50%)
Official establishments
5
Businesses with payroll, 2023
Household spending a year
$101.5M
On groceries · $5,854 a household
Spending per listing
$10.2M
9% above the U.S.
Listings per 10k households
5.8
15% below the U.S.
Population, 2025
41,853
−3.0% since 2020

See the grocery stores around any address in the Muscatine area

The site report maps the grocery 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 Muscatine 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

Households in the Muscatine area spend about $101.5M a year on groceries, or $5,854 per household, 7% below the U.S. average. Spread across 10 grocery stores, that is $10.2M per store, 9% above the U.S. figure of $9.3M. The spending figure covers all groceries, not only grocery stores.

The Muscatine area has 10 grocery stores on map listings as of September 2026. Chain locations make up 50% of them, against 37% across the U.S. That comes to 5.8 for every 10,000 households, 15% below the U.S. rate of 6.8.

The official count of businesses with payroll classed as supermarkets and grocery stores in the Muscatine area was 5 in 2023. That is one for every 3,469 households, against one for every 2,053 across the U.S. Since fiscal 2022, 1 SBA-backed loan worth $187K has gone to businesses classed as supermarkets and grocery stores in the Muscatine area.

Between 2020 and 2025, the population of the Muscatine area declined 3.0%, against +3.1% for the U.S. The Groundwork market score for grocery stores in the Muscatine area is 63 (upper middle), #124 of 506 scored small-town markets and #3 of 14 scored small-town markets based in Iowa. That puts it in the top quarter of small-town markets.

How the Muscatine area compares

The same measures for Iowa and the whole U.S. Spending per listing divides a year of household spending on all groceries by the grocery 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 stores in Muscatine, IA area compared with Iowa and the U.S.
MeasureMuscatine areaIowaU.S.
Listings per 10k households5.86.86.8
Spending per listing$10.2M$8.8M$9.3M
Households per official establishment3,4692,1392,053
Official establishment growth, 2019–2023n/a−1.4%0.0%
Population growth, 2020–2025−3.0%+1.5%+3.1%
Spending per household on groceries$5,854$6,036$6,319
Median household income$69,396$75,059$80,734
Groundwork market score6337

Official counts and lending

Businesses

Official establishments, 2019 to 2023
5
Employees, 2023
529
Annual payroll, 2023
$9.1M
One-person businesses, 2023
Not publishedNot published for this business type
Map listings, September 2026
105 chain locations
Listings at the U.S. rate for this spending
11The U.S. ratio of listings to household spending, applied here

SBA-backed loans since fiscal 2022

Loans
1
Amount
$187K

SBA-backed loans to businesses classed as supermarkets and grocery stores in the Muscatine 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 Muscatine area

Population, 2025 estimate
41,853−3.0% since 2020
Households
17,345
Median age
39.9
Homes lived in by their owners
74%
Vehicles per household
2.0
Land area
437 sq. mi.
People per square mile
97
Median household income
$69,396+18.7% vs. 2015–2019, before inflation
Average household income
$86,373
Median home value
$182,100
Jobs located here
21,008
Daytime population
43,232Residents who don’t work, plus everyone whose job is here

Looking at a specific site in the Muscatine 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 stores on map listings by name and distance.

Or open the report at the center of the Muscatine area. Signed out, you see a blurred preview; on an account, each report is one action.

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Grocery stores across Iowa

Every Iowa market ranked →

The highest-scoring small-town markets in Iowa for grocery stores, numbered among those based in Iowa, with the Muscatine area marked.

Top small-town markets in Iowa

Small-town markets in Iowa ranked for grocery stores by Groundwork market score
MarketScoreListingsPer 10k householdsSpending per listingPopulation growthU.S. rank
1Pella, IA7175.3$11.6M+2.3%#65 of 506
2Clinton, IA6794.6$12.7M−0.9%#93 of 506
3Muscatine, IA63105.8$10.2M−3.0%#124 of 506
4Le Mars, IA6098.7$7.1M0.0%#160 of 506
5Burlington, IA-IL5794.5$12.5M−2.5%#182 of 506
6Fort Dodge, IA5795.9$9.8M−0.4%#188 of 506
7Ottumwa, IA5496.4$8.8M−0.3%#230 of 506
8Fort Madison, IA4885.6$10.1M−3.6%#281 of 506
9Oskaloosa, IA4866.9$8.5M−1.2%#283 of 506
10Spirit Lake, IA4789.0$6.8M+1.7%#298 of 506

Other business types in the Muscatine area

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

Questions

How many grocery stores are in the Muscatine, IA area?

Map listings as of September 2026 show 10 grocery stores in the Muscatine area. 5 of them (50%) are chain locations. The listings count grocery stores and supermarkets. Official counts show 5 businesses with payroll classed as supermarkets and grocery stores in 2023.

How much do households in the Muscatine, IA area spend on groceries?

About $101.5M a year, or $5,854 per household. That is 7% below the U.S. average (an index of 93, where 100 is the U.S. average). Spread across the 10 grocery stores on map listings, it comes to $10.2M per store. That spending covers all groceries, which grocery stores share with other businesses in the trade. It is estimated from the incomes of the 17,345 households in the Muscatine area and national spending patterns by income.

How does the Muscatine, IA area compare with the U.S. for grocery stores?

The Muscatine area has 5.8 grocery stores per 10,000 households, 15% below the U.S. rate of 6.8. Spending per store is $10.2M, 9% above the U.S. figure of $9.3M. At the U.S. ratio of grocery stores to household spending, the Muscatine area would have about 11, against 10 on map listings. There is one business with payroll in the industry for every 3,469 households, against one for every 2,053 across the U.S.

How fast is the Muscatine, IA area growing?

Population estimates put the Muscatine area at 41,853 people in 2025, down 3.0% since 2020, against +3.1% for the U.S. It has 17,345 households. The median household income in the Muscatine area is $69,396 a year, 14% below the U.S. median of $80,734. That rose 18.7% 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 Muscatine area scores 63 for grocery stores (upper middle), #124 of 506 scored small-town markets.

How can I see the market around a specific site?

Run a Groundwork site report on an address in the Muscatine area. It maps the grocery 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 stores · All 56 business types in the Muscatine area

Screening a site or an acquisition in the Muscatine 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 Muscatine 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.