Pets · Small-town market · Minnesota
Pet stores in the Albert Lea, MN area
The pet stores in the Albert Lea, MN 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 2.
- Listings
- 2
- 1 chain location (50%)
- Official establishments
- n/a
- Fewer than 3, or not published
- Household spending a year
- $10.2M
- On pets · $795 a household
- Spending per listing
- $5.1M
- Too few listings to compare
- Listings per 10k households
- 1.6
- Too few listings to compare
- Population, 2025
- 30,440
- −1.5% since 2020
See the pet stores around any address in the Albert Lea area
The site report maps the pet 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 Albert Lea 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
Map listings as of September 2026 show 2 pet stores in the Albert Lea area. That is 1.6 per 10,000 households.
Households in the Albert Lea area spend about $10.2M a year on pets, or $795 per household, 13% below the U.S. average. That is about $5.1M of household spending for each store on map listings. That spending covers all pets, which pet stores share with other businesses in the trade.
There is no official count of businesses with payroll classed as pet and pet supplies stores in the Albert Lea area: counts under 3 aren’t published. Since fiscal 2022, 2 SBA-backed loans worth $767K have gone to businesses classed as pet and pet supplies stores in the Albert Lea area.
Population estimates show the Albert Lea area declined 1.5% from 2020 to 2025, against +3.1% for the U.S. With 2 pet stores on map listings, the Albert Lea area isn’t given a market score: the score needs at least 5, since one listing more or less would swing it.
How the Albert Lea area compares
The same measures for Minnesota and the whole U.S. Spending per listing divides a year of household spending on all pets by the pet 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 | Albert Lea area | Minnesota | U.S. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Listings per 10k households | 1.6 | 1.9 | 2.0 |
| Spending per listing | $5.1M | $5.1M | $4.5M |
| Households per official establishment | n/a | 14,335 | 13,024 |
| Official establishment growth, 2019–2023 | n/a | +1.9% | −1.6% |
| Population growth, 2020–2025 | −1.5% | +2.1% | +3.1% |
| Spending per household on pets | $795 | $951 | $909 |
| Median household income | $71,023 | $89,062 | $80,734 |
| Groundwork market score | Not scored | 66 |
Official counts and lending
Businesses
- Official establishments, 2019 to 2023
- n/a
- Employees, 2023
- n/a
- Annual payroll, 2023
- n/a
- One-person businesses, 2023
- Not publishedNot published for this business type
- Map listings, September 2026
- 21 chain location
- Listings at the U.S. rate for this spending
- 2The U.S. ratio of listings to household spending, applied here
SBA-backed loans since fiscal 2022
- Loans
- 2
- Amount
- $767K
SBA-backed loans to businesses classed as pet and pet supplies stores in the Albert Lea 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 Albert Lea area
- Population, 2025 estimate
- 30,440−1.5% since 2020
- Households
- 12,846
- Median age
- 45.4
- Homes lived in by their owners
- 80%
- Vehicles per household
- 1.9
- Land area
- 707 sq. mi.
- People per square mile
- 43
- Median household income
- $71,023+32.4% vs. 2015–2019, before inflation
- Average household income
- $93,926
- Median home value
- $171,100
- Jobs located here
- 11,051
- Daytime population
- 27,708Residents who don’t work, plus everyone whose job is here
Looking at a specific site in the Albert Lea 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 pet stores on map listings by name and distance.
Or open the report at the center of the Albert Lea area. Signed out, you see a blurred preview; on an account, each report is one action.
Free10 actions over 3 days, no cardPet stores across Minnesota
Every Minnesota market ranked →The highest-scoring small-town markets in Minnesota for pet stores, numbered among those based in Minnesota, with the Albert Lea area marked.
Top small-town markets in Minnesota
| Market | Score | Listings | Per 10k households | Spending per listing | Population growth | U.S. rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1Brainerd, MN | 86 | 6 | 1.4 | $5.8M | +4.3% | #8 of 220 |
| 2Fergus Falls, MN | 73 | 5 | 2.0 | $4.1M | +1.6% | #27 of 220 |
| 3Red Wing, MN | 69 | 5 | 2.5 | $3.4M | +1.3% | #36 of 220 |
| 4Faribault-Northfield, MN | 60 | 7 | 3.0 | $3M | +4.2% | #60 of 220 |
| 5Austin, MN | 51 | 5 | 3.2 | $2.6M | +2.3% | #106 of 220 |
| 6Hutchinson, MN | 46 | 5 | 3.3 | $2.6M | −0.3% | #121 of 220 |
| 7Owatonna, MN | 44 | 6 | 4.0 | $2.2M | +0.2% | #138 of 220 |
| Albert Lea, MN | Not scored | 2 | 1.6 | $5.1M | −1.5% |
Other business types in the Albert Lea area
Each with its Groundwork market score here, out of 100, where it has one.
Food and drink
Groceries and convenience
Auto
Beauty and personal care
Fitness and classes
Health care
Pets
Child care
Clothing and laundry
Home services
Real estate
Funeral services
Questions
How many pet stores are in the Albert Lea, MN area?
There are 2 pet stores on map listings in the Albert Lea area as of September 2026. The listings count pet stores. No official count is published for pet and pet supplies stores in the Albert Lea area: counts under 3 are left out.
How much do households in the Albert Lea, MN area spend on pets?
About $10.2M a year, or $795 per household. That is 13% below the U.S. average (an index of 87, where 100 is the U.S. average). Spread across the 2 pet stores on map listings, it comes to $5.1M per store. The spending figure covers all pets, not only pet stores. It is estimated from the incomes of the 12,846 households in the Albert Lea area and national spending patterns by income.
How does the Albert Lea, MN area compare with the U.S. for pet stores?
The Albert Lea area has 2 pet stores on map listings, too few for a steady comparison with the U.S. rate. The count on map listings matches the U.S. ratio of pet stores to household spending.
How fast is the Albert Lea, MN area growing?
Population estimates put the Albert Lea area at 30,440 people in 2025, down 1.5% since 2020, against +3.1% for the U.S. It has 12,846 households. Median household income in the Albert Lea area is $71,023, 12% below the U.S. median of $80,734. Against the 2015–2019 survey, the median rose 32.4%, 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. 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 Albert Lea area has no market score for pet stores: the score needs at least 5 on map listings, and it has 2.
How can I see the market around a specific site?
Run a Groundwork site report on an address in the Albert Lea area. It maps the pet 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 pet stores · All 56 business types in the Albert Lea area
Screening a site or an acquisition in the Albert Lea 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 Albert Lea 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.