Groundwork

Groceries and convenience · County · Maine

Grocery stores in Franklin County, ME

How Franklin County, ME compares with other counties and the U.S. for grocery stores: competitors, household spending, official counts and growth.

Groundwork market score · out of 100

Score 31 out of 100: Lower middle

Ranked #1,634 of 2,070 scored counties
#14 of 16 scored counties in Maine

Listings
24
8 chain locations (33%)
Official establishments
12
Businesses with payroll, 2023
Household spending a year
$77.8M
On groceries · $6,135 a household
Spending per listing
$3.2M
65% below the U.S.
Listings per 10k households
18.9
2.8 times the U.S.
Population, 2025
30,824
+4.6% since 2020

See the grocery stores around any address in Franklin County

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 Franklin County. Signed out, you see a blurred preview; on an account, each report is one action.

Free10 actions over 3 days, no card

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 stores in Franklin County is 31 (lower middle), #1,634 of 2,070 scored counties and #14 of 16 scored counties in Maine. That puts it in the bottom quarter of counties.

Map listings as of September 2026 show 24 grocery stores in Franklin County. 8 of them (33%) are chain locations, against 37% across the U.S. Per 10,000 households, that is 18.9, 2.8 times the U.S. rate of 6.8.

At $6,135 per household (3% below the U.S. average), households in Franklin County spend about $77.8M a year on groceries. That is about $3.2M of household spending for each store on map listings, 65% below the U.S. figure of $9.3M. That spending covers all groceries, which grocery stores share with other businesses in the trade.

In 2023, official counts showed 12 businesses with payroll in Franklin County classed as supermarkets and grocery stores. That is one for every 1,056 households, against one for every 2,053 across the U.S. Since fiscal 2022, 2 SBA-backed loans worth $3.9M have gone to businesses classed as supermarkets and grocery stores in Franklin County. Between 2020 and 2025, the population of Franklin County grew 4.6%, faster than the U.S. (+3.1%).

How Franklin County compares

The same measures for Maine 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 Franklin County, ME compared with Maine and the U.S.
MeasureFranklin CountyMaineU.S.
Listings per 10k households18.98.96.8
Spending per listing$3.2M$7.4M$9.3M
Households per official establishment1,0561,6732,053
Official establishment growth, 2019–2023n/a−3.0%0.0%
Population growth, 2020–2025+4.6%+3.7%+3.1%
Spending per household on groceries$6,135$6,619$6,319
Median household income$58,675$74,733$80,734
Groundwork market score3135

Official counts and lending

Businesses

Official establishments, 2019 to 2023
14 → 12
Employees, 2023
398
Annual payroll, 2023
$12.5M
One-person businesses, 2023
Not publishedNot published for this business type
Map listings, September 2026
248 chain locations
Listings at the U.S. rate for this spending
8The U.S. ratio of listings to household spending, applied here

SBA-backed loans since fiscal 2022

Loans
2
Amount
$3.9M

SBA-backed loans to businesses classed as supermarkets and grocery stores in Franklin County, 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 Franklin County

Population, 2025 estimate
30,824+4.6% since 2020
Households
12,675
Median age
44.9
Homes lived in by their owners
76%
Vehicles per household
1.8
Land area
1,697 sq. mi.
People per square mile
18
Median household income
$58,675+14.1% vs. 2015–2019, before inflation
Average household income
$79,999
Median home value
$194,700
Jobs located here
10,591
Daytime population
27,726Residents who don’t work, plus everyone whose job is here

Looking at a specific site in Franklin County?

These figures cover the whole county. 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 Franklin County. Signed out, you see a blurred preview; on an account, each report is one action.

Free10 actions over 3 days, no card

Grocery stores across Maine

Every Maine market ranked →

The highest-scoring counties in Maine for grocery stores, numbered among those based in Maine, with Franklin County marked.

Top counties in Maine

Counties in Maine ranked for grocery stores by Groundwork market score
MarketScoreListingsPer 10k householdsSpending per listingPopulation growthU.S. rank
1Sagadahoc County, ME75106.1$11.2M+3.4%#302 of 2,070
2York County, ME73566.1$11.3M+4.8%#341 of 2,070
3Kennebec County, ME68346.3$10.2M+3.5%#459 of 2,070
4Androscoggin County, ME59326.8$9.3M+4.8%#721 of 2,070
5Penobscot County, ME58507.7$8.3M+3.8%#760 of 2,070
6Cumberland County, ME571188.9$8M+4.5%#789 of 2,070
7Somerset County, ME51177.3$8.2M+2.3%#985 of 2,070
8Lincoln County, ME491810.8$6.1M+3.8%#1,068 of 2,070
9Oxford County, ME48249.9$6.2M+4.2%#1,099 of 2,070
10Waldo County, ME392112.0$5.4M+2.6%#1,408 of 2,070
14Franklin County, ME312418.9$3.2M+4.6%#1,634 of 2,070

Other business types in Franklin County

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

Questions

How many grocery stores are in Franklin County, ME?

There are 24 grocery stores on map listings in Franklin County as of September 2026. 8 of them (33%) are chain locations. The listings count grocery stores and supermarkets. Official counts show 12 businesses with payroll classed as supermarkets and grocery stores in 2023.

How much do households in Franklin County, ME spend on groceries?

About $77.8M a year, or $6,135 per household. That is 3% below the U.S. average (an index of 97, where 100 is the U.S. average). Spread across the 24 grocery stores on map listings, it comes to $3.2M per store. The spending figure covers all groceries, not only grocery stores. It is estimated from the incomes of the 12,675 households in Franklin County and national spending patterns by income.

How does Franklin County, ME compare with the U.S. for grocery stores?

Franklin County has 18.9 grocery stores per 10,000 households, 2.8 times the U.S. rate of 6.8. Spending per store is $3.2M, 65% below the U.S. figure of $9.3M. At the national ratio of grocery stores to household spending, Franklin County would have about 8, against 24 on map listings. There is one business with payroll in the industry for every 1,056 households, against one for every 2,053 across the U.S.

How fast is Franklin County, ME growing?

Population estimates put Franklin County at 30,824 people in 2025, up 4.6% since 2020, faster than the U.S. (+3.1%). It has 12,675 households. Median household income in Franklin County is $58,675, 27% below the U.S. median of $80,734. Against the 2015–2019 survey, the median rose 14.1%, 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. Franklin County scores 31 for grocery stores (lower middle), #1,634 of 2,070 scored counties.

How can I see the market around a specific site?

Run a Groundwork site report on an address in Franklin County. 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 Franklin County

Screening a site or an acquisition in Franklin County?

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 Franklin County. 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.