Groundwork

Pets · Metro area · Missouri

Pet grooming and boarding businesses in the St. Louis, MO-IL metro area

How the St. Louis, MO-IL metro area compares with other metro areas and the U.S. for pet grooming and boarding businesses: competitors, household spending, official counts and growth.

Groundwork market score · out of 100

Score 50 out of 100: Upper middle

Ranked #200 of 386 scored metro areas
#3 of 8 scored metro areas based in Missouri

Listings
410
49 chain locations (12%)
Official establishments
248
+14.6% since 2019
Household spending a year
$1B
On pets · $899 a household
Spending per listing
$2.5M
In line with the U.S.
Listings per 10k households
3.5
3% below the U.S.
Population, 2025
2,814,421
−0.2% since 2020

See the pet grooming and boarding businesses around any address in the St. Louis metro area

The site report maps the pet grooming and boarding 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 St. Louis 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 410 pet grooming and boarding businesses in the St. Louis metro area. 49 of them (12%) are chain locations, against 9% across the U.S. Per 10,000 households, that is 3.5, 3% below the U.S. rate of 3.6.

At $899 per household (in line with the U.S. average), households in the St. Louis metro area spend about $1B a year on pets. Spread across 410 pet grooming and boarding businesses, that is $2.5M per business, in line with the U.S. figure of $2.5M. That spending covers all pets, which pet grooming and boarding businesses share with other businesses in the trade.

In 2023, official counts showed 248 businesses with payroll in the St. Louis metro area classed as pet care (except veterinary), up 14.6% from 2019. That is one for every 4,679 households, against one for every 5,057 across the U.S. Since fiscal 2022, 34 SBA-backed loans worth $12.7M have gone to businesses classed as pet care (except veterinary) in the St. Louis metro area.

Population estimates show the St. Louis metro area declined 0.2% from 2020 to 2025, against +3.1% for the U.S. The Groundwork market score for pet grooming and boarding businesses in the St. Louis metro area is 50 (upper middle), #200 of 386 scored metro areas and #3 of 8 scored metro areas based in Missouri.

How the St. Louis metro area compares

The same measures for Missouri and the whole U.S. Spending per listing divides a year of household spending on all pets by the pet grooming and boarding 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 grooming and boarding in St. Louis, MO-IL metro area compared with Missouri and the U.S.
MeasureSt. Louis metro areaMissouriU.S.
Listings per 10k households3.53.63.6
Spending per listing$2.5M$2.3M$2.5M
Households per official establishment4,6795,1615,057
Official establishment growth, 2019–2023+14.6%+19.7%+25.2%
Population growth, 2020–2025−0.2%+1.9%+3.1%
Spending per household on pets$899$825$909
Median household income$80,196$70,702$80,734
Groundwork market score5041

Official counts and lending

Businesses

Official establishments, 2019 to 2023
248+14.6% over the period
Employees, 2023
2,335
Annual payroll, 2023
$59.7M
One-person businesses, 2023
Not publishedNot published for this business type
Map listings, September 2026
41049 chain locations
Listings at the U.S. rate for this spending
410The U.S. ratio of listings to household spending, applied here

SBA-backed loans since fiscal 2022

Loans
34
Amount
$12.7M

SBA-backed loans to businesses classed as pet care (except veterinary) in the St. Louis 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 St. Louis metro area

Population, 2025 estimate
2,814,421−0.2% since 2020
Households
1,160,386
Median age
40.8
Homes lived in by their owners
70%
Vehicles per household
1.8
Land area
7,864 sq. mi.
People per square mile
357
Median household income
$80,196+25.9% vs. 2015–2019, before inflation
Average household income
$109,353
Median home value
$244,800
Jobs located here
1,400,208
Daytime population
2,847,124Residents who don’t work, plus everyone whose job is here

Looking at a specific site in the St. Louis 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 grooming and boarding businesses on map listings by name and distance.

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

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Pet grooming and boarding across Missouri

Every Missouri market ranked →

The highest-scoring metro areas in Missouri for pet grooming and boarding businesses, numbered among those based in Missouri, with the St. Louis metro area marked.

Top metro areas in Missouri

Metro areas in Missouri ranked for pet grooming and boarding businesses by Groundwork market score
MarketScoreListingsPer 10k householdsSpending per listingPopulation growthU.S. rank
1Kansas City, MO-KS672753.1$3M+3.4%#64 of 386
2Columbia, MO60273.1$2.7M+3.9%#117 of 386
3St. Louis, MO-IL504103.5$2.5M−0.2%#200 of 386
4Jefferson City, MO37244.1$2M+2.2%#291 of 386
5Springfield, MO34884.4$1.7M+5.1%#310 of 386
6Cape Girardeau, MO-IL33164.2$1.8M+1.7%#316 of 386
7St. Joseph, MO-KS28234.9$1.5M−2.0%#342 of 386
8Joplin, MO-KS28455.7$1.3M+3.9%#345 of 386

Other business types in the St. Louis metro area

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

Questions

How many pet grooming and boarding businesses are in the St. Louis, MO-IL metro area?

The St. Louis metro area has 410 pet grooming and boarding businesses on map listings as of September 2026. 49 of them (12%) are chain locations. The listings count groomers, boarding, dog daycare and pet sitters. Official counts show 248 businesses with payroll classed as pet care (except veterinary) in 2023, up 14.6% from 2019.

How much do households in the St. Louis, MO-IL metro area spend on pets?

About $1B a year, or $899 per household. That is in line with the U.S. average (an index of 99, where 100 is the U.S. average). Spread across the 410 pet grooming and boarding businesses on map listings, it comes to $2.5M per business. The spending figure covers all pets, not only pet grooming and boarding businesses. It is estimated from the incomes of the 1,160,386 households in the St. Louis metro area and national spending patterns by income.

How does the St. Louis, MO-IL metro area compare with the U.S. for pet grooming and boarding businesses?

The St. Louis metro area has 3.5 pet grooming and boarding businesses per 10,000 households, 3% below the U.S. rate of 3.6. Spending per business is $2.5M, in line with the U.S. figure of $2.5M. The count on map listings matches the U.S. ratio of pet grooming and boarding businesses to household spending. There is one business with payroll in the industry for every 4,679 households, against one for every 5,057 across the U.S. The official count rose 14.6% from 2019 to 2023, against +25.2% for the U.S.

How fast is the St. Louis, MO-IL metro area growing?

Population estimates put the St. Louis metro area at 2,814,421 people in 2025, down 0.2% since 2020, against +3.1% for the U.S. It has 1,160,386 households. The median household income in the St. Louis metro area is $80,196 a year, in line with the U.S. median of $80,734. That rose 25.9% 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 St. Louis metro area scores 50 for pet grooming and boarding businesses (upper middle), #200 of 386 scored metro areas.

How can I see the market around a specific site?

Run a Groundwork site report on an address in the St. Louis metro area. It maps the pet grooming and boarding 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 grooming and boarding businesses · All 56 business types in the St. Louis metro area

Screening a site or an acquisition in the St. Louis 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 St. Louis 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.