Groundwork

Food and drink · Metro area · Arkansas

Pizza places in the Fort Smith, AR-OK metro area

The pizza places in the Fort Smith, AR-OK metro area, the household spending behind them and how the market ranks against other metro areas.

Groundwork market score · out of 100

Score 25 out of 100: Lower middle

Ranked #358 of 387 scored metro areas
#4 of 5 scored metro areas based in Arkansas

Listings
88
69 chain locations (78%)
Official establishments
189
All limited-service restaurants · +18.1% since 2019
Household spending a year
$298.6M
On food away from home · $3,282 a household
Spending per listing
$3.4M
33% below the U.S.
Listings per 10k households
9.7
21% above the U.S.
Population, 2025
234,140
+3.1% since 2020

See the pizza places around any address in the Fort Smith metro area

The site report maps the pizza places 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 Fort Smith 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 pizza places, the Fort Smith metro area has a Groundwork market score of 25 (lower middle): #358 of 387 scored metro areas and #4 of 5 scored metro areas based in Arkansas. That puts it in the bottom quarter of metro areas.

Household spending on food away from home in the Fort Smith metro area comes to about $298.6M a year: $3,282 per household, 19% below the U.S. average. Spread across 88 pizza places, that is $3.4M per pizza place, 33% below the U.S. figure of $5.1M. The spending figure covers all food away from home, not only pizza places.

There are 88 pizza places on map listings in the Fort Smith metro area as of September 2026. Chain locations make up 78% of them, against 58% across the U.S. That comes to 9.7 for every 10,000 households, 21% above the U.S. rate of 8.0.

Official counts show 189 businesses with payroll classed as limited-service restaurants in the Fort Smith metro area in 2023, up 18.1% from 2019. That is one for every 481 households, against one for every 478 across the U.S. That count covers all limited-service restaurants (fast food and sandwich shops included), not only pizza places. Since fiscal 2022, 1 SBA-backed loan worth $25K has gone to businesses classed as limited-service restaurants in the Fort Smith metro area. Population estimates show the Fort Smith metro area grew 3.1% from 2020 to 2025, in step with the U.S. (+3.1%).

How the Fort Smith metro area compares

The same measures for Arkansas and the whole U.S. Spending per listing divides a year of household spending on all food away from home by the pizza places counted, so it measures the demand for each competitor, not any business’s revenue. Households per establishment does the same with the official count.

Pizza in Fort Smith, AR-OK metro area compared with Arkansas and the U.S.
MeasureFort Smith metro areaArkansasU.S.
Listings per 10k households9.78.18.0
Spending per listing$3.4M$4.2M$5.1M
Households per official establishment (all limited-service restaurants)481506478
Official establishment growth, 2019–2023+18.1%+11.1%+6.1%
Population growth, 2020–2025+3.1%+3.3%+3.1%
Spending per household on food away from home$3,282$3,400$4,070
Median household income$58,468$60,773$80,734
Groundwork market score2535

Official counts and lending

Businesses

Official establishments, 2019 to 2023
189All limited-service restaurants · +18.1% over the period
Employees, 2023
4,160
Annual payroll, 2023
$73.2M
One-person businesses, 2023
38All limited-service restaurants with no payroll
Map listings, September 2026
8869 chain locations
Listings at the U.S. rate for this spending
59The U.S. ratio of listings to household spending, applied here

SBA-backed loans since fiscal 2022

Loans
1
Amount
$25K

SBA-backed loans to businesses classed as limited-service restaurants in the Fort Smith 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. These official figures cover all limited-service restaurants, not only pizza places.

Population and households in the Fort Smith metro area

Population, 2025 estimate
234,140+3.1% since 2020
Households
90,992
Median age
39.2
Homes lived in by their owners
67%
Vehicles per household
1.9
Land area
1,800 sq. mi.
People per square mile
128
Median household income
$58,468
Average household income
$82,344
Median home value
$171,200
Jobs located here
98,120
Daytime population
234,865Residents who don’t work, plus everyone whose job is here

Looking at a specific site in the Fort Smith 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 pizza places on map listings by name and distance.

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

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The highest-scoring metro areas in Arkansas for pizza places, numbered among those based in Arkansas (a market based in another state is listed without a number), with the Fort Smith metro area marked.

Top metro areas in Arkansas

Metro areas in Arkansas ranked for pizza places by Groundwork market score
MarketScoreListingsPer 10k householdsSpending per listingPopulation growthU.S. rank
1Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, AR571848.5$4.7M+13.1%#136 of 387
Memphis, TN-MS-AR492935.6$6.5M−0.3%#202 of 387
2Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway, AR402518.1$4.5M+3.8%#268 of 387
3Hot Springs, AR28296.6$4.9M−0.6%#345 of 387
4Fort Smith, AR-OK25889.7$3.4M+3.1%#358 of 387
5Jonesboro, AR23509.4$3.5M+3.6%#365 of 387
Texarkana, TX-AR19396.9$4.7M−0.4%#373 of 387

Other business types in the Fort Smith metro area

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

Questions

How many pizza places are in the Fort Smith, AR-OK metro area?

As of September 2026, map listings count 88 pizza places in the Fort Smith metro area. 69 of them (78%) are chain locations. The listings count pizza restaurants. Official counts show 189 businesses with payroll classed as limited-service restaurants in 2023, up 18.1% from 2019. The official count takes in all limited-service restaurants, not only pizza places: fast food and sandwich shops are counted too. Another 38 one-person businesses have no payroll, by official counts.

How much do households in the Fort Smith, AR-OK metro area spend on food away from home?

About $298.6M a year, or $3,282 per household. That is 19% below the U.S. average (an index of 81, where 100 is the U.S. average). Spread across the 88 pizza places on map listings, it comes to $3.4M per pizza place. That spending covers all food away from home, which pizza places share with other businesses in the trade. It is estimated from the incomes of the 90,992 households in the Fort Smith metro area and national spending patterns by income.

How does the Fort Smith, AR-OK metro area compare with the U.S. for pizza places?

The Fort Smith metro area has 9.7 pizza places per 10,000 households, 21% above the U.S. rate of 8.0. Spending per pizza place is $3.4M, 33% below the U.S. figure of $5.1M. At the U.S. ratio of pizza places to household spending, the Fort Smith metro area would have about 59, against 88 on map listings. There is one business with payroll in the industry for every 481 households, against one for every 478 across the U.S. The official count rose 18.1% from 2019 to 2023, against +6.1% for the U.S.

How fast is the Fort Smith, AR-OK metro area growing?

Population estimates put the Fort Smith metro area at 234,140 people in 2025, up 3.1% since 2020, in step with the U.S. (+3.1%). It has 90,992 households. Median household income in the Fort Smith metro area is $58,468, 28% 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 Fort Smith metro area scores 25 for pizza places (lower middle), #358 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 Fort Smith metro area. It maps the pizza places 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 pizza places · All 56 business types in the Fort Smith metro area

Screening a site or an acquisition in the Fort Smith 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 Fort Smith 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.