Groundwork

Pets · Metro area · North Carolina

Pet businesses in the Rocky Mount, NC metro area

How the Rocky Mount, NC 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 73 out of 100: Upper middle

Ranked #38 of 387 scored metro areas
#2 of 15 scored metro areas based in North Carolina

Listings
36
8 chain locations (22%)
Official establishments
18
Businesses with payroll, 2023
Household spending a year
$45.8M
On pets · $784 a household
Spending per listing
$1.3M
45% above the U.S.
Listings per 10k households
6.2
40% below the U.S.
Population, 2025
148,486
+2.8% since 2020

See the pet businesses around any address in the Rocky Mount 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 Rocky Mount metro area. 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 Rocky Mount metro area scores 73 (upper middle) on the Groundwork market score for pet businesses, ranking #38 of 387 scored metro areas and #2 of 15 scored metro areas based in North Carolina. That puts it in the top 10% of metro areas for pet businesses.

Household spending on pets in the Rocky Mount metro area comes to about $45.8M a year: $784 per household, 14% below the U.S. average. Spread across 36 pet businesses, that is $1.3M per business, 45% above the U.S. figure of $878K.

The Rocky Mount metro area has 36 pet businesses on map listings as of September 2026. Chain locations make up 22% of them, against 17% across the U.S. Per 10,000 households, that is 6.2, 40% below the U.S. rate of 10.4.

The official count of businesses with payroll classed as pet care, veterinarians and pet stores in the Rocky Mount metro area was 18 in 2023. That is one for every 3,247 households, against one for every 1,852 across the U.S. Between 2020 and 2025, the population of the Rocky Mount metro area grew 2.8%, in step with the U.S. (+3.1%).

How the Rocky Mount metro area compares

The same measures for North Carolina 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 Rocky Mount, NC metro area compared with North Carolina and the U.S.
MeasureRocky Mount metro areaNorth CarolinaU.S.
Listings per 10k households6.211.010.4
Spending per listing$1.3M$817K$878K
Households per official establishment3,2471,7191,852
Official establishment growth, 2019–2023n/a+15.0%+11.4%
Population growth, 2020–2025+2.8%+7.2%+3.1%
Spending per household on pets$784$899$909
Median household income$59,636$72,388$80,734
Groundwork market score7359

Official counts and lending

Businesses

Official establishments, 2019 to 2023
18
Employees, 2023
151
Annual payroll, 2023
$5.9M
One-person businesses, 2023
34Businesses with no payroll
Map listings, September 2026
368 chain locations
Listings at the U.S. rate for this spending
52The 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 pet care, veterinarians and pet stores in the Rocky Mount 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 Rocky Mount metro area

Population, 2025 estimate
148,486+2.8% since 2020
Households
58,449
Median age
41.7
Homes lived in by their owners
63%
Vehicles per household
2.0
Land area
1,046 sq. mi.
People per square mile
139
Median household income
$59,636+33.8% vs. 2015–2019, before inflation
Average household income
$79,773
Median home value
$167,800
Jobs located here
55,119
Daytime population
136,134Residents who don’t work, plus everyone whose job is here

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

Free10 actions over 3 days, no card

Pet businesses across North Carolina

Every North Carolina market ranked →

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

Top metro areas in North Carolina

Metro areas in North Carolina ranked for pet businesses by Groundwork market score
MarketScoreListingsPer 10k householdsSpending per listingPopulation growthU.S. rank
1Goldsboro, NC74336.9$1.1M+3.8%#35 of 387
2Rocky Mount, NC73366.2$1.3M+2.8%#38 of 387
3Fayetteville, NC681067.1$1.1M+1.6%#59 of 387
4Durham-Chapel Hill, NC682389.6$1M+7.5%#61 of 387
5Burlington, NC68608.6$962K+8.5%#62 of 387
6Raleigh-Cary, NC6768511.9$913K+12.6%#70 of 387
7Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC651,22811.4$863K+10.1%#84 of 387
Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC636389.0$1.1M+0.9%#94 of 387
8Greenville, NC60597.9$989K+5.4%#111 of 387
9Greensboro-High Point, NC5832010.1$828K+4.1%#133 of 387

Other business types in the Rocky Mount metro area

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

Questions

How many pet businesses are in the Rocky Mount, NC metro area?

Map listings as of September 2026 show 36 pet businesses in the Rocky Mount metro area. 8 of them (22%) are chain locations. The listings count vets, groomers, boarding and pet stores. Official counts show 18 businesses with payroll classed as pet care, veterinarians and pet stores in 2023. Official counts list 34 one-person businesses without payroll.

How much do households in the Rocky Mount, NC metro area spend on pets?

About $45.8M a year, or $784 per household. That is 14% below the U.S. average (an index of 86, where 100 is the U.S. average). Spread across the 36 pet businesses on map listings, it comes to $1.3M per business. It is estimated from the incomes of the 58,449 households in the Rocky Mount metro area and national spending patterns by income.

How does the Rocky Mount, NC metro area compare with the U.S. for pet businesses?

The Rocky Mount metro area has 6.2 pet businesses per 10,000 households, 40% below the U.S. rate of 10.4. Spending per business is $1.3M, 45% above the U.S. figure of $878K. At the U.S. ratio of pet businesses to household spending, the Rocky Mount metro area would have about 52, against 36 on map listings. There is one business with payroll in the industry for every 3,247 households, against one for every 1,852 across the U.S.

How fast is the Rocky Mount, NC metro area growing?

Population estimates put the Rocky Mount metro area at 148,486 people in 2025, up 2.8% since 2020, in step with the U.S. (+3.1%). It has 58,449 households. Median household income in the Rocky Mount metro area is $59,636, 26% below the U.S. median of $80,734. Against the 2015–2019 survey, the median rose 33.8%, 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 Rocky Mount metro area scores 73 for pet businesses (upper middle), #38 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 Rocky Mount 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 Rocky Mount metro area

Screening a site or an acquisition in the Rocky Mount 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 Rocky Mount 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.