Groundwork

Pets · Metro area · Michigan

Pet businesses in the Kalamazoo-Portage, MI metro area

How the Kalamazoo-Portage, MI metro area compares with other metro areas and the U.S. for pet businesses: competitors, household spending, official counts and growth.

Groundwork market score · out of 100

Score 40 out of 100: Lower middle

Ranked #271 of 387 scored metro areas
#8 of 15 scored metro areas based in Michigan

Listings
110
19 chain locations (17%)
Official establishments
72
+28.6% since 2019
Household spending a year
$90.7M
On pets · $846 a household
Spending per listing
$824K
6% below the U.S.
Listings per 10k households
10.3
In line with the U.S.
Population, 2025
263,795
+0.8% since 2020

See the pet businesses around any address in the Kalamazoo-Portage metro area

The site report maps the pet businesses 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 Kalamazoo-Portage metro 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

As of September 2026, map listings count 110 pet businesses in the Kalamazoo-Portage metro area. Chain locations make up 17% of them, against 17% across the U.S. That comes to 10.3 for every 10,000 households, in line with the U.S. rate of 10.4.

Household spending on pets in the Kalamazoo-Portage metro area comes to about $90.7M a year: $846 per household, 7% below the U.S. average. Spread across 110 pet businesses, that is $824K per business, 6% below the U.S. figure of $878K.

Official counts show 72 businesses with payroll classed as pet care, veterinarians and pet stores in the Kalamazoo-Portage metro area in 2023, up 28.6% from 2019. That is one for every 1,488 households, against one for every 1,852 across the U.S. Official counts also show 126 one-person businesses without payroll. Since fiscal 2022, 2 SBA-backed loans worth $590K have gone to businesses classed as pet care, veterinarians and pet stores in the Kalamazoo-Portage metro area.

Between 2020 and 2025, the population of the Kalamazoo-Portage metro area grew 0.8%, slower than the U.S. (+3.1%). For pet businesses, the Kalamazoo-Portage metro area has a Groundwork market score of 40 (lower middle): #271 of 387 scored metro areas and #8 of 15 scored metro areas based in Michigan.

How the Kalamazoo-Portage metro area compares

The same measures for Michigan and the whole U.S. Spending per listing divides a year of household spending on all pets by the pet businesses counted, so it measures the demand for each competitor, not any business’s revenue. Households per establishment does the same with the official count.

Pet businesses in Kalamazoo-Portage, MI metro area compared with Michigan and the U.S.
MeasureKalamazoo-Portage metro areaMichiganU.S.
Listings per 10k households10.310.410.4
Spending per listing$824K$814K$878K
Households per official establishment1,4882,0451,852
Official establishment growth, 2019–2023+28.6%+13.8%+11.4%
Population growth, 2020–2025+0.8%+0.6%+3.1%
Spending per household on pets$846$843$909
Median household income$72,532$72,875$80,734
Groundwork market score4050

Official counts and lending

Businesses

Official establishments, 2019 to 2023
72+28.6% over the period
Employees, 2023
719
Annual payroll, 2023
$28.3M
One-person businesses, 2023
126Businesses with no payroll
Map listings, September 2026
11019 chain locations
Listings at the U.S. rate for this spending
103The U.S. ratio of listings to household spending, applied here

SBA-backed loans since fiscal 2022

Loans
2
Amount
$590K

SBA-backed loans to businesses classed as pet care, veterinarians and pet stores in the Kalamazoo-Portage metro 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 Kalamazoo-Portage metro area

Population, 2025 estimate
263,795+0.8% since 2020
Households
107,110
Median age
37.4
Homes lived in by their owners
65%
Vehicles per household
1.7
Land area
562 sq. mi.
People per square mile
467
Median household income
$72,532+28.4% vs. 2015–2019, before inflation
Average household income
$100,205
Median home value
$241,800
Jobs located here
120,525
Daytime population
271,929Residents who don’t work, plus everyone whose job is here

Looking at a specific site in the Kalamazoo-Portage metro area?

These figures cover the whole metro area. A site report draws rings around one address and counts what’s inside them: households, spending, jobs, and the pet businesses on map listings by name and distance.

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

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Pet businesses across Michigan

Every Michigan market ranked →

The highest-scoring metro areas in Michigan for pet businesses, numbered among those based in Michigan (a market based in another state is listed without a number), with the Kalamazoo-Portage metro area marked.

Top metro areas in Michigan

Metro areas in Michigan ranked for pet businesses by Groundwork market score
MarketScoreListingsPer 10k householdsSpending per listingPopulation growthU.S. rank
1Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI661,4938.4$1M+0.1%#74 of 387
2Monroe, MI61629.8$876K+0.7%#108 of 387
3Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood, MI5746210.5$852K+2.8%#141 of 387
South Bend-Mishawaka, IN-MI551199.3$866K+0.1%#157 of 387
4Muskegon-Norton Shores, MI54537.8$957K+1.8%#163 of 387
5Ann Arbor, MI4517111.4$856K−0.4%#230 of 387
6Bay City, MI45408.9$839K−1.6%#232 of 387
7Flint, MI451589.4$806K−1.1%#234 of 387
8Kalamazoo-Portage, MI4011010.3$824K+0.8%#271 of 387
9Lansing-East Lansing, MI4022011.3$729K+1.4%#274 of 387

Other business types in the Kalamazoo-Portage metro area

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

Questions

How many pet businesses are in the Kalamazoo-Portage, MI metro area?

The Kalamazoo-Portage metro area has 110 pet businesses on map listings as of September 2026. 19 of them (17%) are chain locations. The listings count vets, groomers, boarding and pet stores. Official counts show 72 businesses with payroll classed as pet care, veterinarians and pet stores in 2023, up 28.6% from 2019. Another 126 one-person businesses have no payroll, by official counts.

How much do households in the Kalamazoo-Portage, MI metro area spend on pets?

About $90.7M a year, or $846 per household. That is 7% below the U.S. average (an index of 93, where 100 is the U.S. average). Spread across the 110 pet businesses on map listings, it comes to $824K per business. It is estimated from the incomes of the 107,110 households in the Kalamazoo-Portage metro area and national spending patterns by income.

How does the Kalamazoo-Portage, MI metro area compare with the U.S. for pet businesses?

The Kalamazoo-Portage metro area has 10.3 pet businesses per 10,000 households, in line with the U.S. rate of 10.4. Spending per business is $824K, 6% below the U.S. figure of $878K. At the national ratio of pet businesses to household spending, the Kalamazoo-Portage metro area would have about 103, against 110 on map listings. There is one business with payroll in the industry for every 1,488 households, against one for every 1,852 across the U.S. The official count rose 28.6% from 2019 to 2023, against +11.4% for the U.S.

How fast is the Kalamazoo-Portage, MI metro area growing?

Population estimates put the Kalamazoo-Portage metro area at 263,795 people in 2025, up 0.8% since 2020, slower than the U.S. (+3.1%). It has 107,110 households. The median household income in the Kalamazoo-Portage metro area is $72,532 a year, 10% below the U.S. median of $80,734. That rose 28.4% 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. 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 Kalamazoo-Portage metro area scores 40 for pet businesses (lower middle), #271 of 387 scored metro areas.

How can I see the market around a specific site?

Run a Groundwork site report on an address in the Kalamazoo-Portage metro area. It maps the pet businesses 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 pet businesses · All 56 business types in the Kalamazoo-Portage metro area

Screening a site or an acquisition in the Kalamazoo-Portage metro 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 Kalamazoo-Portage metro 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.