Groundwork

Pets · Metro area · South Dakota

Pet grooming and boarding businesses in the Rapid City, SD metro area

How the Rapid City, SD 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 37 out of 100: Lower middle

Ranked #293 of 386 scored metro areas
#2 of 2 scored metro areas based in South Dakota

Listings
28
1 chain location (4%)
Official establishments
18
Businesses with payroll, 2023
Household spending a year
$52.6M
On pets · $838 a household
Spending per listing
$1.9M
26% below the U.S.
Listings per 10k households
4.5
25% above the U.S.
Population, 2025
156,934
+6.2% since 2020

See the pet grooming and boarding businesses around any address in the Rapid City 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 Rapid City 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

For pet grooming and boarding businesses, the Rapid City metro area has a Groundwork market score of 37 (lower middle): #293 of 386 scored metro areas and #2 of 2 scored metro areas based in South Dakota. That puts it in the bottom quarter of metro areas.

Map listings as of September 2026 show 28 pet grooming and boarding businesses in the Rapid City metro area. One of them (4%) is a chain location, against 9% across the U.S. Per 10,000 households, that is 4.5, 25% above the U.S. rate of 3.6.

Household spending on pets in the Rapid City metro area comes to about $52.6M a year: $838 per household, 8% below the U.S. average. That is about $1.9M of household spending for each business on map listings, 26% below 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 18 businesses with payroll in the Rapid City metro area classed as pet care (except veterinary). That is one for every 3,488 households, against one for every 5,057 across the U.S. Since fiscal 2022, 4 SBA-backed loans worth $1.6M have gone to businesses classed as pet care (except veterinary) in the Rapid City metro area. Population estimates show the Rapid City metro area grew 6.2% from 2020 to 2025, faster than the U.S. (+3.1%).

How the Rapid City metro area compares

The same measures for South Dakota 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 Rapid City, SD metro area compared with South Dakota and the U.S.
MeasureRapid City metro areaSouth DakotaU.S.
Listings per 10k households4.53.93.6
Spending per listing$1.9M$2.1M$2.5M
Households per official establishment3,4884,3015,057
Official establishment growth, 2019–2023n/a+30.8%+25.2%
Population growth, 2020–2025+6.2%+5.3%+3.1%
Spending per household on pets$838$835$909
Median household income$75,255$75,081$80,734
Groundwork market score3739

Official counts and lending

Businesses

Official establishments, 2019 to 2023
18
Employees, 2023
91
Annual payroll, 2023
$2.2M
One-person businesses, 2023
Not publishedNot published for this business type
Map listings, September 2026
281 chain location
Listings at the U.S. rate for this spending
21The U.S. ratio of listings to household spending, applied here

SBA-backed loans since fiscal 2022

Loans
4
Amount
$1.6M

SBA-backed loans to businesses classed as pet care (except veterinary) in the Rapid City 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 Rapid City metro area

Population, 2025 estimate
156,934+6.2% since 2020
Households
62,789
Median age
41.8
Homes lived in by their owners
71%
Vehicles per household
2.1
Land area
7,805 sq. mi.
People per square mile
20
Median household income
$75,255
Average household income
$99,099
Median home value
$307,700
Jobs located here
69,449
Daytime population
153,009Residents who don’t work, plus everyone whose job is here

Looking at a specific site in the Rapid City 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 Rapid City 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 grooming and boarding across South Dakota

Every South Dakota market ranked →

The highest-scoring metro areas in South Dakota for pet grooming and boarding businesses, numbered among those based in South Dakota (a market based in another state is listed without a number), with the Rapid City metro area marked.

Top metro areas in South Dakota

Metro areas in South Dakota ranked for pet grooming and boarding businesses by Groundwork market score
MarketScoreListingsPer 10k householdsSpending per listingPopulation growthU.S. rank
1Sioux Falls, SD-MN65423.4$2.6M+9.5%#81 of 386
Sioux City, IA-NE-SD52132.3$3.5M+1.0%#178 of 386
2Rapid City, SD37284.5$1.9M+6.2%#293 of 386

Other business types in the Rapid City 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 Rapid City, SD metro area?

There are 28 pet grooming and boarding businesses on map listings in the Rapid City metro area as of September 2026. One of them (4%) is a chain location. The listings count groomers, boarding, dog daycare and pet sitters. Official counts show 18 businesses with payroll classed as pet care (except veterinary) in 2023.

How much do households in the Rapid City, SD metro area spend on pets?

About $52.6M a year, or $838 per household. That is 8% below the U.S. average (an index of 92, where 100 is the U.S. average). Spread across the 28 pet grooming and boarding businesses on map listings, it comes to $1.9M per business. The spending figure covers all pets, not only pet grooming and boarding businesses. It is estimated from the incomes of the 62,789 households in the Rapid City metro area and national spending patterns by income.

How does the Rapid City, SD metro area compare with the U.S. for pet grooming and boarding businesses?

The Rapid City metro area has 4.5 pet grooming and boarding businesses per 10,000 households, 25% above the U.S. rate of 3.6. Spending per business is $1.9M, 26% below the U.S. figure of $2.5M. At the national ratio of pet grooming and boarding businesses to household spending, the Rapid City metro area would have about 21, against 28 on map listings. There is one business with payroll in the industry for every 3,488 households, against one for every 5,057 across the U.S.

How fast is the Rapid City, SD metro area growing?

Population estimates put the Rapid City metro area at 156,934 people in 2025, up 6.2% since 2020, faster than the U.S. (+3.1%). It has 62,789 households. The median household income in the Rapid City metro area is $75,255 a year, 7% 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. 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 Rapid City metro area scores 37 for pet grooming and boarding businesses (lower middle), #293 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 Rapid City 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 Rapid City metro area

Screening a site or an acquisition in the Rapid City 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 Rapid City 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.