Groceries and convenience · Small-town market · South Dakota
Grocery stores in the Watertown, SD area
The grocery stores in the Watertown, SD area, the household spending behind them and how the market ranks against other small-town markets.
Groundwork market score
Not scored
The score needs at least 5 listings; this market has 3.
- Listings
- 3
- 3 chain locations (100%)
- Official establishments
- 6
- Businesses with payroll, 2023
- Household spending a year
- $73.3M
- On groceries · $5,848 a household
- Spending per listing
- $24.4M
- 2.6 times the U.S.
- Listings per 10k households
- 2.4
- 65% below the U.S.
- Population, 2025
- 29,562
- +4.3% since 2020
See the grocery stores around any address in the Watertown 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 Watertown 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
Household spending on groceries in the Watertown area comes to about $73.3M a year: $5,848 per household, 7% below the U.S. average. That works out to $24.4M per store, 2.6 times the U.S. figure of $9.3M. The spending figure covers all groceries, not only grocery stores.
The Watertown area has 3 grocery stores on map listings as of September 2026. Per 10,000 households, that is 2.4, 65% below the U.S. rate of 6.8.
In 2023, official counts showed 6 businesses with payroll in the Watertown area classed as supermarkets and grocery stores. That is one for every 2,088 households, against one for every 2,053 across the U.S.
Between 2020 and 2025, the population of the Watertown area grew 4.3%, faster than the U.S. (+3.1%). With 3 grocery stores on map listings, the Watertown area isn’t given a market score: the score needs at least 5, since one listing more or less would swing it.
How the Watertown area compares
The same measures for South Dakota 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.
| Measure | Watertown area | South Dakota | U.S. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Listings per 10k households | 2.4 | 7.5 | 6.8 |
| Spending per listing | $24.4M | $8M | $9.3M |
| Households per official establishment | 2,088 | 1,837 | 2,053 |
| Official establishment growth, 2019–2023 | n/a | +1.5% | 0.0% |
| Population growth, 2020–2025 | +4.3% | +5.3% | +3.1% |
| Spending per household on groceries | $5,848 | $6,012 | $6,319 |
| Median household income | $72,727 | $75,081 | $80,734 |
| Groundwork market score | Not scored | 36 |
Official counts and lending
Businesses
- Official establishments, 2019 to 2023
- 6
- Employees, 2023
- 595
- Annual payroll, 2023
- $9.2M
- One-person businesses, 2023
- Not publishedNot published for this business type
- Map listings, September 2026
- 33 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
- 0
- Amount
- $0
SBA-backed loans to businesses classed as supermarkets and grocery stores in the Watertown 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 area
- Population, 2025 estimate
- 29,562+4.3% since 2020
- Households
- 12,526
- Median age
- 39.5
- Homes lived in by their owners
- 70%
- Vehicles per household
- 2.1
- Land area
- 688 sq. mi.
- People per square mile
- 42
- Median household income
- $72,727
- Average household income
- $90,805
- Median home value
- $237,700
- Jobs located here
- 16,302
- Daytime population
- 29,337Residents who don’t work, plus everyone whose job is here
Looking at a specific site in the Watertown 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 Watertown area. Signed out, you see a blurred preview; on an account, each report is one action.
Free10 actions over 3 days, no cardGrocery stores across South Dakota
Every South Dakota market ranked →The highest-scoring small-town markets in South Dakota for grocery stores, numbered among those based in South Dakota, with the Watertown area marked.
Top small-town markets in South Dakota
| Market | Score | Listings | Per 10k households | Spending per listing | Population growth | U.S. rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1Brookings, SD | 80 | 8 | 5.8 | $10.2M | +9.6% | #27 of 506 |
| 2Spearfish, SD | 75 | 5 | 4.1 | $14.1M | +14.0% | #42 of 506 |
| 3Mitchell, SD | 65 | 5 | 4.6 | $12.8M | +0.6% | #109 of 506 |
| 4Aberdeen, SD | 57 | 8 | 4.5 | $13.2M | −1.5% | #180 of 506 |
| 5Huron, SD | 26 | 14 | 18.6 | $3.1M | +2.4% | #446 of 506 |
| Watertown, SD | Not scored | 3 | 2.4 | $24.4M | +4.3% |
Other business types in the Watertown area
Each with its Groundwork market score here, out of 100, where it has one.
Food and drink
Groceries and convenience
- Grocery and convenience stores61
- Grocery stores
- Convenience stores61
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 stores are in the Watertown, SD area?
Map listings as of September 2026 show 3 grocery stores in the Watertown area. The listings count grocery stores and supermarkets. Official counts show 6 businesses with payroll classed as supermarkets and grocery stores in 2023.
How much do households in the Watertown, SD area spend on groceries?
About $73.3M a year, or $5,848 per household. That is 7% below the U.S. average (an index of 93, where 100 is the U.S. average). Spread across the 3 grocery stores on map listings, it comes to $24.4M 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 12,526 households in the Watertown area and national spending patterns by income.
How does the Watertown, SD area compare with the U.S. for grocery stores?
The Watertown area has 2.4 grocery stores per 10,000 households, 65% below the U.S. rate of 6.8. Spending per store is $24.4M, 2.6 times the U.S. figure of $9.3M. At the U.S. ratio of grocery stores to household spending, the Watertown area would have about 8, against 3 on map listings. There is one business with payroll in the industry for every 2,088 households, against one for every 2,053 across the U.S.
How fast is the Watertown, SD area growing?
Population estimates put the Watertown area at 29,562 people in 2025, up 4.3% since 2020, faster than the U.S. (+3.1%). It has 12,526 households. The median household income in the Watertown area is $72,727 a year, 10% below the U.S. median of $80,734.
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 area has no market score for grocery stores: the score needs at least 5 on map listings, and it has 3.
How can I see the market around a specific site?
Run a Groundwork site report on an address in the Watertown 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 Watertown area
Screening a site or an acquisition in the Watertown 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 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.