Groundwork

Groceries and convenience · Small-town market · Oklahoma

Grocery stores in the McAlester, OK area

How the McAlester, OK 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 66 out of 100: Upper middle

Ranked #98 of 506 scored small-town markets
#7 of 14 scored small-town markets based in Oklahoma

Listings
7
2 chain locations (29%)
Official establishments
4
Businesses with payroll, 2023
Household spending a year
$97.1M
On groceries · $5,440 a household
Spending per listing
$13.9M
49% above the U.S.
Listings per 10k households
3.9
43% below the U.S.
Population, 2025
43,320
−1.1% since 2020

See the grocery stores around any address in the McAlester 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 McAlester 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

Household spending on groceries in the McAlester area comes to about $97.1M a year: $5,440 per household, 14% below the U.S. average. That is about $13.9M of household spending for each store on map listings, 49% above the U.S. figure of $9.3M. The spending figure covers all groceries, not only grocery stores.

The McAlester area has 7 grocery stores on map listings as of September 2026. 2 of them (29%) are chain locations, against 37% across the U.S. Per 10,000 households, that is 3.9, 43% below the U.S. rate of 6.8.

Official counts show 4 businesses with payroll classed as supermarkets and grocery stores in the McAlester area in 2023. That is one for every 4,463 households, against one for every 2,053 across the U.S.

Between 2020 and 2025, the population of the McAlester area declined 1.1%, against +3.1% for the U.S. For grocery stores, the McAlester area has a Groundwork market score of 66 (upper middle): #98 of 506 scored small-town markets and #7 of 14 scored small-town markets based in Oklahoma. That puts it in the top quarter of small-town markets.

How the McAlester area compares

The same measures for Oklahoma 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 McAlester, OK area compared with Oklahoma and the U.S.
MeasureMcAlester areaOklahomaU.S.
Listings per 10k households3.95.56.8
Spending per listing$13.9M$10.6M$9.3M
Households per official establishment4,4633,1312,053
Official establishment growth, 2019–2023n/a−3.7%0.0%
Population growth, 2020–2025−1.1%+4.0%+3.1%
Spending per household on groceries$5,440$5,787$6,319
Median household income$55,310$65,039$80,734
Groundwork market score6667

Official counts and lending

Businesses

Official establishments, 2019 to 2023
4
Employees, 2023
139
Annual payroll, 2023
$3.8M
One-person businesses, 2023
Not publishedNot published for this business type
Map listings, September 2026
72 chain locations
Listings at the U.S. rate for this spending
10The 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 supermarkets and grocery stores in the McAlester 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 McAlester area

Population, 2025 estimate
43,320−1.1% since 2020
Households
17,851
Median age
41.6
Homes lived in by their owners
71%
Vehicles per household
1.9
Land area
1,306 sq. mi.
People per square mile
33
Median household income
$55,310+18.2% vs. 2015–2019, before inflation
Average household income
$73,775
Median home value
$156,900
Jobs located here
12,742
Daytime population
42,726Residents who don’t work, plus everyone whose job is here

Looking at a specific site in the McAlester 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 McAlester area. Signed out, you see a blurred preview; on an account, each report is one action.

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Grocery stores across Oklahoma

Every Oklahoma market ranked →

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

Top small-town markets in Oklahoma

Small-town markets in Oklahoma ranked for grocery stores by Groundwork market score
MarketScoreListingsPer 10k householdsSpending per listingPopulation growthU.S. rank
1Shawnee, OK83103.7$15M+3.5%#20 of 506
2Durant, OK7994.9$11.3M+10.9%#29 of 506
3Stillwater, OK7872.1$25.2M+2.8%#31 of 506
4Tahlequah, OK7784.3$12.7M+4.5%#34 of 506
5Duncan, OK72116.3$9M+3.4%#62 of 506
6Bartlesville, OK69125.7$10M+2.7%#81 of 506
7McAlester, OK6673.9$13.9M−1.1%#98 of 506
8Ada, OK5995.9$9.5M+1.2%#167 of 506
9Miami, OK5754.2$12.5M+0.7%#183 of 506
10Ponca City, OK5784.8$11.7M−0.3%#184 of 506

Other business types in the McAlester area

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

Questions

How many grocery stores are in the McAlester, OK area?

Map listings as of September 2026 show 7 grocery stores in the McAlester area. 2 of them (29%) are chain locations. The listings count grocery stores and supermarkets. Official counts show 4 businesses with payroll classed as supermarkets and grocery stores in 2023.

How much do households in the McAlester, OK area spend on groceries?

About $97.1M a year, or $5,440 per household. That is 14% below the U.S. average (an index of 86, where 100 is the U.S. average). Spread across the 7 grocery stores on map listings, it comes to $13.9M 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 17,851 households in the McAlester area and national spending patterns by income.

How does the McAlester, OK area compare with the U.S. for grocery stores?

The McAlester area has 3.9 grocery stores per 10,000 households, 43% below the U.S. rate of 6.8. Spending per store is $13.9M, 49% above the U.S. figure of $9.3M. At the U.S. ratio of grocery stores to household spending, the McAlester area would have about 10, against 7 on map listings. There is one business with payroll in the industry for every 4,463 households, against one for every 2,053 across the U.S.

How fast is the McAlester, OK area growing?

Population estimates put the McAlester area at 43,320 people in 2025, down 1.1% since 2020, against +3.1% for the U.S. It has 17,851 households. The median household income in the McAlester area is $55,310 a year, 31% below the U.S. median of $80,734. That rose 18.2% 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 McAlester area scores 66 for grocery stores (upper middle), #98 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 McAlester 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 McAlester area

Screening a site or an acquisition in the McAlester 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 McAlester 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.